Commonwealth Elementary School

I'm so disappointed with Commonwealth. We've made several interstate moves and I rely fairly heavily on GreatSchools, which is what has prompted me to write this review. Commonwealth absolutely does not deserve such great ratings. I think that is a hold-over from maybe 10+ years ago. We've lived here for almost 5 years now, and the school (as well as all of Fort Bend Independent School District) has been nothing but disappointing, angering, and it continues to devolve. The situation will not improve while Dr. Dupre is the head of FBISD and Dr. Bogle is the principal of CWE. CWE is built for roughly 680 students and currently holds over 1100! And there is no immediate plan to address this issue. The number of janitors is decided based on square footage of the building, not the number of students, and the condition of the boys' bathrooms have been compared to the worst possible public restrooms. Parents refuse to go in them, and kids simply do not go all day to avoid them. It's Texas and so it is extremely hot for fairly extended periods of the year. At the beginning of this school year, several classrooms (some out in the portable trailers) were without air condition for multiple days. There was no communication from the staff to the parents. Kids were coming home flushed and sweaty, and my parent chatroom discussed kids even vomiting and passing out! My boys frequently tell me they've had "silent lunches" or "walking recesses" and recess time is frequently cut. There are lots of punitive threats - finish your daily work or you'll go to the principal, finish your work or you'll finish it in the principal's office, finish your work or you'll stay back from the class field trip. One day the students were inexplicably dismissed 15 minutes early in pouring rain, again with no communication to the parents. I found children (my 3 boys included) soaking wet and up to almost 1/2 mile from the school.The school is currently more than 70% Asian. It's been very difficult for my kids socially and has invariably affected other aspects of the school, including discipline, the PTA, parent volunteers, etc. I say this mainly as a data point. I did not expect it, and we've learned a lot particularly in the last 2 years as this area continues to grow and change.

I visited for lunch with my grandsons and all the staff were very professional. I was very impressed with the level of safety and security provided for the students.

When I went to Commonwealth it completely changed my academic standpoint, I had always been a great student but never cared about school, after Commonwealth I loved school, encouraging me to study more and get even better grades, as shown by my IOWA scores (a standardized test), I scored in the 99th percentile meaning I am better than 99% of the people who took it, and this is a national test!

My child is in 2nd grade this year. The staff has had quite a few obstacles to overcome including a teacher leaving and a lot of new faces. My son has never been happier and though his work load is rather large he enjoys hit time and the class. I have met with the principal and she does carry an indifferent tone but she seems to still be settling into the new position. The kind of compassion the 2nd grade staff has for their students is incomparable. Many new faces in the grade Cox, Steinert, Tanner, Musser, but they have made the best of it. I believe their cares and concerns are sincere and hope CWE staff can keep the same administration long enough to be productive.

This school is fantastic. The teachers love their students and the administration is very helpful. They have had some sweeping changes which I understand can make it hard for consistency in policy. However; my children love their school and its staff. I wouldn't send them anywhere else.