This school has NO REGARD for children's safety. There is nowhere for parents to drop off/pick up their children, despite repeated promises from the principal that such an area is ""coming soon."" You are either forced to walk your child to school (not an option for all parents, especially not in the pouring rain western WA experiences 8 months out of the year) or park somewhere and let them run across the street through a crosswalk that is manned by immature safety patrol children that are more interested in beating each other with their flags and talking to their friends then helping children safely cross the street.
The principal, Mr. Zarling, is very new. He has only been with Beachwood for three years. Whoever hired him should be fired because clearly he does not have what it takes to be a principal. He constantly assures parents that he is open to listening to ideas but that's about as far as it goes. He doesn't act on many of them, if any. He is more concerned about closing off the parking lot (what used to be the only safe place to drop off your child) so he can easily get his own car out of his special parking spot to leave on time then actually figuring out a way for his students to get to school safely. My husband is an MP (military police) and agrees that the situation the school puts the students in his highly unsafe. Mr. Zarling also likes to blame the MPs for the bad traffic situation when it is he himself and his unwillingness to recognize there is a problem and he can fix it that is to blame. Oh, and he is also interested in starting an after school club for children to build legos...seems odd to prioritize that over SAFETY but it just goes to show what kind of person is running this school.
If your student has any kind of special needs be prepared for them to not keep up with their IEPs or follow through on what is in their IEPs. Their PTA leaves much to be desired as well. Last year the PTA advocated bringing expensive lavish gifts to teachers for teacher appreciation week. They assigned a theme to each day...one day was flowers, one candy, one candles, etc. Kids aren't even allowed to bring candy to school, yet they are advocating they bring candy to teachers? Apparently the PTA thinks we are all made of money and able to afford these gifts for our children's teachers PLUS all the ""specials"" teachers. Mr. Zarling wasn't even aware the PTA had asked parents and students to do this which further goes to show how little he is actually involved. The PTA also charges you $15 for them to bake your child cupcakes and have a birthday party, yet you are not allowed to send food treats of your own in to school for your child's birthday. And as mentioned kids can't bring candy to school but the PTA is allowed to sell it to students on Fridays. The PTA definitely thinks they are above and beyond all school rules and obviously morals and if you are not a wealthy high ranking officer with lots of money to spare then you clearly are not welcome.
Overall the one and only good thing about Beachwood is that it is on Fort Lewis and as we all know the military moves us around a lot. The day our family gets to leave here and this school cannot come fast enough. If you are PCSing to this area I highly recommend living somewhere other then North Fort or even off post just to avoid Beachwood...although the underwhelming response from Clover Park School District in general also forces me to advise you to avoid this district all together. Prior to this we lived in Lacey and my children attended Thurston County School District. People and teachers there actually care. Anyone who disagrees with this review is probably one of the high ranking officer wives who are on the PTA or some lower enlisted wife who is trying to kiss up to them. This school is by far the worst of the seven my children have attended in the last five years. If there was a way to rate it less then one star I would.
more