White Oak Elementary

555 West B McLean Drive

School District

Carteret County Public
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:12
Type

public

School Map for Carteret County Public School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on May 09, 2024

Poor staff! Why would you keep a parent away from their child????
Submitted by parent on March 02, 2024

I wouldn’t recommend for any student with an IEP
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2022

Communicates w parents well. Engaged teachers. Our kids enjoy going to school.
Submitted by parent on August 11, 2021

My daughter attended White Oak Elementary from K-5th grade. We had a wonderful experience! She has an IEP. She started out with many services needed and being pulled out of the classroom for some of these. Due to hard work and persistent love and patience, she reached goal after goal and needed less and less time out of the classroom. Eventually, she was able to be in the classroom 100% of the time for full inclusion. Those teachers that were involved in my daughters elementary education, got her where she is today and we are forever grateful. They had her back 100% of the way and looked out for her, because of that, they are considered family. The atmosphere in this school is so warm and welcoming. If I was in school with her for any reason, when we walked down the hallway, people would ALWAYS say hey, wave, or stop and have a conversation with a smile on their face. That made my Mama heart feel so good.
Submitted by parent on January 21, 2021

Fantastic teachers. Excellent communication with parents. School has been very supportive. Highly recommend!
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2018

Completely disrespectful staff member repeatedly ask if we had custody paperwork must because my son has blonde hair like his mother and mine is black. Also made many remarks about how we wouldn't understand things because of our age. This woman talks down on you like she is the perfect person and knows all
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2017

With all of the budget cuts and the drive to privatize our public schools, I think White Oak Elementary is doing the best job that they can! My son that attends White Oak is progressing well and is happy with his teachers. Please think about what kind of public education you want your children to receive the next time you are in the voting booth!
Submitted by parent on March 12, 2017

Two of our children attended White Oak Elementary. Our daughter did fine, but our son struggles due to dyslexia and dysgraphia. The school offers nothing for children with learning differences. Instead they let them slip through the cracks. I begged and pleaded even offered to provide an appropriate program to address his needs. The principal told us if our son had attended her school from the beginning he wouldn't have dyslexia. Well Ms. Educator, that's not how dyslexia works. It affects 1 in 5 students regardless of the school they attend. Unfortunately they were not willing to step up and do their job correctly. We were forced to pull our son out to homeschool so he could actually learn. On top of that most of the teachers and staff are rude. They yell at the kids constantly. I get that the teachers are over stressed and underpaid, but if you're burnt out it's time to get out. Our kids deserve more.
Submitted by parent on August 27, 2015

This particular school is extremely lacking in quality staff and teachers my son was referred by his teacher in kindergarten for a speech evaluation because she and his doctor were concerned about his speech and the speech pathologist at this school did a very brief if any evaluation then said he did not qualify for services that what he was displaying was completely age appropriate his teacher and doctor strongly disagreed but when I pressed the issue I was just shut down now my son attends another school in another state and immediately after starting the new school he was evaluated and is receiving the adequate services he needed when he should have received them the year prior when he attended White Oak Elementary I am extremely disappointed in White Oak Elementary school as a whole kids that are gifted are not challenged at all and kids that need a little extra help do not receive it.It took switching to an actual good school to realize we came from a less than average one at White Oak if you are relocating to the carteret county area I would defiantly recommend you do your research on any other elementary schools in the area because this one is lacking.
Submitted by parent on August 04, 2015

I have to agree with a few others that this school does not challenge kids enough and that the front check in staff and office staff are very unfriendly and have no buisness working around children.Look very closely at this school before moving into the district because it is highly overrated!
Submitted by parent on October 28, 2013

We have had nothing but great experiences with this school. My children are both in third grade, and they both started here in kindergarten. The staff has always been friendly and helpful-not just the office staff, but the cafeteria staff and the janitorial staff when my son has misplaced jackets. We have been lucky witb great teachers. When my son was in kindergarten, his teacher recognized pretty quickly that he had a problem learning to read. After a parent-teacher conference, he was placed with a reading specialist. She was wonderful. All of the teachers that we have had have been dedicated, have kept us involved, and have been great with their students. Every year my kids tell me that their current teacher is their new favorite. I will say that my daughter, being gifted, could be challenged a bit more in school, but we work with her a little extra at home. We also have worked hard with our son on his weaknesses, but his teachers have been excellent and have worked with him on these and have worked with his strengths. Again, nothing but great experiences with WOES.
Submitted by parent on September 18, 2013

