John T Pirie Fine Arts & Academic Center Elementary School

I really want to love Pirie because of the arts focus, but the health and wellness situation is honestly stressing me out. The chronic absenteeism rate is super high—like, way over 30%—and you can really feel it in the building. It feels like there’s always something going around and the school isn't really on top of it. With student-to-teacher ratios getting pretty high, the staff just seems spread too thin to keep up with deep cleaning or making sure kids aren't coming in sick. We barely have enough support for mental health or counseling either, which is a major red flag for me. It’s hard for the kids to focus on ‘fine arts’ when the basic environment feels neglected and the attendance is so spotty. I'm definitely looking into other options if things don't improve.

Honestly, I’ve been pretty happy with how Pirie handles things. My daughter is in the arts program there and the classrooms always seem really tidy when I drop her off. They are super strict about the '24-hour fever free' rule, which can be a headache when you're a working parent, but it definitely keeps the stomach bugs from spreading through the whole grade. I also love that they keep the kids moving even with all the academic work—they really try to integrate movement and wellness into the day. My only gripe is sometimes the communication about a cold going around the classroom comes a day or two later than I’d like, but the staff is so caring that I can't complain too much.