Carson Elementary School

It started out great. then went downhill dramatically. The "new" principal, who is now gone, really brought the school down from a morale perspective for students, families and teachers. No consistency in discipline, and no consistency in who earned spots in the HGT program (which is now gone). Terrbile communication with parents, even with bullying, racial issues and other 'bad' things happening at the school. Hopefully the new principals this year will be able to turn things around.

I have not been impressed with Carson for the past 3 years. I had to complain because the doors were not monitored or just left open. They didn't monitor who was picking up kindergarten students, which really concerned me. It seems this school has a higher rating because it's in an affluent area, not because its approach to learning is more effective.

I could not disagree with the two most recent reviews more. There is a small, but vocal, minority who have been disastisfied with recent decisions that the school has made. As a parent, I can see that the school is making these decisions with the best interest of the students in mind. The angry reviews as of recent, are based around the fact that the school is losing its librarian. With the best of intentions, this small minority of parents has tried to save the librarian's job. When they weren't able to do that due to aggressive budget cuts at the state-level (i.e. not a decision that the staff/admin wanted to make), these parents were upset (understandably so). However, this minority of parents have created a really unsettling and negative environment that they are trying to spread through to others in the community. I wholeheartedly believe the principal when she says that everything she does is with the best of intentions for children. I have never seen a school with such dedication to not only creating the best possible academic and emotional environment for its students, but as well as the staff. The current administration has been working in education for over 20 years with their combined experience and, as a parent, I feel blessed to be able to afford to live in a community with this wonderful of a staff, this encouraging of an environment, and this knowledgeable of an administration.

Carson was a wonderful school the first couple years my children attended. There are many excellent teachers. We moved into the (pricey) neighborhood so that we could be in the school boundary. Unfortunately, the new Principal has created a very negative, elitist environment, with a small group of her friends and supporters involved in the major decisions. There have been some poor choices made without the majority of parental or community feedback. This appears to be because the Admin does not care have others question decisions, lest they be held accountable. For example, since the arrival of the new principal, HGT and ECE have been eliminated, good teachers are leaving or being pushed out when they voice differing opinions under the guise of budget decisions, there is a shift from FT Teachers towards para-professionals, and there is very little proactive communication or visibility into anything; from budgeting to safety. In meetings the Principal has indicated that she does not want parents to ask questions or voice their opinions. The most recent controversial issue is the lack of communication about the new bell schedule, (early release Friday's at 1:15pm) which has been approved by DPS already with essentially NO parental or community feedback. The process that the Administration choose to take was unacceptable in that they sought approval prior to having feedback and data from the community. This places a burden on families who have 2 working parents; extends the school day for children by 30 minutes the rest of the days. I am concerned that my children's learning will suffer due them being overworked/stressed. Not to mention the fact that many in this school already remove their kids early on Friday's; what happens when a significant portion of the class is absent on a regular basis? Friday early release is being justified by indicating that teachers need more time to plan and meet.Friday afternoons are the likely not the best time for this - teachers are tired. Admin is making a poor decision at the expense of the students without communicating or looking for an alternate solution.I will likely be removing my children from Carson next year to attend school where EXPERIENCED Admin prioritizes learning and safety over ratings, and focuses on working and engaging WITH parents. Carson is at great risk of becoming sub-par. DPS, please listen.