White Oak might be a good school for a student with no learning problems or for any student that is not gifted. All of my children have gone to this school and those that were well past where they needed to be for their grade levels were bored. They were not challenged at all and one started having behavioral problems because the work was so below where it needed to be in order to provide stimulation and a challenge. My other child had a very detailed IEP coming from a different school and the minute we started at WOES, all extra support disappeared and there are continuous struggles with the grade level work. This school teaches specifically for the EOGs and test scores seem to be the most important factor for the administration of this school and county. I'm afraid at least of my children has been set up to fail by this school and will have a very difficult time when Middle School comes around.
Submitted by parent on September 13, 2013

Our children are provided an average curriculum at White Oak Elementary. I do agree with other parents' posting that the children are not challenged and the school does not promote academic or character growth -- our children are bored thus dislike school at WOES. The office staff is not friendly or welcoming, and as the first people parents and students greet, the office personnel give the school a very bad appearance. We believe our children deserve to be surrounded by pleasant, encouraging leaders who promote a positive school experience and who give us parents confidence that our children are well cared for and safe. A smile goes a long way in order to boost the character of our children. Not the worst school we have attended but not the best.
Submitted by parent on August 22, 2013

We joined White Oak at the very beginning of 2013. We had done our research, toured the school, and felt that the location would be a good match for our kids. The school is very organized; it welcomes and recognizes volunteers; the teachers (we have only had K and 1st grade so far) were super friendly, open to our questions and concerns, and quick to respond to anything; the staff truly does its best to get to know the parents, too. I felt that my children were challenged at the appropriate level and ended the year performing above grade level in many areas. Like anything else, your experience is what you make it!! We have had an awesome time at White Oak and are looking forward to the new school year!
Submitted by parent on September 05, 2012

Kindergarten and First Grade seemed to be good. My son is now in second grade and ADHD and his teacher seems to not know "what to do with him". She seems to be a bully thus far and has a "mine" box to take things from her students when they don't listen or do something wrong. How elementary is that on her part? I hope this year gets better or we might be switching.
Submitted by parent on March 28, 2012

I completely agree with the post from 3/8/12. As a military family we've had kids in 4 different elementary schools in 3 different states (CA, VA, & NC). We've loved all our schools even though some were not rated highly at all. Sadly, this is by far the worst one we've experienced. After all the research and everyone telling us that this is "the best school in the area", it makes me wonder what other schools they compare it to. We are very disappointed. My child was actually discouraged to read above grade level. Communication from the teachers and the school is horrible... how about a newsletter once in a while? How about answering my email after a full week? Academics seem to be aimed very low and only focused on testing. Yes, high test scores make a school look appealing and they sure fooled me, but I will be happy to move on again.
Submitted by parent on March 08, 2012

Like a lot of people, we did tons of research before moving to this area from out of state and specifically lived here so our daughter could attend this school. The truth is, it IS one of the best in the area, but that does not mean it is a great school, it only means that most other schools in the Camp Lejeune/Cherry Point area are abysmal. Our experience has been that in first grade, the test is taught, particularly math and reading, with the irony being that my daughter just finished James and the Giant Peach here at home and brought Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss home in her bag book. It is still true that potentially high-achieving students are not challenged at all. We have found the school atmosphere to be warm and caring and her teacher is a wonderful lady, but there is absolutely no depth in instruction at ALL. There is very little science and apparently no history being taught at all. We will probably be homeschooling next year because there are no viable private school options out here and would have lived on base if we had known this is all we could expect from what was supposed to be an amazing school. Disappointed.
Submitted by parent on September 16, 2011

I researched schools districts/individual schools thoroughly before moving here from out of state. Unfortunately scores are only one aspect of quality. I was horrified to find my 5th grade daughter who is academically very strong, struggling so much with a male teacher. She had male teachers before but this one in particular gave her the "creeps." He frequently singled her out on the play ground, classroom, or hall and made her feel very uncomfortatble. He would eat lunch at her desk and leave his trash on her desk to clear when she returned from the cafeteria. My daughter who loved school suddenly began to cry everyday and would make herself sick with dread of returning to school. I met with the principal and explained what was happening and requested my daughter be moved to another class before something did occur. I was met with nothing but resistance from the principal and superintendant. Nine weeks later she was moved after much emotional trauma, the teacher was fired a few yrs later, principal retired and Superintendent passed away. Sadly I believe this district is more interested in saving face than protecting children.