Research Hendricks Avenue Elementary School public Schools in Jacksonville, Florida

“Great office staff, Very dedicated teachers and the Principal as well as the Assistant Principal are very hands on in the implementation of school projects. Parents are also involved in PTAs / school activities. There are also a wide array of extra-curricular activities available for kids to hone their skill and talents. Great School!”

“I have heard nothing but good things about this school as with the previous comments. However, I am finding a few things disconcerting with my child in first grade. Neighboring schools with children in the same grade have, for instance, weekly math homework, weekly reading assignments which the teacher will assess the child's comprehension of the work at the weeks' end. My child has absolutely nothing brought home aside from a list of seven spelling words and Sunshine Math. Where is all daily work?? The concept of S. Math is progressive difficulty. But if I have no standard of where my child is with math concepts with no homework then how do I explain math equations that have progressive difficulty?? So I have no measure of where my child might be struggling or where I can help. I'm concerned that this school is keeping up with the progress of neighboring schools.”

“I'm 44 years old, went to this school and choose to have my two children there rather than private schoool. Many of the parents at Hendricks could afford private but are smart enough to take advantage of this public gem. Some commenters have taken shots about focus on religion (not true, but not a bad thing in a deteriorating society) and uncaring staff (not true). Regarding comments about 'no talking' in the cafeteria; I have lunch with my children and can tell you a period of silence is imposed if the chatter gets too loud - nothing extreme.... my wife and I volunteer and there's a reason the school has had 100% PTA membership since something like the mid-70's. The teachers are the best - they routinely come to their students' sporting events! While the principal might exhibit some 'unapproachable' tendencies as some have posted, she gets the job done.”

“We have loved this school and would not be happy with any others in this area.”

“The negative reviewer must be confusing this with another school. Everyone who is involved with Hendricks Ave Elem, absolutely loves this school. Their are many people who attend the school from out of the school boundary because they want their kids to go there. It is quite an excellent school and the kids are taught very well by caring staff and there is much support from parents both financially and in person. Great school.”

“I have 2 sons in Hendricks. Our family enjoys the yearly 'Reading With the Stars' night as well as the carnival and ice cream social. We are proud that our children attend a school with high standards for BOTH academics and behavior. The FCAT is a huge focus and I agree that that could be brought down a notch, I also feel that more emphasis should be put on math to balance out the overall education. Every school has things they could improve upon. Unfortunately, state funding is making our arts and physical education classes suffer. For the most part, my sons have had good, kind, nurturing teachers. One son has had a medically challenged child in his class for years. This school is not a below standard, stifling, useless school as suggested in another review. Let's not forget that this school has been an ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT MAGNET for several years.”

“Hendricks has a fantastic educational environment. My child attended another local elementary school and Hendricks is by far superior in all respects. No complaints about anything.”

“Hendricks is staffed by teachers who for the most part are uncaring and dismissive of their students. They have also been known to be discriminatory to children with medical issues. The principal leaves her work to the vice principal. They have no positive programs in place for children's quarterly successes and place far too much emphasis on the FCAT which leaves the children for the majority of the year, uneducated in the remaning subjects at hand. This causes children who leave the school to be ahead of the game in FCAT aspects but behind in others. There is not enough physical activities planned nor is there a grade level music program. The art programs leave much to be desired. I moved my daughter out of this below standard school to a much better one in a different state and wow! what a difference!!! Stifling, rigid and useless is what Hendricks is.”

“I have four children and over the years, they have attended a mix of both private and public schools. While my two oldest are graduates of the magnet programs here in Duval County (both from Stanton IB), I recently removed my younger children from Hendrick's after only one year. I found the learning environment to be stifling, boring and flat out rigid. The principal and teachers constantly punish and reward, for silly things like 'silence' in the halls and at lunch and '25 Books Read', without any thought as to quality or if a 'silent' school is really a worthwhile goal at all. My children chaffed constantly over the abundance of rules and frankly, as a parent, I was constantly harangued to donate both time and money to overtly religious events. I agree with an earlier assessment: the education and environment at this school are both dull and uninspired.”

