Rudyard Kipling Elementary School

I honestly want to love Kipling because of the arts program, but the health situation is a real struggle for us. The chronic absenteeism here is super high—last I checked it was over 30%—and you can really feel it in the classrooms. It feels like as soon as one bug hits, half the grade is out, and I don’t think the school does enough to stay on top of deep cleaning or communicating when something is going around. Plus, the building is older and the ventilation doesn't feel great in the winter. It’s hard for the kids to focus on music and art when they’re constantly catching something or the school feels understaffed to handle basic health needs. I really hope that new federal grant money goes toward fixing up the facilities and getting more health support, because right now it feels like a revolving door of kids staying home sick.

Honestly, keeping it real for the other parents in Washington Heights—I'm pretty frustrated with the health situation at Kipling lately. The chronic absenteeism is a major red flag; it feels like half the class is out every other week and the school isn't doing much to address why. With the student-teacher ratios being what they are, the staff is totally stretched thin, so the nurse is hardly ever available when my kid feels under the weather. The building is older and you can really tell—ventilation is poor and the bathrooms are rarely what I’d call 'clean.' While they have this new arts grant, I wish they'd spend some of that focus on basic wellness and getting the attendance numbers up.