Theodore Roosevelt School

The school is ok. My experience have left me second guessing on the quality of care. I will limit this comment to facts. My sons class sizes seem really large even tho there in an aid split between 2 classrooms. 30+ kids are in my sons class. I help out when I can at his school. They are always looking for help. They have incorperrated technology based learning tools. A smart board and computures. The teacher could benefit greatly from the smart board. However seems to have difficult using the device. The computures are used as a reward for doing good and finishing early with work. Now mind you that this is just my sons 1st grade class. Homework seems to be a more reasonable amount. Last year he had homework everyday of the week. Meaning including Saturday and Sunday in kidergarden! Also last year I was told that Learning is not fun by a facultly member.
I personally believe that learning by itself is fun. I understand that video games and TV has taken away from that. However it is not very difficult to engage a child's learning side or to peak their interest and get them involve. All in all the people are nice. They seemed overwhelmed and so I enjoy helping out.

I recently found out that when my grand-daughter, who has a cultural background of German, French, African, Polish, English and Native American registered for kindergarten at Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School in Cheektowaga one of the requirements was to pick a race. The registration form asked her parents to select a race from the basic standard choices excluding biracial and commanded; CHOOSE ONE OR ONE WILL BE CHOOSEN FOR HER BY A SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE. I almost fell out of my chair. Before my grand-daughter naturally develops her self-concept and decides what she wants people to recognize her as, the school system is intervening to create a label for her and making it seem like the parents have a choice when the only choice is which label my grand-daughter will be assigned. This is 2013 AMERICA, institutionalized educational ignorance sets all of our children up to be racists by forcing us into labels and roles to make it easier to control us.
I was drawing and coloring with my grand -daughter and when it came time to color her skin she readily picked out orange. Not tan. Not yellow. Not brown. Not red. Not black. Not green. She is telling me the she believes she is orange. She looks at her own skin and sees orange. I held out my arm next to hers and asked what color am I? She said, pink. Natural pigmentations vary across the color spectrum. Cultural stereo types lock us into basic color pigmentations of yellow, red, white, black, tan and brown which then compose the racial stereo types of (white) European culture, (black) African/South American culture, (yellow) Asian culture. (brown) Mediterranian Culture, (red) Native American culture, (tan) Far Eastern culture.
My grand-daughter is special. Her cultural background is German, French, African, Polish, English and Native American, but her color is orange. We are all special. None of us are a racial stereo type. We are real people with several hundred centuries of genetic combinations and historical cultural backgrounds that make us all completely unique human beings with individual physical features and aptitudes and temperaments and talents.

The teachers and staff are very dedicated to the school and starting children on a
lifelong journey of learning.