Research Thoroughgood Elementary School public Schools in Virginia Beach, Virginia

“I have concern about the work load the children recieve for homework. The amount of projects and the overall teacher attention that the children get. Homework in just about every subject every night gives the children no down time. The required reading and projects make the family time scarce. There is no time left for any extra activies without the race against the clock. My biggest question remains unanswered with how homework effects their precious SOL scores. My child did very well on the SOL and still has at least 2 hours of homework a night.”

“As a parent of two children who have attended this school for the past 8 years, Thoroughgood Elementary School does a phenomenal job. They sincerely care about the parents' thoughts and concerns and how they apply in the classroom. The PTA is very involved and there are always parents in the halls and classrooms helping wherever than can. Both of my children went on to highly successful middle and high school years. One of my children had special needs and the school seemed sincere in their desire to accomadate him. Thoroughgood is an aggressive and high achieving academic school. I highly recommend this school to anyone!”

“My children have attended Thoroughgood for the past 7 years. I have been extremely happy with the quality of education at our school. We have an excellent principal and teachers who truly love to teach. My children have enjoyed so many aspects of school at Thoroughgood. They have participated in extra curricular activities such as ORFF, Soarin' Seagulls Dance, Destination Imagination, Chorus, Geography Club and Bee. We have an extremely active PTA that provide funds for many great programs and events throughout the year. Thoroughgood is one of Virginia's best public elementary schools.”

“We moved from another public school system in the State of Virginia and I am just amazed at how different the attitudes are between principals and teachers at both schools. Our previous school genuinely cared about each child. This new school carries a defensive attitude about parents observing their child in class or questioning how and why certain things are done. The teachers definately teach only to the SOL's . What a joke. The kids end up getting extra work, become bored because of the slow pace, and hardly do any hands-on learning. Everything is taught from the texts and do not allow for the joy of learning by exploring topics of interest. Creativity is very low at this school. Worst of all, the attitude seems to be coming down from the Principal which makes any changes unlikely.”

“This is a good school for the average to above average student. As a mom with two children who went through the school my first had no trouble. My second had a learning disability and they we not at all willing to work with the IEP or help her to succeed in any way.”

“Teachers are great, but cirriculum is focused on only one item--testing standards. Parents were told at the beginning of the year, 'if it isn't in the SOLs we don't teach it'. Teachers teach only to succeed with the SOL tests at the end of the year. Creativity, and altering the depth of a subject based on interest and student ability seems non-existent. For example, your first grader that can read like a 4th grader will be given exactly the same homework as a slow learner. In fact, all 120 or so children in the 1st grade were given, exactly the same homework. If your child is bright, she will be bored. I feel sorry that the true talent of these awesome teachers is being so confined. I would rather have my child excited about learnng than passing some state test with flying colors.”

“This is a wonderful school.”