Lake Forest Elementary School

Pros: Smartboards in all classrooms, excellent teachers, science lab and teacher, computer lab and teacher, strong Art Masters program, strong librarian, good kids, involved parents, fabulous after school program (TLC), excellent end of year carnival. Cons: A bit overcrowded, could use more supervision on playground during recess, limited play permitted on playground before school, a student council program that could use improvement, and minimal extracurricular after-school programs (art, chess, sports, and science for older students are the current offerings). *This public school is a 5/5 stars in comparison with other CA public schools.
--Submitted by a parent

Lake Forest Elem is a great school, with a caring Principal, great staff and the teachers are out of this World. They are strict when it comes to bullying, bad words, but they are nice. Great afterschool programs to choose from (pick Chess or Golf). I am proud to be a LFE
--Submitted by a parent

Lake Forest Elementary is a great school. Yeah, there is a lot of fundraising, but with budget cuts - what do you expect? At least they care enough to try every way possible. As for the education I feel my daughter has received - kindergarten was great. She was reading half way through the year on her own and entered 1st grade second in her class. However, that did not last long. She had a severe personality clash with the teacher and was sent to the principal multiple times. That was extremely discouraging and she ended the school year in the bottom 25%. So, this year, we will see after a full summer of trying to catch up and get her spirits ready to start a new year how she does.
--Submitted by a parent

I have been very impressed with Lake Forest Elementary School. I have one son still at the school and one son graduated. The principal is a no nonsense gal who gets things done. She values every student and safety is her number one concern. The teachers have been fantastic and obviously love their job and their students. As a childless newlywed many years ago, I never researched the schools when we purchase our first home. Boy, did I luck out with this school!!!!
--Submitted by a parent

Very good school. My second grade son learned many thing this year.
--Submitted by a parent

The school is in a very nice and quiet leaving area. The quality of academic programs is certainly higher than medium (although they could improve it). Not too many extracurricular activities, but there is music class available for different instruments. There are a lot of parents helping the school. I did not like one of my child's teachers, but the other two are really nice and hard-working. Alltogether I like the school and I would rate it B, they can improve it and it can be even better!
--Submitted by a parent

The school is nice and well maintained and good overall. I was a little disappointed that they were not teaching our daughter to read in Kindergarten, which seemed at times more like free daycare. Also, they are big into fundraising.
--Submitted by a parent

Lake Forest Elementary is a wonderful school. This school is all about kids first, saftey first. They care about bike safety, my 4th grader is not bullied, because people care. The curriculum is rigorous without being unfair to the 'extremes'. Lake Forest Elementary ensures that my kids study more than math, social sciences ans english. They put on musicals, do alot of art, learn musical instruments, study astronomy, computers, dance and have creative freedom over projects. At Lake Forest Elementary, they put on a 'snow day' every year at the adjoining park, in southern california! This is a distinguished school, that is fun too!
--Submitted by kerry ross, a parent

I had high expectations for this school and was dissappointed at this school's ability to get it together. The team teachers for my daughter's kindergarten class were also new to teaching together and had major personality conflicts. The parking is a nightmare and you get lectures from the principle before teacher confrences to 'end it on a good note' and be positive with your teacher. I feel if have a complaint about a teacher it should be valued and listened to. The students also either come from a very high socieconomic status or very low because there are now first-time buyer homes zoned for this school. Dual income TLC kids or less fortunate minority. Nothing in the the middle. This does not help with bullying. Which is not under control.
--Submitted by a parent

My husband and I and our sons have been very happy with Lake Forest Elementary. The boys are challenged in their learning and have fun too. Teachers are great! There are lots of opportunities for parents to be involved. We have a new computer lab this year which is fantastic. A great school!
--Submitted by a parent