Williams Ranch Elementary School

Though Williams Ranch has some very good, dedicated teachers, there are some who are hopelessly unqualified. I occasionally helped out in my son's third grade class, and it was appallingly chaotic. Kids talking, horsing around, getting up and walking around. The teacher seemed oblivious. Not only was my son not learning, he was actually regressing. I left a message with the principal (the fourth in three years) and two weeks later she responded to me saying "give it more time". I talked to the teacher directly about my concerns and her response was "My daughter didn't have a good third grade but she turned out okay." Such a cavalier attitude from an educator was shocking. It was then and there I withdrew my children and placed them in another school. Overall, Williams Ranch School suffers from poor leadership and some offensively incompetent teachers.
--Submitted by a parent

So far, 3 out my 4 kids have attended Williams Ranch and we have experienced many of the teachers there. All of my sons' teachers have been excellent with what they teach and how they teach. We have had some behavior issues and those have been swiftly dealt with and the punishments seem appropriate. In the 6 years that I have had kids in this school I have had very few dissappointments. The staff is a wonderful group of educators and the parent community is very supportive. The only drawback/dissapointment is in the State standards and the lack of public money available to the school. Ca state standards have set the bar too low and want schools to focus more on a couple of subjects instead of creating a well-rounded student.
--Submitted by a parent

I'm giving the school an above average despite the lower great schools ranking of 5. This school has such great potential, the teaching staff are so caring and devoted to the children. My first child spent 2nd and 3rd at WRE and K & 1st in an out of state school. They were a good year behind what my daughter was doing in the out of state school at WRE. Pretty much everything she did in 2nd grade at WRE, she had done in 1st already. The school is aware that changes in curriculum need to be made and I see a lot of effort to bring the standards up to par with other schools. The state must address the cut off date for Kindergarten though. You can not expect the new standards to be achieved when you have 4 year olds starting Kindergarten. The cutoff date should be Aug 15th.
--Submitted by a parent

Staff and teachers were great! Very supportive and caring for the students and extremely community oriented. Loved the school, quiet, safe; just perfect. My children fell behind their peers that went to other schools. I was so pleased with the people and the facilities I didn't even realize they may not be getting the most of their time at school. By the time the next school year started they were well below grade level and we spent the next grade catching up at a different school. Really miss the teachers and the beautiful school.
--Submitted by a parent

Great school. I am very pleased with the attention to growth and development both mentally and phyicsally.
--Submitted by a parent

My son entered Williams Ranch in K and I was completely disappointed in the teaching staff. But in 1st grade he had a wonderful teacher, he excelled and has grown so much, I will be keeping him in Williams Ranch to graduate from 3rd grade there.
--Submitted by a parent