Samuel Houston Elementary School

This school is awful. This is my first child’s first year of school (kindergarten) and it was worse than I ever could’ve imagined. I hated it just from the registration experience but kept waiting to see something different. The whole first month was something every week. My daughter stated a teacher said she felt warm but the teacher let her decide if she went to the nurse. She came home with a fever. We have reduced lunches but she wasn’t allowed to have a chocolate milk. She’d lost her report card. (Assume another student took it home because we always get other kids papers.) The nurse refused to give antibiotics because she didn’t follow protocol and the principal ignored my emailed concerns. This isn’t even it BUT the cherry on top of it all was my daughter fell at recess, was sent to the nurse yet sat at school for 4 hours with a broken arm and PAIN in which the sub teacher and nurse were both informed of. NOBODY CONTACTED ME. The principal had nothing but excuses for the nurse. I wanted to pull my daughter from the district but she wants to stay because she loves her friends and teacher. She will not be returning and I’d advise every parent to do whatever you can to keep your child out of this school district. I’ve had good experiences with her homeroom teacher and the assistant principal but other than that, it’s all been the worst nightmare.

School is completely unorganized, horrible communication from upper level to lower level (teachers) the only helpful staff was the behavior team when they were available and the assistant principal.Forget the actual principal. As a new teacher to the school I asked for help and only received fix it and fix it now from the principal. Followed by her telling me I wasn' t fixing things but not offering any solutions but to do some soul searching and decide if this job was right for me.Which after being told this 3 times in a week by her made me question myself completely and ultimately end up leaving.I have always wanted to be a teacher since I was in school and never wanted anything else and she made me question that. It is no wonder that this school does have the highest turnover rate and the lowest test scores. If teachers are the last ones to know about a field trip the day of, then parents will really be angry when they find out after the fact. That is poor communication parents and teachers need to be kept in the loop.I am rating this school a 1 star not for the kids because I loved every one of mine, but for the Management and lack of support.

It is "luck of the draw". Each year one of my children has a good teacher and one seems to have one who just doesn't care. It makes a huge difference, on how much a child does learn. I have had to go to the principal, and like another person said, she says what you want to hear and doesn't do anything. The way I like to put it, "sugarcoat" the issue. I did get to speak to the Assistant Principal about an issue, and I have to admit, she handled my problem right then and really seemed concerned. Another problem I have is, there are not many extra corricular activities. The garden club, you have to be nominated by your teacher. The robotics club, I forget exists, until I look at the yearbook at the end of the year, (so, I assume that is hard to become a member of). For the kids who don't listen and cause problems, something needs to be done. I don't blame the teachers at all, but their behavior is causing issues for those who are there to learn. I would support the district 100% in addressing that issue and actually have disciplinary actions that would change things.

My child is currently in the 4th grade and has attended SHE since kindergarten. Like the last two reviews getting a good teacher is luck of the draw. But that is anywhere. Teachers, Prinicipals, schools...are all blamed for the students performance. I was not happy with my child second or third grade teachers, yet she continued to make straight A's. My kid is smart, no doubt but she has initiative. She also has parents who hold her accountable. The problems that we have had with SHE can be found anywhere, kids who talk back and disrupt the class for the rest of the kids. That isn't a school problem. I have not had to deal with the prinicpal or the asst. prinicipal. I have however have had numerous conversations with the counsler and the office staff. All have been extremely helpful and polite each time.

After being here for a year, I would never send my child here. The school is disorganized and there's no accountability. Parents are told things to appease them, but nothing ever gets accomplished. Kids are taught how to pass the TAKS, not how to learn. Teacher turnover is horrible here! Some of the teachers are good, some are bad, but it's really luck of the draw, and without support from the principal, not much can be done!