Cummings Valley Elementary School

It all went downhill in 2nd grade. Nobody listens to the children or the parents, pick up and drop off is a mess, I felt like my kids were just money in seats and not like people there to learn. My oldest just told me, since we've pulled her out of the school, that it's been really nice not being thrown to the ground anymore.

Wonderful school, both my daughter and I loved it.

My daughter went all the way K-5th at CVS and I have 2 more there. I have found the teachers to be enthusiastic and my kids are scoring at the top of the advanced levels of all of their tests. Parents will have more success with their student's education if they involve themselves as much as they can, communicate with their children's teachers and read everything that comes home (which means going through backpacks), and filling in gaps when necessary. With 30+ kids in classrooms, it is hard to meet every individual need. If I feel my child needs more enrichment, I take them to educational places over the summer and go to the library. They participate in extracurricular activities like sports and music. I don't think anyone should put 100% of their child's education in one person's hands. This should be a group effort. It takes a village...

I have had two children at CVS; one went all the way through and the other has been attending since T-1st and is currently in 4th grade. For the most part, my children, my wife and I have been very happy with the experience. We did have to fight to have an accelerated program provided for my older daughter and we had to request a transfer for my younger child, but overall the quality of the instruction has been excellent. The majority of the teachers are motivated, caring and talented and the administration has been at least moderately responsive to our concerns. I agree that the tendency in school districts is to focus on the lower-achieving students, which does create a vacuum in which gifted students may stagnate. However, it is the responsibility of parents to work as advocates for their childrens' education and, in the end, schools are only one part of the educational equation. Parents and students share equal responsibility for the successes, or failures, of the educational process. Parents, students, and schools working together foster positive results. Our children have thrived at CVS because of that partnership and their academic performance demonstrates that fact.