Hunters Bend Elementary School in Franklin (attorney, school districts, camp)

[Five Faces]

My wife and I will be enrolling our son in Kindergarten next week.

I would like to request (which I understand is not guaranteed) a teacher for my son and was looking for opinions. If you are familiar HBES, which kindergarten teacher would you request for your child.

This is very important to my wife and I. We know that HBES is a great school and that any teacher will be great, we simply want to be sure that our son has an exceptional experience since his attention span can be limited.

I realize this is a very specific request, but thought I would try here on city-data anyway. I would greatly appreciate any fedback.

[HastingsJD]

I live in CA (planning to relocate to TN in two years) so I can't be much specific help, but perhaps you could consider requesting a meeting with the respective kindergarten teachers to judge for yourself? I would imagine the teachers are very busy, but some may be open to the idea. We're going to do this here in CA before we enroll my son in preschool (it was actually suggested by our local school district.) This may have to be after you enroll but you could request a switch if you like a particular teacher better. In my experience (I am attorney specializing in education issues) school districts find this kind of stuff a pain in the rear but the squeaky wheel often gets the most attention!

Also, do they have any sort of orientation program? Our local district does meetings for parents with incoming K-5s. It could be another chance to get some face time with a teacher and get a general opinion.

If you can't meet anyone face to face, you could maybe ask for a tour of the school or the kindergarten rooms. I don't know amenable they are to this in WC or at HB, but you could ask. Check out the rooms, the displays, etc. If school is still in session perhaps you could see some of them in "action."

Lastly, you may see if there is any public information available on the credentials of the various K5 teachers. Here in CA they list some very basic info on the state's website for teacher credentials.

[Vandy-bound]

I don't have any experience with that particular school, but I'd be shocked if the administration allowed you to specify what teacher you wanted your son to have. For each of the three school districts (in different states) our children have attended, we were encouraged to write something about how our son learned best and about his personality, with the understanding that that information would be used to place our kids with the teacher that would be the best fit. We've never been allowed to request specific teachers, but if there was a reason why not to have a particular teacher, we've been encouraged to specify which one (personality issues, teaching styles, etc).

If you're concerned about the teacher being able to accommodate your son's attention span, I'd definitely mention it to the administration when you enroll your son; but keep in mind that a lot of maturation can take place from March to August. It's quite possible that something you see as a potential issue now can be gone 6 months from now.

Just my .02

[HastingsJD]

I think such requests may be more likely if a student has an IEP, but as Vandy-bound infers it seems unwhat likely for a student in general education.

Again though I am not from the area (yet!) so I could be wrong. I'm curious - did the school have a specific procedure in place for requesting a teacher or is this just something you did?

Regardless - I hope you end up with a teacher you're happy with! I know I'll be fretting about the same thing myself in a few years.

[BirdieBelle]

At Lipscomb, our principal makes no bones about the fact that, unless there is an IEP, she does not honor requests for teachers at any grade.
They do extensive "readiness" testing at the beginning of the year. It is called "Bear Camp," and each kindergarten teacher meets with children individually and tests them in different categories. They are easy tests of whether the kids know colors, numbers, can read etc. The kids think they're playing games, but this way each teacher gets to know the children a little and can evaluate them and whether they can sit still, follow instructions etc. Then the teachers and principal meet and group the kids in ways that are as good as they can be for all involved.
Kindergartners have a staggered start here too. They start two weeks after the rest of the grades, and they only attend two days a week for the first two weeks to get acclimated.
I have had great success letting the teachers and principal place my children over the past 10 years. I encourage you to do the same.

[HastingsJD]

Originally Posted by Wmsn4Life

At Lipscomb, our principal makes no bones about the fact that, unless there is an IEP, she does not honor requests for teachers at any grade.
They do extensive "readiness" testing at the beginning of the year. It is called "Bear Camp," and each kindergarten teacher meets with children individually and tests them in different categories. They are easy tests of whether the kids know colors, numbers, can read etc. The kids think they're playing games, but this way each teacher gets to know the children a little and can evaluate them and whether they can sit still, follow instructions etc. Then the teachers and principal meet and group the kids in ways that are as good as they can be for all involved.
Kindergartners have a staggered start here too. They start two weeks after the rest of the grades, and they only attend two days a week for the first two weeks to get acclimated.
I have had great success letting the teachers and principal place my children over the past 10 years. I encourage you to do the same.

Wow Bear Camp starts great! I think we just get assigned to a classroom in my local district. Do you know if that's done for all schools in Williamson County or just at Lipscomb?

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by HastingsJD

Wow Bear Camp starts great! I think we just get assigned to a classroom in my local district. Do you know if that's done for all schools in Williamson County or just at Lipscomb?

Not sure. A lot of those activities are site-based, so I would check with your intended school.

[BirdieBelle]

Just FYI, here is a list of kindergarten registration dates for all WCS elementary schools:

InFocus