Budlong Elementary School

This is our second year at Budlong and we are so happy with the school. My kids have both had excellent teachers, and the admin and staff is warm and friendly. The principal has made huge strides and everyone agrees the school has turned around 100% since her arrival. Parent/teacher communication is good, and parent involvement and volunteering is high.

My experiences at Budlong have always been great and I would like to commend the exceptional principal, Mrs. Nakayama, along with her office staff whom are always are both extremely helpful and kind. I highly recommend this school!

My kids attended this school. The teachers are all very friendly.

Each year, I never know who my child can expect to have as a teacher at Budlong because the staff changes constantly and teachers move from one grade level to the next inexplicably. As a teacher myself, I know that teachers have little say over where they are moved to, so I find it hard to believe that the staff members here are requesting to jump from grade level to grade level each year. Because of these yearly changes, and again as a teacher, I know the difficulties that come with changing grade levels and positions constantly - it is very difficult to master grade level content and be the best educator you can be when you spend one year learning and planning for a particular grade, only to be shuffled around and placed elsewhere the next year, and then elsewhere the next. Teachers are flexible and professional, but the ability to teach profoundly once you have already taught the content the year before goes up exponentially if you are left in the same position on a yearly basis. The level of education our children could receive if they had teachers who consistently taught the same grade for more than a year or two is astounding. I understand that these changes happen here and there, but when it is every year and with multiple teachers, and when they are jumping multiple grade levels, I find the situation to be questionable. Research has shown that teachers who repeatedly teach a grade level will have a more positive impact on their students than teachers who change grade levels multiple times, and will also improve their own teaching practices. In fact, research shows that teachers who repeat grade-assignments improve nearly 40% more than a teacher who does not - in their own practice and in raising test scores, something that is a huge focus at this school. If Budlong can't understand this, how can we expect them to educate our children appropriately?