Harpool Middle School

I honestly don’t understand how the district hasn’t stepped in yet, the decline of this elementary school has been obvious for a while now. The principal was replaced and sent to a school that’s now on the verge of closing, which says a lot, but instead of real accountability it feels like problems are just being moved around. Meanwhile, students, families, and staff are left dealing with the consequences, and that’s not okay, our kids deserve better than a school district that seems to look the other way.

My children have had excellent experiences at this school. For the area and the district, it has to be one of the best. I'd still like a little more challenge for those students who are excelling, but overall - still a five star school (truly - in comparison to the area, both local and far reaching).

This is my second child to be at Blanton Elementary, and we've watched this particular building evolved over the last 10 years in a very positive manner. Wonderful school with warm and inviting staff.

Teachers are great. Students are great. But there is a noticeable drop in satisfaction, and student’s perception of safety and being free from harassing and threatening behavior by other students. My child has been physical hurt multiple times by another student, and the reaction is to simply “evacuate” the entire class to a new room each time rather than remove the student. The disruption this causes to learning environment for the 15+ other students in the class is troublesome. My student indicates they must leave their class 3-4 times a week, for upwards of 10-20 minutes at a time. My child has told me they don’t always feel safe at school. I’ve never heard such profanities from students so young, either. Multiple times during drop-off I’ve heard a student dropping the f-bomb to fellow students walking in. It is very apparent that we have a new (and substantially worse) principal than we’ve previously had. These issues only started taking place when we got a new principal and assistant principal. They’re the only noticeable difference between last year’s environment and the one this year given almost everyone else is the same.Despite being against it, we are seriously considering private school if Adkins doesn’t turn it around and/or the district finally starts responding to parent complaints and changes the leadership of this once great school.

We withdrew both of our daughters from Selwyn after less than two months, despite committing to paying the full year of tuition. This decision was influenced by the school's notably low academic standards and expectations. Our older second-grader transitioned to Argyle public school, while the other attended Montessori Country Day School. Both of these alternative schools proved to be better fits than Selwyn.Initially, we believed that a private school with an entrance exam requirement would maintain academic standards at least equivalent to nearby public schools. During our school tour, we observed students working at their desks, creating an impression of a typical school environment.However, our experience with our second-grader was disappointing. The new teacher assigned minimal work and accepted low-quality submissions. Our daughter quickly realized that she could do the bare minimum and still have time for play or other activities. The teacher's reluctance to consistently send work home prevented us from ensuring our daughter put forth her best effort. This was a stark contrast to her previous school, Challenger, which had high academic standards and provided daily homework, offering valuable feedback on her progress.In the case of our Pre-K daughter, Selwyn's program lacked any emphasis on phonics. Unlike Challenger, which introduced basic reading skills before kindergarten, Selwyn delayed phonics instruction until kindergarten, including letter sounds. Recognizing the importance of early reading skills, we transferred her to a Montessori school that actively teaches phonics.Both our daughters enjoyed there time at Selwyn though they learned very little. That said neither dislike there current schools which are clearly more academically rigorous.Avoid Selwyn if academic excellence is a priority for you. Numerous public schools and certain private institutions, such as Challenger, offer superior educational experiences. Initially hopeful that this "process school" would have the academic rigor of our public school with more personalized learning opportunities, it ultimately proved to be nothing more than an exorbitantly priced daycare.