Thank you to all the posters so far. I really enjoy what I am reading and learning.

I did not know there had been some issues at Bowen and Sam Houston Elementaries recently. So, the main issue there is not wanting to hire subs and subsequently, moving children and teachers around to make up for it?

Why do you think the "fun" been taken out of teaching at these schools? I am not wanting absolutes, just some impressions.

I am able to see shades of grey and know there are always two sides to every story. I am sure there are people that both like and dislike every school out there. Just wanting personal impressions of different schools.

Anyone have thoughts on Johnson Elementary in Bryan?

College Hills sounds great and I may well be interested in talking to you Fleen.

Glad we have good local schools.

[This message has been edited by techno-ag (edited 1/4/2013 12:08p).]

I agree with techno-ag.

I am not to keen on the state rankings and such. As a parent I was very pleased with Mary Branch for both my kids. A key factor in a good school is a top notch principle with a great teaching staff. This was Mary Branch Elementary. I see this type of relationships in many of the schools here in Brazos county.

firefly, let me know...

And I have fun everyday... Do it because you love it, or don't do it...

Unless I missed it my childs school hasn't been mentioned once, so maybe it is a secret around town. We love it. It has been the single reason my quicker than usual growing family hasn't moved from our home that we long ago outgrew. Only school we have experienced and been there four years. We have classroom pets, maybe a garden, wonderful teachers, nice parent support, I believe a special program for children with autism, outstanding principals, policies that are strictly enforced, very diverse,a new teacher starting after the break (not a sub or kid shuffle), and something others may not have...men. We have at least five men in our school that rank from assistant principal (the last one out in the event of an emergency) to teach to custodian. I could be wrong but I think that sets us apart from the rest. Our school wasnt in existence when we built our home so we think the school was "built for us" and we love it!!

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My kids are at Mary Branch and they love their teachers and the school.
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Very good. State rankings are a good place to start.

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What exactly does this mean, techno-ag? It's just more trolling on your part. Although you never get voted down or banned. Curious.

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Unless I missed it my childs school hasn't been mentioned once, so maybe it is a secret around town. We love it. It has been the single reason my quicker than usual growing family hasn't moved from our home that we long ago outgrew. Only school we have experienced and been there four years. We have classroom pets, maybe a garden, wonderful teachers, nice parent support, I believe a special program for children with autism, outstanding principals, policies that are strictly enforced, very diverse,a new teacher starting after the break (not a sub or kid shuffle), and something others may not have...men. We have at least five men in our school that rank from assistant principal (the last one out in the event of an emergency) to teach to custodian. I could be wrong but I think that sets us apart from the rest. Our school wasnt in existence when we built our home so we think the school was "built for us" and we love it!!

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Sounds like Forest Ridge.

Fleen I get where you're coming from...trust me.

My son is in 1st grade at Johnson. We LOVE it! The staff is great, and I have been super impressed with the principal. She goes above and beyond to do anything she can to help her students excel in school.

I was concerned about the open-concept at first, but I am sold on it now. I have never been in such a "quiet" school. I spend several hours a week volunteering, and I love seeing how the kids get involved. They have several clubs and opportunities to expand on their learning.

The other thing I like is how the teachers really try to reach all of their students. They help the ones struggling and challenge the ones who are ahead of their peers.

I could go on and on, but I will stop there!

In response to the BISD changes, I know several people have left BISD for various reasons. Unfortunately, this is what happens with change. I have very impressed with the new superintendent because he is not afraid to go in and get things done. I don't necessarily agree with everything he has done, but I am glad that some of the people who were too comfortable are having fires lit under them. I know we will lose some good teachers, and I am sad about that. I also know that there were people who needed to move on. However, I feel confident that the district will be better off because of all of the changes.

