Ygnacio Valley Elementary School

My child attends a charter program within YVE called Cornerstone. It is a wonderfulr program and only has 10 kids per grade in 3 split grade classrooms (K/1, 2/3, 4/5). Each family is required to donate 2 hours per week which means, at any given time there is at least 1 teacher and 1 parent per 20 kids - amazing ratios for a public program! The younger children are also paired up with an older child. 1 parent is required to attend the monthly meeting as well as serve on one committee. Keep in mind, this may be a bit of a struggle for families with 2 working parents, but when I get frustrated and discouraged, I take a look at the regular class sizes and the amount of chaos and disorganization there is with 1 teacher per 30+ kids. Not good!
--Submitted by a parent

My child attended this school in 04/05 and it was the worst experience we ever had. We actually moved to be able to go to a different school during the summer because the academics were so low.
--Submitted by a parent

Lack of funding & parent participation.
--Submitted by a parent

I really liked my son's teacher, but concord really lacks the funding and resources that other more affluent schools have.
--Submitted by a parent

This school tries very hard. It tries to make sure each child learns all he or she can but trying just isn't enough. There are many children with discipline problems. This disrupts the classroom too much of the time. It's hard for students to stay focused. A parent must stayed involved the whole school year. This is the only way to make sure the school is providing what it should be for each individual student.
--Submitted by a parent

My children attend Ygnacio Valley Elementary (YVE) in one of the few, if not only, Charter School program available in the Mount Diablo District. It's a great program and the teacher/ child ratio is so much lower. Parent participation is 2 hours per child a week and with all parents cooperating in makes the program a great success for all, especially the children. I only wish that there were more Charter programs available throughout the district. This is really a very positive learning experience.
--Submitted by a parent

Ygnacio Valley Elementary School has been a wonderful experience for my daughter the last two years. We are a part of the Cornerstone Family School which is a parent participation program located on the YVE campus. We volunteer 2 hours per week per child in the program so the teachers get a lot of extra time to do small group and individual work with the students. We also have monthly fieldtrips. We participate in all school wide programs as well as our own and we are really like a family! Being in a co-op for K-5 is so exciting because it is a philsophy our family really believes in. YVE itself has one of the best principals in the district. Check it out by going to observe one of our 3 classrooms. There is a K/1, 2/3 and 4/5 combo. It's available for anyone who resides in the district!
--Submitted by a parent