Laurel Oak Elementary School

I would like to know what public school in Orlando the last parent had her children in. We are moving there this coming December from LOE. advice greatly appreciated. please post if you can.

My two children attended this school this past year (2013-2014) in 1st and 3rd grade. Friendly parents, staff and children. School follows all District rules. Unfortunately, school does not foster a sense of community with zero after school events hosted at the school. Once per month McDonald's night is it. Seagate and Pelican Marsh have higher volunteer and donation levels. Heavy focus on remediation, but not on highly performing students (except gifted, they get their own class which creates average to below average performance in remaining classes). School has a "good" reputation but this is definitely not a "great" school. Disappointed. Everyone is nice but they are not doing what other schools are able to accomplish which is disappointing and somewhat surprising considering the affluence in the area. My daughter, who attended a public school in Orlando for 2nd grade, REPEATED her curriculum in 3rd grade here. How does that happen - how does a school get behind in curriculum an entire year at 3rd grade? This is not opinion, her teacher did the first round of benchmark tests where they test them on the content they are going to learn at the start/middle/end of the year. My daughter scored highest of anyone in her class - between 75% and 88% per subject. Her teacher called me in and asked me where she was going to school the year prior - was it a great school? I was shocked and told her it was another public school in Orlando. She told me she hoped my daughter wouldn't be bored. I left that meeting doubtful that this test showed that my daughter already knew the material. Then, the entire year, I experienced the truth - I saw the same homework come home. My daughter didn't study, did very well. Although, you don't really know how well your child is doing because on their report cards you get a 1, 2, or 3. That's a cover-up scheme if I ever saw one. You get a 3 at year-end once you've mastered the material, a 2 during the year if nothing's really wrong (A,B,C?) and a 1 if you need to meet with the teacher if something's wrong. My son, 1st grade, would get sent back to the computers to do Reading Counts quizzes during Math because he already knew what she was teaching. Rediculous. This was very disappointing as we had been extremely happy with their Elementary schools in Tampa and Orlando before we moved to Naples.

My son experienced his kindergarten at this school with mrs. D'antuono for the 2015-16 school year. Mrs D'antuono was a great teacher and my son and his classmates successfully learned to read and write during the school year and mastering it all. They have a cute "kindergarten" that is along the breezeway where the kindergarten classes are located.I was always involved so I came to be with him at lunch almost every day and I also was one of the chaperones on field trips. When I came for lunch, my son enjoyed picking one classmate friend for going to eat outside Along with all the other parents that also came. They also had occasional fun events, field trips and fundraisers. We had kindergarten trips to Naples botanical garden, and Mikes u-pick farm. The school had a "fun day" event in which all the grades got to go from one fun activity to the next that morning such as tug of war, squirt water into a bucket to be the first to fill it, etc. also McDonald's night in which all LOE students can attend as they highlight one grade each time and with that grades teachers attending it. They had a fun fundraiser in which they and we parents could dance to the music and run around the school track for about 30 minutes. they had an end of the year celebration at the Sun And Fun water park. All these events helped bring about a warm, happy and memorable kindergarten experience for both children and parents.We found The administrative staff and all the employees, in general, to be kind, fair and reasonable as well as being good listeners. We Ended up being in a different zone for first grade, but if we ever find ourselves back into that zone, we will be perfectly happy and excited to get back to LOE.Inmy opinion, parents can rest easy about their child going to this school, which continues to earn an A Rating. The entire staff of Laural Oaks Elementary provided my son and all the children with a warm and supportive environment in which They learned and excelled and had fun too.

Great school, great teachers, great involvemet of parents, my kids love it and me too!