Dean Leaman Junior High School

So far, my experience with the kindergarten program has been decent. My child enjoys certain parts of school and is learning, but I am concerned that he has not made any friends yet. I brought this up with the teacher but have not received any follow-up so far. I hope the school can work more closely with parents to help children build friendships and feel more included socially.

Poor management and inept teachers. This school goes to great lengths to seem open and inclusive where in fact the reality is quite the opposite. Teachers are perpetually fumbling with the curriculum. Teachers cannot control classrooms because they don’t know how to relate to students. It’s a cookie cutter environment with no creativity whatsoever. We are disappointed on so many levels. The Shafers are great people but the school is atrocious in its efficiency. Teachers complain at everything and they aren’t able to be flexible or have the expertise to operate in a diverse environment. Worse school climate I’ve witnessed.

Have 2 kids going to this elementary school and we love it. The teachers and administration make great efforts to engage positively with all children. There are many good teachers and also a GT program for students who are especially motivated and exceptional. We love this school and teachers and think its a very good school. I can imagine in this day and age, the staff has to tread a very fine line given how much pressure they get from variety of angles (parents, senior admin, politics etc) but over all they do an exceptional job. Many teachers and staff reside in the neighborhood and take interest in making sure students have an all around positive experience.

Exemplary school with good values, discipline. Kudos to the teaching strategy.