“My son started at Hendricks last year as a 1st grader, I absolutly love this school. I have read all of the reviews left, and several of them stated that for the new and younger aged parents it was harder to get involved unless you were on the PTA board, I can say that that is untrue, I'm a younger and newer parent and I am called to volunteer for many things, and have helped be in charge of part of the planning for an event, you just have to call someone to request to volunteer if you are not called by them, they are very generous and love to include ones who call them directly.”

“I have two sons that attend this school. Overall I am pleased with this school academically. Teachers are approachable as well as the principle. I have only two complaints. One, though physical activity is a must at this age, there is way too much emphasis on it and not enough towards the arts. I would love to see more artwork coming home as well as music activities without added costs. While most schools have big performances once a year that includes all grade levels, this one does not. The other complaint would have to be with the PTA. If you are not a veteran you are not included. From experience: I feel the older moms tend to shun the younger moms as well as if you are not financially adequate they do not give you the same respect.”

“What a fabulous, dedicated group of teachers and administrators-- and involved parents and PTA.”

“My son has attended this school for 4 years. I am very pleased with the teacher competence. The principal is very unapproachable and I am very disappointed that she does not support the uniform standards that he last principal worked so hard for. The music teacher is great, as is the coach, although communication for extracurricular activities in these areas needs to improved. Safety - they are a bit over the top. My biggest complaint - kids are not allowed to talk in the lunch room.”

“I have loved the teachers my son has had. The coach has done a wonderful job adding extracurricular activities. There is a cultural arts week each year. One country is chosen and focused on for that one week. I think they could do more with this. It really bothers me that the student directory has the PTA Prayer and that the PTA objectives contain spiritual education. Lastly, the principal is extremely unapproachable. I was made to feel it was my fault when an after school activity was cancelled and my son was left crying and waiting for me. I'd checked the day before and was told the activity would take place. The principal was condescending and not a bit apologetic.”

“My child has attend Hendrick Avenue Elementary School for 3 years. I am thrilled with the quality of education he is receiving. The principal and staff are approachable and friendly. The level of parent and community involvement are an asset to the school. My job has had me working with the school system for over 10 years and I wouldn't consider having my child attend any other school- public or private.”

“My daughter attends Hendricks and I am impressed daily at the superior quality of this school!”

“My son started in Kindergarten and is now in the 1st grade. The school is too structured. I agree with the other review regarding book reading. I would prefer a focus on quality of content and reading versus the quantity of books.”

“My daughter attended kindergarten here and she had a wonderful teacher. She was not the teacher all my friends told me was 'the best,' but she was perfect for my daughter and I wouldn't have changed her class if I could have. I was in the classroom a few times and things were run very well. I like the teaching methods they use at Hendricks, and I felt that they were particularly strong in reading and writing. Other things, like handwriting, art, music, and PE, were less emphasized, to the students' disadvantage. Parental involvement is extremely high and overall I am very pleased with this school.”

“Quality of academic program above average, but not flexibile. Availability of the arts very limited, usually after school at a cost; level of veteran parents high; very difficult to for new parents to get involved if you're not in the network of board moms.”

“My children attended Hendricks' Avenue Elementary for Kindergarten and while I found the classroom enviroment very promising, the school overall was very rigid. Children were constantly being admonished for talking in the halls or talking at lunch with the 'Eagle Feathers' being held out as the big reward for good behavior. Bad behavior, or anything a bit rowdy, resulted in the loss of 'feathers' for your child's classroom. It always seemed a bit somber for an elementary school. The classroom environment was much better. Both of my children enjoyed very different but equally good teachers. I was a bit disappointed in the late start to science and history concepts (and a bit too much focus on christian holidays) but overall, the programs were comprehensive. The number of books read should also cease to be an issue. Quality reading as opposed to quantity would be helpful.”

“I think this is a great school. Both of my kids have excelled at this school because of the dedication the staff has to the students. The parental involvement at this school is great.”