Hickory Elementary School

Enrolled my two kids at Hickory. As many people know the principal and many staffers were replaced in 2015-2016 school year due to the autism class abuse scandal. While my kids don't have special needs, I'm glad the new principal and his staff seem to communicate well, and my kids are happy with their teachers. I'm also very happy with the responsiveness of their teachers and would recommend Hickory.

I cannot say that I agree with a majority of the reviews. The communication from the school to the parents and the community is virtually non-existent, and it is not true, as one reviewer claimed, that all teachers use e-mail. I do agree with the the one reviewer that the autism program is not handled well at all. As he or she points out, the autism program is practically excluded from the school. The program is housed in a completely separate building, leading to minimal or no interaction with the rest of the school population. According to a friend, there have already been three different teachers in the Kindergarten Autism classroom this year. Also, I cannot speak to previous principals at the school as other reviewers have, but the current one is extremely unprofessional and seems to not care. Just the lack of communication from the school coupled with the staff's belief that they are going above and beyond when it comes to their jobs when they are clearly doing only the minimum has sent us looking for another school and considering a move.