Phyllis E. Williams Elementary School

I have been a parent here since Kindergarten - the first year that SI was introduced to the school. Yes, it was bumpy at the start. There were no books in Spanish the first few weeks of school - but I would think that is a school system issue and not the school itself. My daughter will soon be graduating and we are considering our options of whether to continue in the new Spanish Immersion Middle School (@Kettering just anounced) or TAG at Walker Mill or join her sister at College Park Academy. I would take the same journey all over again if I had to... for one key reason ... my daughter enjoys attending school there. There are opportunities for extracurricular activities like Science Bowl, Hall Patrol, Global Ambassadors, Morning News, Trip to Spain, Band, Handbells and Theater. The teachers are really caring, effective and are native speakers. AS with ANY school, the more you put in - the more you get out. Thank you Phyllis E. Williams SI!

Terrible. School administration is not prepared to deal with social challenges and language barriers.

I understand that most of the complaints on here are from when the school 1st began its spanish immersion program. It is now 2017 and I think the school is wonderful. The teachers and staff care for these children as if they are their own. When kindergarten graduation came, the teachers were actually in tears. My son has a learning disability and before an IEP could be established (testing and conclusion required within 90 days of the discovery) the teacher was already working on different methods to help him learn the information that was presented. He was able to have a desk divider and noise canceling headphones to reduce distractions. She provided him with a clipboard to allow him to get up and move while he did his work (he would walk around the classroom looking for his answers, instead of being forced to sit still where he may be a distraction to other children). If he felt distracted he was able to go to a different table by himself. The special education instructor also provided extra time in which he could work one on one with my son. All of these adjustments were done before the IEP was in place. To assist, they implemented the blooms app on our phones. This allowed the sharing of pictures from field trips, video of our children in class speaking spanish, and most importantly constant communication between the teachers and parents and among the parents themselves. It takes a village and we were working together to provide anything they might need that wasn't supplied by the school district. We had a wonderful class mom, who was there to help in any way she could. The front office staff are very pleasant and make it a point to remember the children by name. My child may struggle with reading and writing because he has a learning disability, but by the end of the year, he was clearly understanding his teacher when she spoke only in spanish to him. It is amazing how quickly the children begin to understand the language.

My daughter was blessed with the opportunity to attend Phyllis E. Williams to learn Spanish, but there's a catch.The classrooms aren't properly staffed. In my opinion, most individuals have a hard enough time with the English language, but to learn a whole new language is another challenge in itself.There is one (1) teacher to 18-25 students, trying to learn Spanish, which isn't good and makes no sense.There needs to be a teachers aide or assistant in the classrooms, especially the lower grade levels, K-3rd grade. I would consider these students to be beginners to the language, whom require additional assistance.It's not up to another child learning the language to be required to assist another student, it's should be another adult whose qualified to teach and make sure they understand.My daughter has come home complaining she didn't understand what was taught in class, and I have to try to teach her as a beginner to the Spanish language myself.I don't see how this funded Specialty school expects children (the students) to thrive and advance in a program in which is inadequately staffed.Not to mention you have teachers who barely speak or understand the English language that are teaching our children.It may be their policy to speak only Spanish in the classroom, but you must communicate with me, as the parent in English!Where is the fairness in the situation? When will the constant complaints be addressed and fixed about proper staffing?What is being done with the funding for our children to learn, without worry of being left behind?In regular public schools, the ESL classrooms are properly staffed and the number of students to each teacher is less (5-15).Someone needs to make sure they get the assistance they need in the classroom, and they have a large enough lunch serving at school, because my 6 yr old comes home hungry everyday.There's also the issue with no more days being set aside for Parent/Teacher conferences during the year, except if the parent reaches out to the teacher for time.The system is moving backwards in regression, and giving teachers more time off for so called development, and students less learning time in the classroom.It's a crying shame that Foreign institutions have a more profound and advanced learning system than the USA, and we spend more money on education.Something has to be done about making sure these issues are addressed.