Handley School

Our children started at Handley this year, and I am so happy we made the switch! They are so much more confident in themselves now, and their vocabulary has grown immensely since starting. I love when they come home speaking Spanish or talking about projects they are working on. They are excited to go to school everyday, which is such a refreshing change. I would highly recommend Handley to any parent looking for a school that will challenge their child. My kids ride the bus from Bay City, and I'm so happy this is offered as an option. Absolutely no complaints!

Handley has a very diverse student population demographically, and even though the student to teacher ratios are high for the caliber school it is, the parent involvement in the students' education more than makes up for the ratio. The Principal and teachers are all actively involved in student education, and encourage students to work at their own pace with accelerated reading and math programs.

I'd say average to above average if it was like other public schools but the IB program pulls it lower. I do agree with the other parent that the teachers are excellent but when you throw in the IB content, the program for Handley loses creditability. Go to www.truthaboutib.com to learn more about IB. IB is a UN based (look up IB's charter and see if the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still on the wall outside Handley's cafeteria.) education program that will confuse the kids because it is going nowhere in Saginaw. After the IB-PYP where does it go? What's the point of IB-PYP if you can't go to the mid-level or the high school level and earn the diploma? Why should the Saginaw Public School system be saddled with this expense program? Saginaw could have done better by keeping it as a gifted program. Until then, I'll take my kids somewhere else and hope that SASA can continue to fight off IB till my kids are old enough.

I pulled my two children out. This is an International Baccalaureate school, I suggest you dig deep into what this is and who is represented by this. In Kindergarten, my son came home saying "Never,ever cut down a tree". I had to tell him what a renewable resource was. I cautioned the use of plastics, Styrofoam and rubber which eventually end up in a land fill and don't biodegrade. In first grade, he came home saying that "CO2 is a poison". He flipped out at the gas station when my husband was filling the gas can for the mower. I gave him a can of soda pop and showed him some chemical structures of carbon - he actually understood! I stressed moderation, innovation in new fuel discoveries and practical applications. The last straw for my husband was when they were going to write letters "to companies that are unfriendly to the rainforests". My last straw was seeing the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights posted on the wall outside the café. This, in part, contradicts the United States constitution. There is a difference between "rights" and "privileges". Also, they boast "critical thinking". Our arguments; How can you teach a child this young to be a critical thinker? Why not stick to the basics? How can you say that it is critical thinking when only one part of the equation (or opinion) is given? They DO NOT teach them HOW to think, they are teaching them WHAT to think. We didn't like it. We do however,compliment the teachers. The ones we had were very good.

Handley is an awesome school for children. The teachers are awesome and are really hands on with the students. The education is spectacular and the kids learn lots. No wonder they are ranked #1 of all of the elementary schools in the state of Michigan.