Barron Park Elementary School

Barron Park is a wonderful school. The teachers are awesome! The staff is amazing! The community is outstanding! My children are better students, citizens and human beings because of Barron Park Elementary. It is the best school in the world and I am grateful and psyched to "bee" a part of it!
--Submitted by a parent

Barron Park Elementary is a wonderful school. The teachers continue to be beyond excellent. The new principal is warm, welcoming and easy to talk to, she comes with an open heart. My two kids love their school. Bullying is not tolerated and the community of parents grow more and more supportive.
--Submitted by a parent

This is our 3rd year at the school and I have 2 children that attend. Both of my children love to go to school everyday. Barron Park is a School that has not only helped my children be better students but better people. My children are very strong academically and are given material and curriculum that has pushed them to grow. We have wonderful teachers and parents. Barron Park School is not just a great school but a wonderful community.
--Submitted by a parent

This school is the best school in Palo Alto! We live next to two of the 'best' elementary schools in PA, but drive to the other side of the district so that our two girls can go there. My wife and I work in the School of Ed at Stanford and chose this school! The outstanding teachers and the sense of community at this school means Stanford places more student teachers at this school than any other in Palo Alto. We have a new principal and this school is going places. For obvious reasons, I am so pleased that the parent that only gave one star has gone elsewhere! Our children are happy to go to school every day and come home full of exciting stories about their new learning. This is a true community of kids, parents and teachers.
--Submitted by a parent

Both of my children currently attend Barron park. My older child is almost done. I have never seen such talented and devoted teachers and staff. They somehow manage to teach to the level of each individual student. My daughter's STAR testing is better than the average at Hoover. There are a number of unique things to barron park 1) constellation groups 2) the diversity 3) smaller school=more community involvement I have not seen the bullying described below and am sad to see that someone has had this experience. I love Barron park!
--Submitted by a parent

It has one star because I cant give it zero or minus 5. In summary I quit a $135,000 a year job in order to move away to get my son out of this school. My son has autism and was bullied and picked on at this school. The principal didnt care and was only concerned with covering the school district. The School district refused to talk to me about the issues and refused to consider moving my son out of this hell hole. Palo Ato unified puts all the kids they have to legally take from East Palo Alto in this shcool to quarantine them, so they have a mini gang problem. Check the demographic percentages v the other elementary schools in the district. My son is biracial ( half asian) and in my opinion some of the bullying he was exposed to was racilally motivated. I cant put in words how awful this school is and it should be closed
--Submitted by a parent

Barron Park is a wonderful school. Some of the reviews written here are old and outdated (2007, 2005). There have been many positive changes since then: 1. There is a new principal who is really involved, approachable, personable, Stanford educated, and has a low-tolerance for bullying. 2. The school has reduced the bullying with Steps to Respect, Noon activities, Grade Buddies, and Constellation Groups, in addition to more yard duties at recess/lunch. 3. Seasoned teachers from PAUSD and other districts were added, and they are eager to prove themselves outstanding. There are great teachers at every grade level, some of whom went to and taught at MIT. 4. The school's test scores increase every year. 5. It is not a Title 1. To the parent review from Feb 2011: I am not sure what teacher you had, but my child's penmanship is impeccable. You need to take a look at your own writing skills and admit that perhaps your child's lack of writing skills stem from the home as well; your review is riddled with errors. Parents are also responsible for their child's education. It's not just teachers who teach the child; parents need to be involved too and reinforce/introduce concepts at home.
--Submitted by a parent

This school has consistently improved its API scores year to year. In fact they made a 9 point jump from 2010. The school's overall 2011 API score is 870, and if you break that down and look at each subgroup, the Asian population at the school scored 951 and the white population scored 945; this is out of 1000. In fact students with disabilities scored at 824. There are some smart kids at this school. The school got a A for test score growth target for the year.
--Submitted by a parent

This is a wonderful school for many students. The principal has made it her personal mission to serve the needs of Title I families, special-needs students, English-Language Learners, and students with learning differences. Barron Park is innovative with its College Bound program. The Principal championed 'Everyday Math', which was implemented district-wide in 2009. Starting in 2011-2012, Barron Park will be the first school in the PAUSD to offer a full-day Kindergarten program.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter attended this school for two years, the first year seemed to be fine, but the second year, we found that it was a big hole in her writing skill. The teacher didn't teach her cursive writing as well as not enough standard writing. When she switched to her neighbor school. She was the only student, who didn't know how to write cursive well. Bottom line is this school is kicked back, and academy level is so so. My daughter is very happy with her current school compared to this. And it took her about half school year to catch up the language art level with her friends.
--Submitted by a parent