Downtown Doral Charter Elementary school 8390 Northwest 53rd Street, Doral, FL 33166

"These two years has been wonderful - we can see how our son has been growing academically, socially, and emotionally. We continue to be impressed with the level of teaching and caring that all the school staff provides. We love this school"

"The only way this school can be considered excellent is when you have not been to a good school before where the environment is professional, well mannered, well intentioned and polite. The principal and directors of this school are aggressive to kids and parents, and act defensively aggressive when asked not to yell to kids or to use some manners. I am so disgusted that the highest level of educators are the first example I witnessed regularly of aggression with mean, tense, and loud communication, especially towards or in front of my kids, who should not have to FEEL the way they make them feel, and should not have to LEARN the way these people communicates (no class). I turn off the TV if someone acts the way they do. My morning and my kid’s was derailed emotuonally because of how negative their attitudes were and how much stress they produced. I take it seriously because this has happened multiple times before and today - for me as a parent - it is the last straw. They screamed and / or they say mean things with a diminishing tone in front of my kids, and do not apologize when confronted with the fact that they are supposed to be an example of great positive educational behavior. Instead, They just try to use their position to intimidate parents or kids who are out of line in any detail like a uniform issue. In the past, I received phone calls to let me know my 5-yr old kid did not have a belt which is part of his uniform. I witnessed yelling multiple times instead of sensitive communication because some part of the uniform is not the correct one. Today, my daughter had to take a green shirt that is meant for Fridays, because her other shirts got stained bad and weren’t ready (our mistake). My kids were happily going to school (which is not always easy in a school environment were the leadership overreacts yelling) and when coming down from the car, the yelling starts again in front of my kids stating that I need to come back with the green polo shirt. I don’t argue the uniform must be the correct one but if they cannot express themselves with manners and without aggression, what can I expect my kids to learn at this school? Just Math and English? No conduct? I don’t want my kids to learn to be abused verbally or copy such horrible behaviors, from a third class environment. This is a good school for anyone who cares about grades and does not care for their kids to maintain the good manners taught at home, and who does not mind their kids being shamed and yelled at regularly. I even explained to the principal that I did not expect the other lady to scream about the wrong green shirt and she replied with irony, mocking defensively and what felt mean-intended “maybe your wife thought today is Friday” (on Wednesday). Instead of showing concern and empathy for how the other staff over reacted publicly, She spoke to me as if she was some bully from high-school giving me a lesson, and then pretended to be respectful again. So how can I expect a school free of bullies and an environment rich in love, positive communication, and a healthy-educational environment if the staff on the top communicates at this level? I have experienced the school system in Washington State, North Carolina, and Argentina. This is by far the only aggressive and unprofessional leadership of any school system I have experienced. Most other parents we know agree but feel stuck and afraid, and will not ask for a better quality of communication. Every parent who complained to the same two ladies, received the response”if you don’t like this school, you can choose any other”, as if the school was them....??? This school gets an F in manners and conduct because of the lack of interest in improving in that area. Not the example I want for my family, and we will be looking to move to a more civilized environment as soon as we can. If the communication continues to be aggressive or if there is a negative reaction to my honest feedback, we will just collect all stories to the higher educational institutions as formal complaints and to the newspapers."

"Everything that shines is not gold” Please do not get distracted by their waste of resources in decorating the school with “happy themes”, or with their “perfect uniform code” or with their “Friday Fiesta” welcoming the kids with music or with their standardized test scores, which they only cared for. When the two head of schools are disrespectful towards your kids or yourself, do not set the well manner citizen standards to their teachers and therefore students! What type of environment do you think your kid will be at and learning from? Their bad manners are translated into how the teachers treat your kids (there had been reported cases of verbally abusive teachers) and hence in the way kids, classmates treat each other. In addition to that they are always learning in a rush, kids do not have time to assimilate what they learn, they do not have recess time, and they justify this by stating they have a very strict agenda. If your kids do well is their merit, if your kids do bad get ready to be blamed. They only care about keeping the school A Ranking. If you want to provide feedback one of the most common head of school answers is: “if you do not like the school you can go pick another one.” As you can see they leave a lot to be desired in terms of forming well rounded citizens. If you are a parent that cares about a well rounded education to your kids this is not the school for you. This is a warning message to all parents who believe this is THE school for their kids. Make your research, think it twice, go experience it yourself at the park, or the pick up or drop off hour were they are not pretending to be nice. Good Luck!"

"It really is an excellent school, I have my two children in this school in first grade and in fourth grade, it is our third year in school and we love it. If it is a stronger curriculum because it is a bilingual program but they balance it with the variety of fun activities they do during the year.The staff of the school are very friendly all are very human,Teachers are amazing, caring and dedicated. Administration and personnel are nice and polite and affectionate in Special Mrs Joyce Aguila Assistant Principal she is spectacular always ready to support my child when we needs it, she really cares about my child she care if he is well and the most important thing is that she cares if they learns in a harmonious environment and that they are happy, whenever I needed her she has been there to support us. She is an excellent professional person Thanks Mrs Joyce for your Great Customer service!!!! We love this school"

"By far the worst charter school you can apply 2. The principal Mrs. Joyce Aguilla is a very unprofessional this person says one thing today and the other day says something else. The famous lottery is not even a lottery and certainly would like to know what is it that they call a lottery. Mrs. Joyce calls me at the beginning of last year almost assuring that my kids would get in this year because they have 2 years already in the waiting list to apply at the enrollment opening which I did and lucky me a person that applied at the end of January because I told her gets in and my kids don’t. now they won’t even let people know what number they are in their famous waiting list. Thanks Mrs. Joyce for your great customer service!!!!!"