The building itself & location:
- They've been consistently…read moretaking measures year over year to improve the building's security. There are 6-7 entrances to the school & they used to leave them all open all day long. Over the last few years they've been locking the doors during the day. Finger printing & a background check is required district-wide if you're a parent or guardian volunteering on a field trip which is good. Two years ago they installed security cameras outside of the school. New this school year, during the day, all of the doors are locked & you have to enter next to the office & ring a door bell & announce who you are to a staff member (they can see who it is on camera) & they buzz you in.
- It's a standard elementary school building. Nothing too fancy although some of the classrooms do have smart boards now. Cafeteria, classrooms, library, media lab, gymnasium/auditorium, etc.
- It's on a small plot of land but there is a decent-sized play ground & a few raised garden beds in the front of the school & a small garden area behind the school.
- It's right off of Main Street & there are two crossing guards in the morning & afternoon - one at the 4-way intersection & another at the intersection of Main St & School St, so it's a safe, convenient location. There are always plenty of parents who walk their kids to & from school & it's a small town so you get to know everyone by face quickly.
The staff, principal, support staff (not teachers):
- The principal is very involved in everything from the school itself to the extra curricular activities to the parents group. She must not sleep, honestly. We ran into her 2+ hours (one-way) from town one weekend - we were in the area for a different event & she was there cheering on the school's Destination Imagination team.
- The secretary & receptionist are nice & they know the students by name & if you're a regular at the school (or a regular in prior years) they know who's parent you are & probably your name & your child's teacher & grade. Small town!
- The nurse is very nice, she even has spare coats, hats, gloves, etc in her small office during the winter for the less fortunate children at the school.
- [I don't know any of the cafeteria workers as my child has never gotten hot lunch]
- There is a school counselor but she is over-burdened. You'd never know it because she will call you or return emails quickly when there is a problem & will work one-on-one with your child, even if your child isn't a "problem", just having nervousness issues or the like.
***They USED to have a child psychologist on staff at the school full-time 10-ish years ago, I've heard, but they cut the position with budget cuts. There seems to be an influx of "problem" children recently who could do with some serious psychological help...
The student body:
Like anywhere, you're going to get "problem" children. There are more kind, respectful students than "problem" children but the "problem" children stick out like sore thumbs & suck up resources. There are 2-3 full-time staff members dedicated to taking care of these students. There is a gifted-talented group, one per grade, that only meets for a few hours one day/week & the woman who runs the program works for the district, not just this school. So for the problem kids, there are 2-3 full-time staff members whose job it is to take care of them. But for the gifted-talented kids, they get a few hours one day/week. Doesn't set the best example: act up & you get immediate attention but be smart & enjoy learning & you have to wait...
The teachers:
We've been here for 5 years. We've had 1 "good" teacher, 2 who went "above & beyond" 110% of the time who were SUPER teachers, & 2 who were pretty poor, they were "yellers" much of the time & just very impatient & they were the kind who you wondered why they got into teaching in the first place.
The politics of the school, the parents, town:
- It's a small town. You get people who have never been anywhere else & who will never go anywhere else who have nothing better to do than gossip, so you have to be careful what you say & to whom you say it. The best thing is just to lay low & not say anything that would be considered remotely controversial unless you want people talking about you behind your back.
- Jaffrey is an extremely religious town. There are those of us who believe in being a good person not so we can get into heaven but because it's the nice, human thing to do, but the religious people "over run" things. For example, the students are not allowed to dress up at school on Halloween because it's an "evil, Pagan" holiday. So dressing up the other 364 days of the year is okay, but on Halloween it's "evil"? Gimme a break. That was one of my best memories as a child, dressing up on Halloween at school, & it irks me that my child can't have that too because of some religious nuts.
Overall it's a nice, small-town elementary school.
