Barrett Elementary School

Posted September 30, 2009

One thing we all need to remember is education starts at home. We place a lot of responsibility on schools and teachers to be the primary educators of our children - in my opinion, too much responsibility. At Barrett, the teachers take this responsibility very seriously, but face challenges with the ever increasing number of ESL and ELL students, increasing budget restraints and dimishing funds, and lack of parental support. Lisa Atlas and her staff are committed to improving the lives and quality of education their students receive, but to see a greater level of academic performance and improvement in pride and self confidence in these children, there needs to be a stronger committment from the parent community to make this happen. Invest in your own child's future and show your support through volunteering time in the classrooms, supporting the HSCC through donations, and being 'present' in their daily academic lives!
Submitted by a parent

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Posted May 21, 2009

I see that the 'old homework debate' is alive and well at Barrett. Both sides have valid and heartfelt opinions on this subject, but I must agree with Barrett's recent decision to limit homework to nightly reading. This decision was reached by Mrs. Atlas based on recent , in depth, national studies that observed that students that do alot of homework in elementry grades do not perform any better than students that do limited amounts of homework . Studies have also shown that good READING habits are the most important factor in a students academic success. In todays real world,families may not have much quality time with their young children. Stress over getting homework done may collide with many working mothers that are too tired at night to fight the homework battle. I applaud Mrs. Atlas for her courage and insight into bringing Barrett into the todays world. Debra Morris,guardian

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Posted May 20, 2009

I just read the unfair review that someone posted yesterday. I am a mother of 7 and a grandparent of 8. I am familiar with many schools at all levels. My two eldest grandsons graduated from college last year. my youngest grandson will graduate from Barrett in a few weeks. i have had grandchildren at Barrett since the day it opened. This is a school full of dedicated, caring teachers that are very aware of all recent educational tools and how to incorporate them into their classrooms. Mrs. Atlas, the principal is the most enregetic, intelligent leader I have ever encountered in over 50 years of haveing students in public schools. She loves her school , the students and her staff and gives 150% of her time and energy to Barrett. You should also find out about recent recognition of Barrett students in regional accomplishments. Check your facts !
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Posted May 19, 2009

with all do respect to all comments , i do not agree with them.most of the teachers don't care if the students did their homework, or even finishes their work at school. everything is optional,the teacher will give the student a long list of questions to do for their reading, but not all the students will do it, because it's optional. this year they started the no homework thing, only reading, that's the principal new way of doing homework, so how about math, science and writing. the other thing is i don't see my kids studying science ,they say they don't have time for it, they'll start the next half of the year,i always wonder what do they do in school all day, their science education is not good at all. the principal seems nice, but as far as leadership and education, she doesn't fit in this catagory.
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