St. Francis of Assisi School

I expect a graduate of an elementary school to be able to conjugate a sentence with a subject and verb that agree. I expect a graduate to have the ability to count change. I expect a graduate to be able to tell time. I expect a graduate to have a rudimentary knowledge of geography. I expect so very little of a graduate of an elementary school. Tragically, this school fails to meet my expectations with stunning consistency.

My experience with the school Anne Bailey Elm in Saint Albans Wv and the staff have been horrific since day one. I have a child who started this school in Kindergarten midway through the school year.. my child had some issues writing his numbers and letters backwards, which the previous school didn’t help much .. but at least he was doing his work. Once my child got to Anne Bailey , everything went south. My son wouldn’t even try anymore.. he put his head down and slept every single day. Every day I was getting a letter from school, he wasn’t participating. He was literally not doing anything. So the next year we had a meeting .. we talked about retaining him , I signed the papers because my son couldn’t read and didn’t know his ABCs , which he did prior, but something happened and I’m not sure what. So anyways the next year came and he was not retained.. they put my son in First grade after we signed the papers for retainment. And when I asked them about it .. they had no answers. My son was doing so bad. He wouldn’t even pick up his head at school. He sat or slept all day long. And even once told his teacher “f you” (along with another student , in a different day). So went sent my son to the damus center. A bad kid alternative.. where my son did not need to be. There my son got great grades and even wanted to go back before it even ended. But the 6 month program ended and it was nothing but issue after issue with the rude principle making my son feel unwanted.. to the teachers who did not take their time with him.. to the therapist who never talked to my son or my when they suggested “family counseling “ because I got emotional over my son feeling stupid because of their mess up. If I could give a star rating I would give this school zero stars. 0/5 rating from me. They then moved my son to second grade, still now knowing his ABCs , still can not read , and math? We won’t talk about that … we changed schools and now my son is so good in math, can read like a pro , and he’s even learning sign language. His teacher and principal care and every meeting his teacher gets emotional (like me even before me) when we talk about his progress and how good he is doing now. No thanks to Anne Bailey Elementary. Again 0/5

Both my children have had positive experiences at Central Elementary School. The staff is encouraging and provide many great activities to keep kids excited about school. My family is thankful for the great years we've had at Central.

The experience with my son has really disheartened me. He is the 3rd generation to go through this grade school. The first sign of problems was in kindergarten when the school counselor insisted his heavy use of red while coloring was a problem. Over 4 years of issues such as these has almost crushed his natural desire to learn and has made him dread going to school. I can only hope this changes when he switches to the middle school.

Lakewood Elementary is an amazing elementary school. I drive my children to Lakewood because we live in a different district. The teachers and all staff are wonderful, caring individuals who have the children's best interest in mind. We have nothing but positive things to say about this school.

Some staff were not up to par and principal didn't seem to know what was going on in the classroom.