We're at Mary Branch in Bryan, on our 4th year there, and each year has varied greatly (mainly due to the teacher). Kinder teacher was OK, and we had an OK year. 1st grade teacher was awful (one of those that are just waiting until they can retire, and doing the bare minimum to get by), and my kid had a terrible year as a result. He barely learned anything, made terrible grades, and we ended up spending a fortune on a reading tutor to get him caught up. It's not 100% the teacher's fault, but she was a very big part of the problem. Then in 2nd grade, we had a Wonderful teacher. Completely night and day. And we had a great year. He finished 2nd grade right where he should be academically. Now we're in 3rd grade, and we have a first year teacher. I was really nervous at the beginning of the year, but she's been great. Very eager and happy to be there, and it reflects well in the kids.

Elem school is very different than middle school and up because the kids spend most of their day with 1 teacher. It's more about the teacher than it is the school. And it's almost impossible to control whether or not you're going to get a good teacher or not.

I will add one thing though, in 1st grade, the year we had so many problems, we had a new principal (and he only lasted that one year). He certainly didn't do anything to help make a bad situation better. But fortunately he's gone, and our current principal seems to have his act together.

The worst thing about Mary Branch though is that it feeds into Jane Long. But that's a whole other issue.

I don't think the issue is that they don't want to hire subs, I think the issue is that its hard to find subs who will work for $55 a day.

Teaching 20+ kids a day, even as a sub is worth more then that.

I was told that they are needing to hire subs desperately. I'm not sure the problem is that they don't want to hire them.

My daughters kinder teacher was moved from Sam Houston from a higher grade to K. We LOVE her, and she is wonderful with the younger kids.

We left Mary Branch to come to Sam Houston.
Was not pleased with MB at all, the principal was sleeping with teachers (Fact, Not gossip), the secretary was extremely rude and like mamabear said it branched off into Jane Long. Glad we got out of there!

[This subject has remained on topic and we are not going to allow it to get derailed. -Staff]



[This message has been edited by TexAgs staff (edited 1/4/2013 9:04a).]

Johnson Elementary:

2-time national blue ribbon school, always exemplary, main feeder neighborhoods are The Oaks, Memorial Forest, Briargate, and Windsor (the other side of Barak from The Oaks).

Great teachers and fantastic education prepared my kids well for future grades.

The OP asked about elementary schools, but since several have mentioned Mary Branch feeding into Jane Long as a negative, I have to chime in. Long is not the place it might have been 15 years ago. It has a quality gifted and talented program, Kickstart martial arts program and award-winning fine arts groups. I've been to several programs and activities at Long - day and night, and I've never seen anything but well-behaved and respectful kids.

It's easier to accept hearsay and opinions with no basis in fact rather than do your homework on your own. If you're really interested in these schools, go visit them.

AgPup80:

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It's easier to accept hearsay and opinions with no basis in fact

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Unfortunately that's mostly what we got in this thread... OP asked for impressions and people were happy to oblige. When facts, such as test scores, are suggested people bash it.

I'm not here to defend test scores because I know of the many flaws, but they could be a starting point in a good discussion. I am just not sure what good it is to have these random anecdotes about impressions... comes across as more of a popularity contest...

Our oldest went through Southwood Valley a few years ago (at AMCMS now) and we have a kindergartner there now. We'll actually have two more starting there next year.

We are very happy there. Our experience has been mostly positive. Each of our boys' teachers have been involved and kept in communication with us (except for one, but it was her first year and she was planning her wedding at the time...that was our one "bad" year). Any issues we've had have always been immediately addressed in a positive manner and I appreciate how much I am welcomed there as a parent.

The one thing I really want to stress here is that a school is what you make of it. Be involved. Join PTO and volunteer to help out if you can, even if it's only in a small way. There are kids at some of these schools who look forward to being there because it is the ONLY time they get positive attention from adults. I'm probably sensitive to it because I've heard so many people complain about being rezoned to SWV, but I really believe if more of us took time out to have a real presence in our schools, we really could make a difference.

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Thanks for the info everyone. Now I know someone HAS to have some not so great things to say. Where are they?

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Personally, I would not ask for "some not so great things to say" about schools in BCS. They're all great in their own ways.

Forget looking at elementary schools - look at the feeder zone. Your kid will be out of elementary for 8 years. Make sure you are happy with the other schools.

lilmonkeys gets it...

