Flagstone Elementary School

104 Lovington Street

School District

Douglas County Re 1
Grade

PK, K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:17
Type

public

School Map for Douglas County Re 1 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 July 13, 2019

overall pretty good. Love most of the teachers my boys have had. The principal and her staff have been awesome.
Submitted by parent on May 05, 2017

This is my daughter's sixth year, Pre K through 5th. Not every teacher has been a standout and early on there was a revolving door of Principals and Teachers. The last 3 years the school has been led by Kelli Smith. Unfortunately early one she had to deal with some bad apples and she's been much maligned by a group of people who don't have kids in the school for personal reasons. Don't believe those people, FSE has a wonderful principal.
Submitted by other on April 17, 2017

Every concern I've had has been addressed. The staff is positive and responsive!
Submitted by parent on November 22, 2015

My daughter loves this school and so do I. She struggled at her last school and has progressed so much since moving to Flagstone. Her teacher is amazing and her schedule is balanced for an elementary student. Yes there are new teachers but they are wonderful and I have zero complaints. When we toured everyone was welcoming and friendly. When I looked lost during orientation the principal was the one to approach me and help me find where I needed to go. I volunteer in my child's classroom on a regular basis so I ACTUALLY know what goes on during the day and it is fantastic. Her class has 22 kids (not 30 as others have said) and they ALL get individual attention as well as small group exercises.
Submitted by parent on September 05, 2015

I think there is a big problem when there is a 70% turnover with teachers. The teachers i had contact with were great all three of my kids liked a few of the teachers who left. I know some people move on for better opportunities but 70% something needs done in my opinion. I just picked up my daughter from outdoor ed today the cost per person was $175.00 a student plus they had to bring snacks, anyway i would guess they made a killing on this deal. So just outdoor ed has cost me $350.00 for two of my kids. Plus fund raiser after fund raiser then book fairs which is fine and the kids love them but as a single father of three it just adds up. Taxes are really high thats supposed to help the schools i thought. Class sizes are getting out of hand in my opinion. I have tried for the last three years to get the school to make some bumper stickers or window clings all the other schools have them so the kids can show school spirit and my youngest wants something from her school like her siblings and also we can as a family show school spirit , but flagstone will not do it again no big deal but something i keep being told is a great idea and nothing ever happens just say no its not going to happen. The tension between parents and Kelli Smith the principal is not good could this problem be part of the 70% turnover rate of staff if i was a betting man i would take that bet. So this school is so different from when my son went there he is now a senior at DC i would of gave a 5 star rating then but this school is going the wrong way.
Submitted by parent on May 10, 2015

I previously rated Flagstone a 5 star school in the fall of 2010. Since that time there has been a 70%+ turnover in teachers and staff. Experienced teachers are targeted and driven out only to be replaced with first year teachers. Class sizes have swelled to over 30 in some grade levels. Access to art, music, science and physical education have been reduced. After school activities and clubs are practically nonexistent. The morale is very low, you can almost feel it when you are in the building. Flagstone is no longer a school that I can recommend, I don't feel comfortable sending my children there anymore. This is heartbreaking and while Flagstone is very bad, this is a district wide problem. If a move out of Douglas County were a possibility we would be gone.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2015

This school used to be 4 or 5 stars just a couple of years ago. Their performance has deteriorated over the past couple of years. Not coincidentally, the current principal has been at the school for two years. As another parent stated, it is very apparent that she is more concerned with furthering her own career. Any time an issue or incident is brought to her (and I have heard this from multiple parents), her immediate reaction is that she had no idea this was going on. This tells me that the teachers don't respect/trust her and aren't communicating with her. Not a good basis for success. The teachers, for the most part, truly care about making a difference. However, with reduced staffing and class sizes of 30+, this becomes an exercise in futility and more about crowd control. Another indicator of a school's robustness is parental involvement. There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, where nearly every family would be involved in and attend extracurricular school events. Sadly, this is no longer the case. School activities are now so haphazardly executed and poorly attended that the few families that do show up tend to leave rather quickly.
Submitted by parent on October 10, 2013

If you believe class size doesn't matter...... Then you are of the same mind set as the current administration (and they have no problem telling you that "there is no research to support that class size makes a difference"). The parent of the 2nd grader below, made that comment before the school decided to fire a teacher and have only 3 sections of 2nd and 3rd grades with class sizes approaching or at 30 kids. This is our 4th new admin team in as many years and they may prove to be the worst. The principal's primary objective is to further her career at all costs. The admin intern was the schools IRT for several years but the district eliminated that position en lieu of a full-time ESL which probably led to her current position. The RTI elimination means that now kids get next to nothing when it comes to being pulled out. In addition to the admins lack of experience and perpetuating personal agendas, they have failed to provide the school with the stability it so desperately needs after several years of upset. However, the teachers at Flagstone are phenomenal! We have lost a handful due to turmoil at the school and the district, the ones who are riding it out are absolute gems!
Submitted by other on August 19, 2013

My whole childhood was basically here. About 6 years. 1-6 grade. It was such a friendly, amazing school! Except, my year (2011/2012) was probably the worst. We never got to go to outdoor ed, which was the only thing I looked forward to all these years at being at Flagstone. To this day I feel really left out, considering my older siblings all went. My first grade teacher was quite mean, but she never continued teaching after that. Then it was all up-hill from there! I had the best second/6th grade teachers imaginable. My music teacher ( Ms.G ) was the best music teacher ever! Although, during 6th, she did get really rude, and quite mean, it was all favorites and such, ect ect. I guess my rep was one of those funny touble makers. But my teachers still loved me (: The art teachers kept changing, although, they found great replacements! It was Mrs.Garamone, then the current one now. They continue to stay in my mind, because I was always the Art teachers favorite! Both have given me gifts before I left, or before the teacher left. Mr.Mizones was probably the best teacher I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Go to this school. I HIGHLY recomend. Great childhood along with learning
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2013

Poor leadership. Poor teaching with thirty children to one teacher with no teachers aid or assistant to help. With all the noise of thirty children how can your child learn in this environment? Tons of fundraisers, provided tones of top box, and why can they not afford an assistant to at minimum float between classes? Where is the money going? Why is their a high theft rate at this school?
Submitted by parent on August 27, 2011

Love Flagstone, so far the Pre K has been wonderful. Miss Kelly was vey nice caring teacher, resourceful and the helpful, the Staff is wonderful. My kids loves Flagstone and so do I. I don't know about the leadership yet so I gave it a 4 star.
Submitted by parent on September 07, 2010

My 3 sons have all thrived at Flagstone. Thanks to Sue and DCSD for the safe learning environment they provide.
Submitted by parent on June 01, 2010

I had two children enrolled in this school for 6 months and had to send them out of state to attend a safer school. My children were verbally bullied by their classmates which escalated to physical bullying before we pulled them out. Both children went to the administration on several occasions and nothing was done to protect them. The bullying resulted in both of my previously honor roll students becoming "C" students in the short time they attended Flagstone.