Jefferson Elementary School

School staff, students and parents were very welcoming to our family when enrolling to this school. Our family has never felt so welcomed and my kids love the school's positive environment . Thank You Jefferson!!

You are fortunate if your children will be going to Jefferson. My daughter has had six excellent teachers in a row, although some of that may be luck. But over all, most of the teachers are excellent, engaged, and caring for their students. In the lower grades, I felt there was too much homework with not enough emphasis on quality over quantity. My understanding is that the lower grades have virtually eliminated homework. I believe kids should learn discipline and a positive work ethic early, so there should be a balance in giving quality homework appropriate for grade level. Although there were some challenges when moving to a common core curriculum, on the whole the school has successfully achieved this. My daughter has exceeded standards on the new state tests for two years in a row, so I believe the school is properly preparing students. While I agree that the GATE offerings are limited, I appreciate that teachers volunteer their time to prepare for and teach enrichment classes. As a working mom, I wish I had more time to volunteer, but I appreciate that so many parents are involved in PTA and donate their time. The PTA and RBEF sponsor many enrichment activities like Hands on Art, gardening and nutrition lessons, and field trips. We feel very fortunate that our daughter has received an excellent foundation for her education at Jefferson!

The school has a new principal in Sept 2015. Maybe things will get better, who knows, but so far I’ve been at a complete loss as to why this school is considered a top school. At birthday parties parents describe the kindergarten experience as “nothing but a coloring project.” The academic program is not challenging enough. The high frequency word list should be published in comic books, and when one compares the common core requirements to what is actually taught it is frightening. If students earn top grades, they are due to parent support and parents teaching their kids at home. Parents consistently talk in the parking lot about all the effort they put in to teach their children additional things that should be taught by the school teachers. The reason cited by teachers for the lack of challenge is that children need emotional and social development at the early stage, etc. and that one should worry later about academics. They are drinking their own kool aid. There are several programs out there that challenge children at an early age and there is no conflict between being academically advanced and being at the typical stage as far as emotional/social development goes. I am not satisfied with the school. It’s the parents who make everything happen here. I will not be surprised at all if the school’s rating system will fall once common core is fully implemented. The teachers are taking 2 years to transition and when the kids will face the new requirements and will be held to higher standards everyone will be in for a surprise. If someone has average expectations, then the school is just fine. If you want to be in the top 10% in the long term, and want your kid to be able to attend a top college, go somewhere else if you can. I can't imagine what is an average or bad public school if Jefferson is a top school. This is very scary to me so far.

This is a wonderful school with mostly great teachers and a very responsive principal. It also has GATE and Robotics programs. However, the GATE program leaves a lot to be desired, as they are short, 6-week classes that seem more like summer camp than a real GATE class. Jefferson could really distinguish itself by having actual academic GATE classes. Also, there are a a few "bad seed" teachers that need to go away, particularly in third grade. These are poison apples who do nothing but forward their lazy agendas and don't teach any math or science. The principal does not seem to be doing anything about this even though parents have complained. Overall, this is still a top notch school with a strong (though exclusive) PTA and a great reputation. It just renewed its distinguished school status in 2014 - yay!