Lanai Road Elementary School

Amazing school with lots of extras! Lanai is such a wonderful community school with fantastic teachers who really care and a ton of parent involvement. Parents are asked to volunteer and contribute financially, and it is ALL worth it to have art docents, choir, orchestra, a PE coach, science and computer labs, a full-time nurse and more. Its like a private school but all your children's friends live nearby.
—Submitted by a parent

Lanai is a fantastic school with so much to offer children. There is incredible parent involvement and fantastic enrichment programs. The teachers are dedicated and truly the best around. We are so lucky to have such a great neighborhood school!
—Submitted by a parent

My family has been at Lanai for many years with a few principals. It is a wonderful place and children are lucky to go there. We are been very very happy..
—Submitted by a parent

I completely disagree with this parent. Our new principal at Lanai is amazing. She has been nothing but warm and welcoming to myself and my daughter, she is a great leader at a time when our school was seriously lacking the correct leadership. The principal should lead a school, not the parents. Our principal truly cares about her students and school, we are incredibly fortunate to have her as our principal.
—Submitted by a parent

In the midst of LAUSD budget cuts and turmoil, Lanai is a shining gem of a school. The children get an excellent education because of the incredible teachers and parent volunteers. Lanai is truly a model school.
—Submitted by a parent

Lanai has so much to offer the Encino community. My son has had a great experience at Lanai and I adore the new principal. I don't know why other people would use a public forum like this to badmouth anyone at the school. So sad to see parents bring the school down. It is a happy fun place to be where real learning takes place.
—Submitted by a parent

Lanai is a true neighborhood school. Parents, Teachers, Support Staff and Administrators all work together for our common goal- a successful school experience for our students and children. While the school has mastered the core curriculum, it never stops adding to the enriching program- Science days, garden and planting, art activities, cultural days, music, dance, drama... even a Talent Show. Lanai is a gift to our Encino Community.
—Submitted by a parent

I feel like I hit the lottery at Lanai. The parents are super involved and the teachers are amazingly dedicated. There are a lot of volunteer opportunities for parents and many extracurricular activities to fill the needs of every aspect of the diversity of student interests. Located in a beautiful neighborhood, the playground has a view of the valley and there are several gardens, a science lab, music teachers, art docents, an amazing PE coach, among many other wonderful things. It is like sending your child to a public school with all the advantages that private schools have.
—Submitted by a teacher

Excellent teachers -- very involved parents. Great environment for children.

It's well run, with wonderful, skilled teachers, and many enrichment programs for kids.
—Submitted by a parent

Feel like we won the lottery when our daughter began school at Lanai. Came from a small private school where she suffered and where her "teacher" was more concerned with getting the boys to settle than teaching. Lanai was a breath of fresh air, amazing teachers, amazing programs, wonderful community. So much family involvement. My daughter learned so much in the one year she has been at Lanai I feel blessed that we found an amazing place to spark the love of learning in our daughter.
—Submitted by a parent

To the reviewer who ranked Lanai 1 star based on one review s/he read on this website - if you judge a book wholly on its cover, you may never get to enjoy the story. You've rated Lanai a 1 based on 1 review. You've never been to the school, you've never met Lanai staff, teachers, parents or students. How dare you rate our school 1-star. Shame on you. And by the way, our special learners and English learners are an integral part of the Lanai community, as is every student, teacher, staff member and parent. We are a collaborative community - come by and take a look - meet us, see our school - before you judge.
—Submitted by a parent

To say that the principal will not push the teachers is finding fault with the wrong issue. Keeping a special ed child at grade level requires, in my opinion, a supplemental team outside of the school - doctors (possible medication), therapist (behavioral or emotional), a parent willing to sit down with the child after school - yes - at least 2 hours every day to tutor them or help them with homework to reinforce their learning. You cannot put all the weight on an already over-burdened teacher and special ed teacher, it is unrealistic. My son is at Lanai, he has learning disability, I was told by 2 different teachers in his young life he cannot learn yet he has won the academic achievement award in his class 2 years in a row. Somebody is doing something right. Hmmm, it takes a village....?
—Submitted by a parent

The whole community is so sad by the decrease of our test scores and API score. It is really time for a fresh administration to come in that loves special education kids and doesn't treat them as special but like regular kids.
—Submitted by a parent

As a teacher and someone who just moved to the area of Lanai Rd. School. I look forward to having my daughter attend this school. Those of you that are 'deeply sadden' by test scores over 900, get over it. You are lucky to attend a public school that performs so high the administration and teachers are doing something right. Bravo students! Also, special populations of students such as ELL or Special Ed. do not 'bring down' your scores. What brings your scores up? Kids who move from Far Below to Below Basic or Basic to Proficient. NOT Advance kids staying advance. The reason for the drop in points is because not enough kids moved up a level. With that being said a 933 is OUTSTANDING!
—Submitted by a parent

As a parent of a special needs twin students at Lanai, it is unfortunate and very sad that the parents are pinning the decrease in scores squarely on the special ed kids. When in fact, my autistic kids are smarter the the non-autistic kids. Don't blame others and focus on your own kids. Everyone is sad the test scores went down for they are the measure in which we judge schools today.
—Submitted by a parent

The whole school community is deeply saddened by the decrease in test scores across all grades and subjects this year. The principal is very sweet but will not push the teachers to so their teaching better; and thus the little children are the losers. Maybe it's time for a change at Lanai. Maybe we should focus on academic achievement and not fund raising so much.
—Submitted by a parent

My son started 5th grade at Lanai today. I trust that this year will be as wonderful as the five that preceded it. The administration truly cares about delivering a great education, and the parent groups and volunteers work hard to ensure that the teachers and administrators have the tools they need. We all know that California's public schools are severely underfunded - and so I do not feel it is a burden being asked to donate $600 per child (or whatever you can give) and to volunteer/ participate in fundraisers (much of which are really fun!). That $350k we raise provides a private-school experience in a public school: arts, science, computer lab, PE, TAs, a nurse, garden program...and so much more. We are winning awards for a reason! Plus, we are big on community service and have a model Recycling program! My younger son starts kinder next year...he can't wait.
—Submitted by a parent

Money can't buy better education than at Lanai. It IS the greatest public school around town and we are so lucky to have our kids at Lanai. This school has the bestr art docents, book club program, traffic and safety program, orchester and recorder program and the best parent involvement.
—Submitted by a parent

Lanai is everything the last writer said. The students that are learning English and their families are not able to afford the $300,000 in donations that the families have to give each year, so we are sad.
—Submitted by a parent