Buena Vista Elementary School

Posted September 3, 2009

Prompted to write this because of the disparity in rankings on previous reviews. I have 2nd & 3rd-graders in the 09/10 year. Mrs. Howard is in her second year as a principal. Though test scores greatly improved, I'd dare to speculate that it is because it is a small school (270 students) and those higher-achievers are from more well-to-do families and haven't been hit by the foreclosure crisis. I agree Mrs. Howard is aloof, I saw her out more later last year. We are not going to wait for the school to teach the kids, we start at home. We'll let the teachers 'polish them off.' We like the teachers so far. The 'Kids Care' after school program is more of an 'supervised play' program but is very helpful to our family.
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Posted September 2, 2009

There is a severe disconnect between leadership and teaching staff. There is a much more severe disconnect between leadership and the students. I have had the fortune of being a parent at another school and have something to judge principal involvement by. The kids love their teachers and most of the kids are genuine. Parental involvement is lacking and, I might add, it is directly a result of the leadership of the school. If I had the money, I'd move to a better part of the district and move the teachers there with me! A note about many of the teachers: They've been there for a long time, most live in the area and had kids who attended BV.
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Posted May 18, 2009

I have 2 children that attend Buena Vista and I can't begin to tell you how much we LOVE the school. I have been involved in PTA for the past 4 years and spend alot of time at the school helping in any way that I can. I love that we have a family feel at buena Vista and that the door is always open to speak with Ms Howard and the teachers. The school has been working hard to improve testing scores and to get more parents involved,and I am looking forward to the many great things that are to come for our school. I would recommend Buena Vista to any parents that are looking for a school where your children can really feel at home, make long lasting friends and have teachers and a principle that really care.
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Posted April 30, 2009

My twins are in kindergarden at Buena Vista and we absolutely LOVE this school. Any and all special needs are addressed and met by the teachers and staff, and BV has a lot of programs that are no longer available at the other public schools. The school is small, so it's like getting the benefits of a private school without the cost. While I do agree with the other parents comments about the Principal, Mrs. Howard, she does have a softer side that she doesn't show often. She has a bit of a superiority complex and considers her opinions as an 'educator' to be much more valuable than those of the parents. I get the feeling that this is true with the teachers as well. If she were more in tune with us about class placement, etc and spoke to us as equals, BV would be a perfect 10!
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