Christie Elementary

Great school within a diverse community

Our son is in his third year at Christie, and our whole family loves it! The teachers with whom I've come into contact are extremely caring and dedicated, and the principal is energetic and visionary. They are turning the library (while keeping all the books) into a Learning Commons, the first of its kind in PISD. There will be eight or so stations dedicated to hands-on learning. The parents I know are very excited about this and other changes geared towards learning and safety.

I know, from talking to parents in the community, that a lot of people chose to transfer their kids to Thomas or somewhere else entirely, without even checking out Christie for themselves because the online reviews are mostly negative, even though they are very outdated. Let me just say, though, we've been at Christie for 3 years and I can't say I understand why anyone would want to transfer out. I've been impressed with the positive attitudes of every single teacher and staff member I've come in contact with. Mr. Steele, who has been our assistant principle, is now the new principle this year. He is very open and transparent with the parents. Every teacher has a blog so the parents can know what their kids have been working on. Some will say, "but it's a Title 1 school..." and imply that our kids will be at a learning disadvantage because of that. However, BECAUSE we are Title 1 we are able to have more specialists, and more funding for programs that other schools don't get. One of the most awesome examples of this is the new "Learning Commons" in our library which has all sorts of robotics, engineering, drama, and technology-rich problem solving collaborative spaces for more hands on learning opportunities. We are the first school in PISD to have this kind of enrichment space and everyone is super excited about it! If you are moving into the area, come visit the school before you make your decision.