Fred W Graff School

417 East 6th Street

School District

Laurel Elementary
Grade

3-4
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:21
Type

public

School Map for Laurel Elementary 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 January 06, 2017

The overall morale at this school is excellent. It is obvious that the teachers like being here, and student behavior reflects this. My child loves going to school everyday. However, there are so many resources that are not being utilized. The math curriculum is great, but could be implemented in a much more engaging way. Technology, smart board games, and hands on activities are available for "Go Math", but they are nowhere to be found. I'm not sure if LPS is underfunded, or if they simply do not know about these resources. Common Core rules the classroom, and social studies and science SUFFER!! I have been left to teach my child about states, presidents, world geography, states of matter, and plants at home. So sad. Kids can only do math for so long in a day before they're burnt out. Overall, I love this school, and I understand that teachers are doing all they can with the resources they have. Ultimately, any downfalls are a result of district administrative inadequacies.
Submitted by parent on October 28, 2013

The teacher quality is excellent and they truly care about their students. However, this new Common Core is a bit of a mess. Teachers don't seem to have the opportunity to place a child according to their assessment of the child's level and ability. In the first month of school a large percentage of the kids were placed lower than the student, teacher and parents believed they should be. Even though everyone recognized this problem the teachers could not move the student to the appropriate level until several weeks had passed the student was re-evaluated on the designated "schedule." I agree with standards and making school work more challenging but in my child's case she was placed in too low a level and was not challenged. Sure she got 100% on almost everything but the content wasn't difficult enough. The school did re-test and she was placed at a higher level but not after wasting the first 6 weeks of school. This is not the teachers fault. Their hands are tied which demonstrates the danger of a one size fits all system. A system must at least be flexible enough to allow the people who are actually teaching the child to make adjustments when necessary.