Canyon Pointe Elementary School

I watched my straight A, kind hearted student decline for two years at this school. When I first enrolled her in first grade, she was happy and eager to learn. I had to pull her out by 3rd grade. There is a severe lack of diversity among the staff. Trust me if you have black children DO NOT enroll them in this school! You can feel the unwelcoming vibe as soon as you walk in. When I picked my 6 year old up from her very first day there in first grade, she asked me as soon as she got in the car, “ mommy am I black? Now where would a six year old get that from? I watched her confidence slowly decline, and by 3rd grade I had had enough. Please don’t make the same mistake I did. Now she’s thriving and back to straight A’s at Canyon Pointe Elementary. Totally different culture and vibe at this school and more diversity amongst the staff. Trust me it matters.

I visited the school to discuss with the teacher solely to try and figure out the sudden loss of interest my daughter has in her classroom. I was curious to know if she (the teacher) had noticed anything unusual in her classroom that could have made my daughter feel uncomfortable.However, instead of feeling concerned what could be bothering my daughter in class. The teacher attacked me verbally and began to raise her voice. I immediately assumed she had said something to my daughter, and she felt guilty. This is why she’s raising her voice to me. My heart raced, and I felt like I was about to faint. I felt trapped as the assistant principal sat there, silent and smugly waiting for me to retaliate. Now, why would I do something like that? It would only worsen the situation. I was trying to help my daughter, not worsen the matter!Initially, the teacher informed me that the substitute teacher had told her that my daughter was talking excessively. I found this to be entirely false.Later, she contradicted herself, which confirmed my theory. She stated that my daughter was always quiet and rarely raised her hand.This revelation came after her lengthy explanation of various issues affecting her life, including surgery, a family death, assisting a child with an accident. and another issue that morning.Feeling utterly defeated, I wondered what else I could do to help my child feel better in this classroom. She then started providing a self-character reference as if the meeting was about her. (My guess is that these words were meant to the assistant principal sitting next to her because I couldn’t understand why they were being said to me. I went there to discuss my daughter, not her.)It was evident that I was making no progress in this parent-teacher conference. I left feeling completely uncomfortable with the teacher. She was on the defensive when I asked why my daughter had suddenly lost interest in her class. I can only imagine her response when the children do have questions, especially considering all the personal issues she’s dealing with.Yes, I was quite uneasy about leaving. My daughter will be sitting in her classroom shortly after I leave and every day until school ends. Needless to say, I will be worried every day as I drop her off at school. We’ll just have to continue praying throughout the day that my daughter is okay. That was the most unusual parent-teacher conference I’ve ever attended.

This school is incredible; the score of 7/10 doesn’t do it justice. The events such as Raising Readers to promote literacy and the school-home learning connection are great. The PTO works hard to put on events like an annual Father Daughter dance and a huge fall festival. Last year, there was a talent show. The counselor, principal, and librarian are three key people who are absolutely amazing and are very present. So thankful for this beautifully diverse, communicative, and organized school.