Coral Academy Elementary

I agree completely with the previous poster -- Coral Academy of Science was an unfortunate choice for my child. The style of discipline is to humiliate the "bad" children by posting a large display that shows which children were "bad" and which were "good." Being good, is, of course, being quiet and always doing exactly what the teacher says. Being bad generally means talking too much. The other kids quickly caught on that my child had been pegged as a "bad" kid, so they shunned her and tattled on her incessantly. My child was never listened to -- even when the "reports" came from a 5-year-old. She'd get hauled into the office and forced to endure lectures from the school disciplinarian without me being advised. My child had been in daycare settings since she was an infant and had NEVER been a troublemaker or a behavior problem before entering kindergarten at Coral. I complained about the culture of pigeonholing/scapegoating children and how negative it is for the victimized child, but I received zero response from the principal. Just some weak "I'm sorry you feel that way" emails from her teacher. They also took her one friend and split them up -- her only source of support. She would come home and cry, saying, "Nobody likes me. I don't have any friends." They also disqualified my child's first grade science project—which she had done for fun as an extra credit project—because it contained one picture of her. Even at regionals, they don't DQ kids for having a photo. They simply put a sticky note over the picture.

The very worst came when a another teacher (not my child's teacher, not even the same grade) told a woman at a sporting event not associated with Coral that my child had a "bad reputation" at Coral!! This teacher volunteered that information! She apparently didn't realize that the woman she told was a close friend of mine. This completely confirmed that the teachers at Coral gossip maliciously about children amongst themselves. Unbelievable.

If you want a Nazi-style system of discipline and Nazi-style scapegoating of children, choose Coral. If you want your highly intelligent child to be discouraged and friendless, choose Coral. Otherwise, run as far away as fast as you can! I took my child to a children's counselor as a result of this abuse and was told that she hears this type of complaint about CAS all the time.

What I love about Coral is that they provide a learning-rich environment with structure and support. Communication is superb, and the children LEARN. They provide enrichment programs on site, such as P.E., Art, Music, and Computers, in which all students participate, and they also provide a facility for and a wide-variety of after school clubs.

Had a very unfortunate experience! The administration is incapable of leading, and resolving classroom issues: inadequate instruction, poor classroom management, and inappropriate teacher behaviors. They allow well documented ineffective teachers to stay on staff, year after year. Some teachers are excellent, but administration does not know how to support, develop and/or remove poor teachers; so the children suffer.