Burleigh Elementary

Burleigh Elementary is a large school with over 700 students. The curriculum for early education (5k-kindergarten) is extremely disjointed and does not meet the expectations of parents who wish for a cohesive, robust, and effective education for their young children. Particularly, the kindergarten (5k) full-day program is extremely disappointing. The language arts program for kindergarten is a whole language approach which has been proved to be ineffective. There is an expectation that children come into the 5K classroom ready to read, however, there is very little emphasis on phonics to help children decode words and have the tools to help them read and build on their reading skills. Invented spelling (without correction), very little emphasis on vowels, handwriting without lined paper (which helps children learn proportion of letter sizes) are all some of the examples of the flawed language arts curriculum. The math curriculum for 5K is basically non-existent. Everyday Math is the primary program used for mathematics, however the program is flawed and needs to be supplemented (especially at the 5K level) so concrete number concepts are taught. Needless to say, the math supplements used are not satisfactory. In 5k, there is little thought to helping children at an individual level, and a station/grouped concept with little adult intervention (despite parents best attempts to help in the classroom) to help children stay on-task and engaged is overused. One of the lead kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Hillig, is extremely disorganized, is lacking in expertise and professionalism in communication to parents on how to help their children in the classroom, and has expectations of students which outweigh their social and academic abilities at a kindergarten level without strong leadership and a willing mentor. If you have a child ready to enter kindergarten, you should look at all your options before enrolling them at Burleigh Elementary.