I cannot possibly say enough flattering things about College Hills!! Both of our children are in the dual language program and have had support in all areas of their education.

Every teacher has been excellent that our children have have been taught by. We get email and face-to face meetings to constantly update our children's progress and personal phone calls during non-school hours and weekends to help our kids work on improvement areas.

Fleen is another of the main reasons we LOVE College Hills!! He really cares about the kids that are in his school and all of the parents have nothing but positive things to say about him! I don't know how other schools function if they don't have people like him in their children's lives. Thank you Fleen.. we appreciate you.

The PTO is also amazingly supportive at College Hills and deserves commendation. I pray that our teachers read this and feel the love that we have for them!! It may be thankless at times, because everyone is busy, but all of the parents I'm associated with are overjoyed with our childrens' education.

My kids attended Rock Prairie and had a great experience there. It has been a few years, but from speaking with parents of children currently enrolled there, I hear the same accolades that I made when my kids attended. animals, garden--yes.

Another thumbs up for College Hills. We loved it there. It was a great environment, nice to see upper managment always outside helping out, great PTO, awesome teachers, new campus. Only bad thing is my job in College Station was abolished and family had to move to Austin. Now live in Pflugerville which is okay so far but I so miss College Station and our kids in College Hills.

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Another thumbs up for College Hills. We loved it there. It was a great environment, nice to see upper managment always outside helping out, great PTO, awesome teachers, new campus. Only bad thing is my job in College Station was abolished and family had to move to Austin. Now live in Pflugerville which is okay so far but I so miss College Station and our kids in College Hills.

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What happened to your job?

I work for one of the few Federal Agencies that is actually downsizing....U.S. Postal Service and the processing plant is closing.

Very sorry to hear that jd1990...I hope you and your family were not too adversely affected. That's a tough thing to go through.

Sadly, Rock Prairie's garden is no more.

Thanks Charlie...

Thanks jd1990, those were the kinds of things I was asking about.

When I was asking for some "not so great things" I wasn't asking for bashing. I am fully aware that any of the schools in BCS are better than ones in other areas. I was more interested in things such as 4lilmonkeys saying that any issues they ever had were dealt with quickly or how iisanaggie was concerned about the open concept but now has no problems with it or how someone had a problem with the principal at Mary Branch but he was only there a year and now things are great.

I also am interested in things such as I would love it if we had a garden at the school or no none of the classes have pets or I wish my child's recess was earlier in the day.

I used to be an elementary teacher so I am just interested in little perceptions, not that I will take all of your thoughts as gospel. I already own a home but wondering about the idea of moving into a different school zone, that is the why on what I am asking and I have no problem with it being a "popularity contest." If many people are that vocal about certain schools, that makes me take notice.

Thank you all very much. I am learning more than I knew and I am enjoying this thread.

Sorry double post.

[This message has been edited by firefly1204 (edited 1/7/2013 6:25p).]

I have a Kindergartener at Johnson in Bryan. It is a great school. It was a difficult transition for ME (not my son...he loved it from the get-go).

We send our children to St. Thomas ELC for preschool and Kindergarten (my son attended Kinder at St Thomas last year and is repeating because he is an 8/31 birthday). Going from a preschool environment like St. Thomas to any public school is SO different. Not good or bad, but different. It was an adjustment for ME.

Johnson has been wonderful. I was expecting it to be a challenge, but it was a good transition. The teachers and administrators are VERY responsive and kind. Teachers, staff, and the PTO really strive to make Johnson continue to be a wonderful place. I feel like my child is very nurtured and cared for there. That is important to me.

firefly - glad that you are finding value in the comments being provided here... I am not, but let just agree to disagree on this.

In any case, despite our differences in how we reach conclusions, would you mind sharing what do you make of all of these comments in this thread? What conclusion do your reach? Which schools do you feel best about based on what has transpired so far?

And C-Mac, the honor is all mine when you trust your kids to me everyday... plus the little boogers crack me up...

rookie, the key to your child's success in school is greatly helped by your desire to integrate yourself in the education they recieve...