Monroe Elementary School

I have two children attending Monroe and the whole family loves it. We are in the Simas E. school district which our son attended for 1 year and we were very unhappy - especially with the office staff and principal - rude and condescending. We were able to transfer due to our younger child being autistic and Simas had no programs for her. The teachers and office staff at Monroe are excellent. The principal and assitant principal care about all of the children. It is a warm friendly environment.
--Submitted by a parent

The best thing about this school are the dedicated and caring teachers and Mrs. Mora. The school secretary, Diana is the worst thing about the school. I almost did not put my children at this school because of her. She made a terrible first impression, is extremely rude over the phone and stood me up for an appt. I had with her to register my kids. Overall, some of the rules for this school are unrealistic and the parent involvement is on the low side from what I have seen, but it is a safe school with a little room for improvement.
--Submitted by a parent

Monroe is a great school. The administration and teachers at Monroe are wonderful and friendly. The principal truly does care about each child's learning. I have found the principal to be easily accessible, very responsive and easy to talk to.
--Submitted by a parent

This school has extremely dedicated teachers. Sadly though, dedication cannot make up for what is lacking from the site principal as well as from the district. For example a substantial amount of district funds are going to Professional Development (training workshops) rather than to resources for the children to use. In several grades this year, their were no social studies textbooks(They were discarded by the administration) and so few students learned any social studies. Students spend very little time on social studies or science, not to mention art or PE as they are mandated and pressured to focus all but 30 minutes a day on Reading, Writing and Math. If a teacher strays from this schedule, she/he is reprimanded.
--Submitted by a teacher

The teachers at this school are great. They do need programs to help the children that do need extra help in subjects. I don't think the principal of this school knows to much about dealing with children though her answer to everything is a citation and suspension. Besides the principal my children have had a great experience at this school and have been lucky to blessed with such great teachers.
--Submitted by a parent

Yes, i agree that in the past two years the focus has not been on the children. I believe that there was a lot of turnover last year due to the fact that the 'upper management' either transfered them to another school or the teacher saw the writing on the wall. It was sad because we lost great teachers! The district is very harsh on lots of things from disipline to dress code to the attendance policy. They need to look at standards held at other schools in the area to use as their benchmark. There is not availability of music or art to these students unless their teachers teach it in their own classroom. I feel however, that being taught to teach to california state standards, leaves for mediocirty in the students. This school needs to focus more on what the kids can do, than what they can not!
--Submitted by a parent

This school has gone down hill a bit the last couple years. May be due to a change in the principal and other staff. My children have been going to this school for 4 years and of the 4 the first two were pleasent. The last two have been difficult. There has been alot of teachers that up and left in the middle of the years. I know from my experience that this school is way more focused on disicpline then education. Understanding the need for disicpline, is one thing but the means of it is another. I have a hard time understanding the need to take away all the special things these kids get for one bad choice.
--Submitted by a parent