Friendly environment but many challenges for teachers
Pros
Everyone was friendly and welcoming; they care about instruction, strong parent community
Cons
They hire within, although some aren't qualified for the position. They struggle with holding students and parents accountable for bad behavior...no consequences often leave to student behavior to get worse overtime. Way too many parent conferences; one before school starts, another one November, than another one Feb/March, and then an end of year conference in June. Wednesday are 1/2 day for students but teachers have PD which goes all the way until 5pm and they hardly ever let teachers leave early. Twice a year we have showcase nights and teachers are expected to stay until 8pm. The 4th street campus is located in two separate building, across the street from each other so teachers have to constantly transition students multiple times during the day, eats up instruction and planning time. Also, upper grades 4th and 5th have a part time assistant teacher that is shared over two classrooms, but younger grades have full time assistant teachers. Teachers do not get a lot of planning time, it's always eaten up by meeting with a a coach , director, an AP, or transitioning students to and from specials.
