South Harnett Elementary School

Since this review written on January 11, 2010 was written A LOT of changes have happened at SHES. FIrst and foremost there is a new principal at the school. His name is Mr. Graham. He DOES care about the students and the teachers. The principal does not have control at the schools about having warm water in the bathrooms. That is determined by the county. So, unfortunately that can not be fixed. The school is not NEW. It is one of the oldest schools in the county. Mr. Graham is working hard on making the school a one-to-one school meaning that each student has their one technology device to use. The teachers at the school care about the students. The school has implemented a new program this past school year called the Seven Habits and did the 55 Essentials by Ron Clark. I saw a difference in my child's attitude this year because of it. They even have dress up Monday's where the students are to dress nicely and Friday is Patriot Pride day were they are to wear red, white and blue. They school is involved in lots of activities for the students they are just not after school. My child comes home and talks about the "cool" things that happened at school that day. The basketball players that came in and Jumped and did stunts, the cool football game, and volleyball game. Along with so much more. I know that as a parent transportation is an issue. I have had my kids in other schools. I pick THIS school over the other ones. They use technology, they focus on the curriculum, they care about my child, they are always communicating with me as a parent through alert now on the phone. I feel that I am kept in the loop at this school. I do not know why people have to be so negative. There are A LOT of GREAT things going on at SOUTH HARNETT. Give them a try. You will really like the school even though it is not a new school.

There are AG classes available for students, if you ask for them. The music program is a joke. No instruments. We did purchase a $1 plastic recorder, waited 2 months to get it, and he only used it in class for about a week. Art class lacks any type of intriguing, out-of-the-box ideas and or activities, and there is no sports program other than PE once a week and the possibility of recess, if you are lucky enough to have a compassionate teacher. The facilities that come to mind are bathrooms and the lunchroom. The bathrooms (if again, you are lucky enough to have a compassionate teacher who actually allows the children to wash their hands with soap and water) have broken faucets, no warm water, and most of the soap dispensers are broken. The lunchroom lines are horrendous. The children have about 25 minutes for lunch and spend about 10-15 minutes of that time, standing in line waiting to get their lunch. Then they must woof it down, put up their trays and several children from their class have to "wipe" the tables down. Hygiene is a major issue at this school. If your child is a car rider, they are all shuffled to the front of the school, outside of the office doors, and made to sit on the floor until their parent(s) pick them up. Again, hygiene is an issue. The computer lab at the school is a positive aspect. Mr. Bancroft, who runs the computer lab, is awesome. In closing, the Principal "seems" to care about the students, however, there is visible bias amongst the students and her ability to carry on a conversation or to auto correct her typos and grammar (even on the schools' homepage) is outlandish. It really says something about the "quality education" motto they live by. Like many other schools, if a parent tries to become involved with a pro-active initiative, there is backlash. I realize teachers are underpaid and overworked, however, in today's economy, to have a job is a blessing. Sometimes you have to know when to change up your career when it comes to affecting our youth.