Don Juan Avila Elementary School

I have 2 sons that attend here, my eldest started in kindergarten and is now in 1st and I have a preschooler. My eldest was testing at the top in kindergarten has fallen behind this year due to the quality of his teacher, several of his peers from kindergarten are reading fluently and excel all around where as my son is struggling. His teacher misses A LOT of school and does not require much from the students. Many of the children in her class are struggling. The class size at this school is very high as well, all over 30 per teacher with no aides. If you have a choice I would go elsewhere. Mr Lohman is the un-involved principal, never smiles, never interacts with parents or students unless there is trouble. The drop off/pick up car line is a nightmare, anyone can cut in line or park in the teachers lots...there is no one to stop them only a teacher or two to wave cars up when the line moves. Overall, I am very disappointed with my experience here and am moving my children to a different school. The theme this year was "Maximum Output" shouldn't it be "Maximum INput" to the kids?! Also, not sure what the comment below if referring to b/c DJAE does not have 5 day "pre-k" maybe KG?
--Submitted by a parent

My child has been attending their pre-K program for 7 months now, 5 days a week for 3 hours a day. From the very first day, she has never lost interest in going to school. Her teachers are very warm, patient, inspiring and supportive. She enjoys interacting with her classmates as well. I would say this group was a good blend of kids from 3 1/2 to 5 years old. Thank you DJAE school for having an excellent preschool program to build my child's confidence and prepare her for kindergarten. Thank you too to the parents for raising nice kids.
--Submitted by a parent

My child is a first grader and I didn't think he learned as much as we expected in school. We felt that we had to work with him so much at home like every day and every weekend for 3-5 hours ourselfs and hiring private tutors in order for him to learn everything the first grader must know. The marks system is all messed up and awful making a lot of parents dissapointed and confussed. Very dissapointed and considering changing school.
--Submitted by a parent

The principal of this school is wonderful. I have had a great experience with the administration and teachers. You will find that the school is very well maintained and that the academic curriculum is outstanding, the extra curricular activities and sense of community is nice too.
--Submitted by a parent

Don Juan is a new school, only 6 years old. The school is Blue Ribbon school. The school has very high standards and the teachers for the most part are very good. The only real negative is that is it a large school.
--Submitted by a parent

We have had some outstanding and very caring teachers here, but also had some who did not know how to bring out the best in our aaa/gate child. Some of the teachers were set in their ways and not open to suggestions from us. The music and art programs are outstanding, with instrument lessons starting in 3rd grade and general music from kindergarten on. There are lots of opportunities for extracurricular activities, including a science night where the kids got to do experiments which were taught by other students. The parents are very involved, which makes a somewhat large school seem small.
--Submitted by a parent

The quality of academic programs is good, it's a distinguished blue ribbon school. The current principal, Mrs. Samuels, is very involved and good. They do offer music education in grades 4 & 5, not too impressed with sports and extracurricular activities. Parents are quite involved, more so than other schools I've seen.
--Submitted by a parent

My children attended this school for 3 years. They gave up an incredible principal, and I was not happy with the new one. The original principal was very involved and atttentive to each individual student. This had a positice affect on our children. They felt individually important. He was consistent with policy and disipline, while at the same time genuinly loving. The new principal seemed more concerned about pleasing district administration and very distant from the children. I had a child with special needs, and she was not much help with getting her into appropriate programs. She just didn't seem to care as much about the individual as much as the scores and the masses. A new school opened closer to our home and we were very happy to switch.
--Submitted by a parent

This school goes strictly by James Fleming Superintendent imposed 'rules' board policy 1250 which I find can hinder the level of parental involvement. Classroom visits need 48 hours notice. Visits are limited to 20 minutes unless principal belives compelling circumstances for a longer visit. A District employee has to accompany visitor. Visits are limited to one individual in addition to the District employee. I wish comments in regards to my child's academic performance were more natural instead of so correctly worded. The school is a beautiful school although the playground does not have any swings for children to swing on at recess.
--Submitted by a parent

I has been a wonderful experience, good child to teacher ratio. Teacher genuinely care for chils education
--Submitted by a parent