Fox Chapel Elementary School

At first glance the school and the administrators seem to work well with the children, but if you have the opportunity to come in and volunteer, have lunch and recess with children or chaperone a field trip your eyes will in most cases be opened wide. If your child can breeze through without any event or episode or brush with staff or conflict with other children that require staff intervention then in most cases things will be fine. Bullying is ''NOT TOLERATED'' but in most cases a report of bullying leads to an ''investigation'' by the principal or asst. principal that quickly becomes a hunt to prove that your child did something, anything equally wrong and that once this evidence is brought to light the case should be closed and you should be quiet since your child is more than likely the one causing the issue. The investigation is backed by corroboration of one or two student's who witnessed the event, however you at no time ever truly know what was said or asked. It's a circus in that regard. The older the kids get the more the staff has battles, seek revenge, have verbal disputes and out right antagonize the students. Lunch staff and recess staff along with the Cafeteria Supervisor yell and scream at the children from Kindergarten all the way through 5th grade no respect of a person or age. Conflict resolution is minimal and the policy they have in place of ''if you are hit, don't hit back tell a teacher'' is ineffective as staff simply says I didn't see it so... or give them another chance) and leaves children to try to resolve conflicts that should easily be resolved by competent, well-trained staff. Children are embarrassed with moving colors from green, to yellow, to orange to red and sat on ''the stage'' in the cafeteria in front of the entire grade level as punishments for unwanted behaviors or misunderstandings. Overall I give the school 2 stars. They do offer after-school activities and PTA sponsored events. Some teachers truly care about the entire well-being of the students. Classroom teachers are not very diverse and Assist. Principals are rolled in and out early. In most cases the school is kept locked and safe and that goes a long way. I've heard of no incidents of breaches. Traffic is nightmare for drop off and pick up. my kids have picked up so many derogatory terms and cuss words from the playground that it''s ridiculous but not the fault of the school, but the parents. All in all if you stay active, involved and aware your child will probably come out okay. Listen to them and take action when things don't seem right.

While I like that they have GT program, I do not like the fact that they do not have anything fun for kids. Most schools give certificates after completing Kindergarten. Most schools have Halloween parade or Christmas party. This school is so boring. The are is just depressing.