I had never visited this newly built campus, Coach Archie Duran Elementary School! It's a beautiful school with friendly, kind, and super-smart students! I substitute taught for two days, and the class made me feel welcomed! Loved the office staff! They were extremely supportive and helpful! I hope to be back very soon. read more

See all

This 23 million dollar school is in its 3rd year of operation. The facility is nice but the grounds keeping has room for improvement. The front desk staff gives the school a good image. There is a new principal in her first year at the school. She has a different approach from the prior administration. I admire both and we will see what is the better leadership style. The academics are taught and some teachers go above and beyond. Some teachers profess to care about the students but actions seem to be often mismatched. Sometimes programs get discontinued and no explanation is given-- such as no science fair this year, not a continued emphasis and competition among grade level for the best rate of attendance, the afterschool groups don't seem to be emphasized as much as they were the last two years, although the school has a school uniform, the staff and teachers need a uniform as evidenced by the attire of some of the staff. I have seen faculty with sneakers untied. The parents are not too involved as shown by no PTA. The faculty has a nice, paved parking lot but many choose to park parallel on side streets obscuring vision. The dismissal procedure is utter chaos and quite dangerous with no observed security measures and there is no crosswalk guards. Tutoring is available and snacks are provided for students who attend the tutoring sessions. Parent conferences have to be short like 5 minutes due to the large ratio of students per certified teacher. When the school got a waiver for classroom size, I doubt if parents were notified as TEA recommends. I look pretty closely at my child's backpack and I did not see a letter giving information of the classroom students exceeding 22. There is a choir teacher and an orchestra teacher this current year and both seem invested in their programs. The art teacher is stellar. There are often delayed announcements such as when photos will be taken. Each week there seems to be a least one day that students don't have to wear the school uniform. The parent engagement liaison is exceptional and is good to pass on information. This school is having its growing pains and the school's overall report card grade for 22-23 was dismal. Educators can do a good job and results can remain undesirable if there is not the parental reinforcement and I believe that Coach Archie Duran does not have a good handhold with the parents. read more