Fernley -- What is Cottonwood Elementary and Fernley Int. School like? (Reno: 2010, house)

[azk]

Hello,

We just closed on a house in Fernley, NV and will be moving full time by January 2010. We have two children as one will attend Cottonwood Elem. and the other Fernley Int. School. Just wondering what either school is like? What programs do they offer? Is there a lot of parent involvement? Our kids are a little nervous about starting a new school since they will be coming from a small town in New Mexico. Any information would be helpful.

Thank you

[Clarks]

Fernley is not the heart of Progressive education, Fernley is a mix of old, fairly redneck Nevada families and newcomers commuting to Reno for work.

The schools are not bad, although Fernley High's football gets its tail end kicked across the state regularly by Truckee High.

They got beat so bad one year the Fernley parents rioted

[akgrown]

My family and I moved here in August and my 6-year-old goes to Cottonwood. We actually live out of district, but we saw better online reviews for Cottonwood.

My son's teacher is awesome. I am able to email her or call and get a response fairly quickly.

One thing that is different from my son's last school is that they don't have a physical education teacher, therefore, they don't have a regularly scheduled gym time. Another difference is that they go to the library, but they are not able to check out books and bring them home. My point is there doesn't seem to be any structure with regard to the gym, music and library activities.

Another thing we learned is that the children are allowed to leave the playground during recess (unattended) to go inside the school to the office to buy things from the school store. I was told this story by my son, and it was confirmed by his teacher. I was a little surprised that my 6-year-old is allowed to wander the halls unattended.

[azk]

Thanks akgrown for the information regarding Cottonwood.

[akgrown]

No problem. I also sent a message to your inbox here.

Also, I forgot to add that my neighbor is a teacher at the middle school and I met several of her colleagues at a birthday party and they all seem really nice. That is about as far as my knowledge of the middle school goes though.