Esmond Elementary School

Honestly, I have some real concerns about the health environment at Esmond. The building is from the 1890s and it really shows in the maintenance. I heard there were issues with the building's cleaning equipment recently, like vacuums being broken, which makes me worry about the dust and allergens in such an old space. With chronic absenteeism being as high as it is here, it feels like kids are constantly cycling through illnesses and the school is struggling to keep up. I'm glad they are finally adding an annex and a new field, but the day-to-day cleanliness and air quality in the main building still feel pretty subpar for the kids.

My youngest is at Esmond right now and honestly, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Since the building is so old (like late 1800s old!), you can tell the staff works really hard to keep things clean, but it definitely feels its age sometimes. I will say the office is pretty good about calling right away if a kid looks under the weather, and they’ve been pretty strict lately about making sure kids stay home until they are 24-hour symptom-free, which I actually appreciate so stuff doesn't spread through the whole class. Communication usually comes through notes or the app which is fine, but I do wish they had more modern facilities for the kids to run around in when the weather is bad. It's a solid neighborhood school, just don't expect a brand-new medical suite or anything super fancy.