John Hay Elementary Community Academy

I'm honestly pretty worried about the state of the building at John Hay. My kid is in the early childhood program, and while the staff is nice, the facility itself feels like it's falling apart. I just found out they're doing 'environmental testing' on the 3rd floor tiles before they can even replace them, which usually means they're checking for asbestos or lead in an old building like this. It’s stressful as a parent not knowing if the air your kid is breathing is safe, especially with the older ventilation. Plus, the attendance rates around here aren't great—it feels like a lot of kids are out sick constantly and the school is always playing catch-up with repairs. It’s hard to focus on 'wellness' when you're worried about the actual floor tiles and basic maintenance.

Sending my little one here for the pre-k program has been mostly a good experience, though the winter months are definitely a struggle with the germs flying around. I feel like the staff at John Hay really do care and they are pretty good about calling right away if a kid has a fever or is just feeling off, but the communication during the last flu spike was a little slow. The building is older so it doesn't always have that 'sparkling clean' look, but you can tell the custodial staff works hard. I'd love to see more focus on indoor air quality or maybe some outdoor wellness time since we're right here in Austin and the kids need that fresh air.