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Parents' Guide to

The Ron Clark Story

By Heather Boerner, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 12+

Teacher's true story is uplifting but predicable.

Movie NR 2006 90 minutes
The Ron Clark Story Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 9+

Based on 3 parent reviews

love4holiness
love4holiness Parent
March 2, 2017
age 10+

Excellent! Teaches the values of RESPECT, HARD WORK, MATURITY, and SELF-WORTH!

This movie is perfect for 5th grade and up, in my opinion. It's topic is an inner-city class with a naive but determined teacher. Mr. Clark is played by "Chandler" on Friends, so the kids will recognize him. There are some mild curse words (no F-bombs or anything like that and certainly they are words all kids ages 10 and up have heard before in a public setting even if they are sheltered from bad language at home), but in my opinion they are necessary to show the difficulty of the situation Mr. Clark is in and to accurately portray a troubled inner city classroom accurately and to show the profound DIFFERENCE Mr. Clark makes with these troubled students. The mild cursing is outweighed by the tremendous MESSAGE of this movie - that of one's ability to CHANGE, develop SELF-WORTH, MATURITY, and academic development and achievement. This movie is a great motivator to use in the classroom with kids who struggle with the "I don't care" attitude. This movie is highly recommended for upper elementary through middle school. EXCELLENT example of explaining the importance of RESPECT for adults and self coupled with the importance of HARD WORK. Overall, terrific film which provides so many opportunities for discussion with your own kids or with a classroom of kids. Great to watch during school standardized testing time as this is a major focus in the film as well.
kodiak11
kodiak11 Adult
January 6, 2014
age 11+

Worth watching

Some language, but there is a positive message and positive role models.
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Matthew Perry plays a young, idealistic teacher determined to go where he can make the biggest difference. So he moves from rural Virginia to New York City. There, he waits tables while he searches for a school that will have him. He finds one in Inner Harlem Elementary School, where the remedial students have driven away six teachers in one year with their sheer rudeness and bullying. But Clark is determined to stay and raise these low-achieving students' test scores above grade level. Can he gain the students' trust enough to get them to listen? Can he weather their brutal hazing? And can he remain true to himself and his students in the process?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (12 ):

Like a truly great teacher, THE RON CLARK STORY is geeky. It's earnest. It's an unabashed do-gooder. Most especially, The Ron Clark Story is not cool. It's the cinematic equivalent of a dorky middle-aged guy rapping about the U.S. presidents to a too-cool-for-school group of inner city tweens. And because it's so pure in its motivations, it's also a sweetly moving film.

While the story is affecting, it's also completely predictable. Viewers get the hayseed-in-the-big-city montage, where Clark innocently smiles and says hi to jaded New Yorkers. We get the one-dimensionally bad-boy and bad-girl students who must be won over, and we get the amusing and inspiring stunts Clark pulls to win his students' trust and get them to, finally, learn. It's nothing you haven't seen before… But that certainly doesn't mean it isn't an enjoyable film. Like good teachers, we can always use movies about effective education.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Clark's rules and whether or not they follow them at home.

  • Do you treat each other with respect?

  • Do you speak to each other in kind ways?

  • The movie may also inspire kids and parents to talk about their favorite teachers and what they liked about them.

Movie Details

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