Collins Elementary - Likes and Dislikes? (home, schools, live)

[TerpGirl]

We've got our home and are set to move in two weeks!

I've verified that my kids will be going to Collins Elementary and based on most of the information I've found online it seems to be a decent school. Now I want to hear from parents what your experience has been. My kids will be entering 3rd grade but I welcome feedback from parents of all grades.

I've heard a lot about "teaching for the FCAT" and I'm familiar with Common Core curriculum - this is all very similar to what we deal with here in MD. I'm more interested in hearing about what it's like communicating with teachers and staff, are your kids doing "hours" of homework each night, and things of that nature.

Thanks!

[NALEXAND]

Hi,
My daughters have attended Collins from K-5 and we've had a relatively awesome experience at Collins. There are many great teachers at each level and there is not much homework given. The school has been an "A" school since it opened I believe. There have been drastic changes this year due to the Hillsborough County Superintendent Mary Ellen Elia getting fired towards the end of the school year which for some reason resulted in a lot of good principals and staff getting shifted off to new schools. This was the craziest thing I have ever seen and Collin's lost their principal Mr. Sims in this mess. I have heard that many teachers are going to follow him to his new school this upcoming school year. This change devastated a lot of parents and teachers so we'll see what the future holds at Collins.

[TerpGirl]

Hi there!

Thank you for responding. Transitions like this can be tough, we've seen it where we live now. Hopefully, the school is able to attract equally great teachers to replace the ones they loose and the school will maintain it's "A" rating.

Thanks, again!