Henry David Thoreau Elementary School

Gina _{on Google}

Jul 11th, 2017

Love it

Noelle P. _{on Yelp}

Sep 3rd, 2021

I was actually a student here with ADHD. Do not bring your children here please. I honestly really hope some of the teachers from 2004-2011 see this: back when I went to school here if you had adhd it was treated the same as being on the spectrum with autism. Kids at lunch are already mean but special Ed was treated the same as being dumb, and the staff didn't help. I was pulled out from my classroom to work at a much slower pace in a special Ed classroom where there was a padded room for children that werent physically able to control themselves, I was dragged into this room a few times for a timeout if I was upset and wanted to work on things that my classmates were working on. They would have me practicing math at a much slower pace and a much lower level then my normal classroom did. In third grade they took me to the padded room and I was told to draw out HUGE numbers 1-5 and I remember still how much it hurt my feelings. I had to take adhd medication and I cannot believe to this day what they did was allowed. Through the school announcement speakers I would have one of the nurses call out my first and last name and request me to come to the office to take my medicine. The entire school would here this on the enter com and I would here kids I didn't even know asking who that Noelle Parkinson kid was... This would be humiliating for anyone and I can't believe they actually did this. If that wasn't enough, I had an older teacher that also managed recess. She would walk around and I would hide from her because anytime I was at recess or walking with other kids from my class she would shout out and ask if I had taken my meds yet. I was pointed out, called out, and humiliated daily by the school staff about taking medication. Very early on I was bullied for being different and the staff had a huge roll in this for how they singled me out and separated me from my class. I didn't get the proper education I needed while attending, I left this school with childhood trauma from attending this school AND from what I was going through at home. All because I was different, and what's worse is that I would start my days in my normal classroom so I would bring my lunchbox to class each morning and then an hour in to the lesson a teacher would pull me out to work with the other special Ed students. I would miss part of my lunch having to rush to get my lunch box in the classroom and often I would forget my lunchbox in the "normal kid" classroom and then be scolded in front of the whole class for leaving lunchboxes over night in the classroom. The Principal working at the time was Mrs. Mellon. 2011 is only 10 years ago so please take this into consideration when bringing your children here. They have one of the worst IEP programs, please do not bring your child here if they have adhd. They do not understand what adhd is. If your child has adhd, do not allow them to be placed into a separate classroom. This will only isolate them further, they will feel more different and be bullied even worse. It will also make it harder for them to fit in or make friends. The staff here doesn't help either. Even the music teacher Mrs. Paige embarrassed me so bad for trying to sing that I didn't sing for years. So going to a school while also having a rough time at home is something that no child should have to go through. I feel like if everyone left a review for the school district that messed them up mentally, things would be a lot different for our children.