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Submitted by: parent of two in school
Im a: Parent
Date: 19/10/2007
Pearls is an elementary and middle school, with grades from Pre-K through 8th grade, which makes it attractive to our family. The principal retired in June, 2007, and he was wonderful. The new principal has large shoes to fill, and time will tell. Pearls is considered one of the three or four best schools in Yonkers, academically speaking, and attendance is per test. It is housed in an old high school building, which needs work, as do many in Yonkers, but it has charm, and functions well. There are some good programs like chess club, free girl scouting, and the amazing music program.
Now for the negatives: No organized extra curricular sports due to lack of fields.
There should be emphasis on team learning, sharing, cooperation among students, with measureable increases. Not much thought is given to whether students are finding friends, feeling isolated, and nobody takes notes to measure if they play together or how well they interact during school work or play together. Social adeptness is necessary for the future success of our children.
The school does not provide a school newsletter going out weekly, as so most of the best run schools do in Westchester, detailing what each of the grades are working on for the week, so parents have an idea of what the whole school is working on, and what their students have to look forward to in years to come. Accomplishments and calendar items are rarely included. Parents feel out of touch.
Since many people work, class parents take a long time to get up and running, well into October usually, which makes contact with other parents and playdates difficult.
There is no procedure in place for parents to pay a lump sum for lunch money or milk money for the year, making daily frustrations out of providing money for young children.
The bathrooms are atrocious and there is a non-working elevator. The library lacks the resources it should have to bring the children up to date with online learning: this is where the gossipy PTA should have its focus, but does not.
The after school program (not run by the school, but convenient) allows other children to attend, and structure is lacking for the youth, with inappropriate cross talk between 8th graders and little ones regarding boy-girl issues.
Sadly, support staff for Kindergarten do not get introduced, are given little opportunity to show authority/creativity, they get little or no opportunity to enrich themselves, to add to their knowledge, usefulness, and sense of accomplishment. Use of double negatives in language is heard regularly by these individuals.
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