Catheryn Gates Elementary School

Very disappointed!! My daughter got a very bad 1st and 4th grade teachers.She is an outstanding student but was discouraged most of the time and was getting yelled at by her 4th grade teacher when asked clarifications on any subjects. She is an old teacher who needs to frankly retire and not capable enough to teach 4th and 5th split. She didn't even have certificates ready to give out on the last day of school assembly. She was stressed all the time in the classroom that stressed kids especially the anxious kids. Very demotivating! Unwelcoming classroom teacher that I have ever seen! On the other hand Mr. Swisley is an AWESOME teacher. He needs to be rewarded the BEST TEACHER OF THE YEAR!! This school is very political and has a bad leadership. Best teachers in the school that my daughter had are Mrs. Irvine (who moved to Junction elementary) and Mr. Swisley. Teachers are suppose to make a difference in a child's life. If you are not that kind of a teacher at least don't discourage and demotivate the kids.
—Submitted by a parent

Very disappointed!! Could not disagree with the previous comments. Kids have done extreme hard work through out the year and did not even get a simple certificate. That shows the teacher did not do her job. Retire is simpler word. I leave it up to the school to decide what to do in future if they have to keep students interested in the school.
—Submitted by a parent

Love this school! Mrs. Roberts and Mrs. Dyas are amazing and my child is thriving!
—Submitted by a parent

I had high hopes for this school but unfortunately I was dissapointed. I agree with the last review. The staff members are very rude. Especially that older lady with the strong foreign accent. She is just RUDE! Never says hi, thank you, welcome. Def. makes you feel like she is doing you a favor by being there! Although I must say, Michelle is sweet and cordial. Regarding the teachers, I can say some are horrible and some are ok. So your child has to be lucky. If you child is a slow learner beware! They are almost abandoned to the corner of the class all day. This seems to be happening very often as I have seen it with different classrooms.
—Submitted by a parent

Bad customer service :( I recently moved and my home school is Catheryn Gates. I came to enroll my kids. As moment I walked in the office I felt unwelcomed. The staff in the front desk are rude and unfriendly. I felt that if I was treated this way kids would be treated even worst. I rather drive 30 minutes and take them to school where they would receive love and care and great education. The way I see is if you can't work in the front desk with people then your place is in warehouse with boxes.
—Submitted by a parent

I have a third child going through Gates, I also have adult children in their late twenties who attended Private Christian School. I am very thankful that academically, there is very little difference. I really enjoyed working with Mrs. Baichtal and was saddened to see her go but I am sure our new principal will be great too and I am looking forward to an awesome fun filled school year and meeting other like minded parents who love getting involved with their childrens education.
—Submitted by a parent

I love this school and feel blessed my son attends Gates. I would have given 5 stars BUT they seem to do little about all of parents who don't follow the parking/loop rules. There is usually a staff member standing out in the loop area everyday, BUT rarely do anything! Some parents do not pull up as far as they should (leaving many cars backed up on the street) and I feel the staff member should be motioning for people to pull up farther, NOT get out of their cars, etc!!! But they just stand there.. and many lame parents insist on turning in the wrong direction, making even more traffic on the street. If Gates would start doing something about traffic issues, I would be happy to give a 5 star rating.. Gates is great!
—Submitted by a parent

Gates is the best school with the best teachers and an awesome principle.
—Submitted by a parent

I use to be very involved at Gates, but because of its politics and how the school is run like a dictatorship and not a democracy is so unfortunant. I have learned in all my years with the Roseville City School District that parents 'concerns' are viewed as complaints and if you don't like the way the school is ran, your told to find a different school. Thank goodness my students for the most part have been fortunant enough to of had good teachers. With all the support Gates gets from parents like myself you would think we would be treated better.
—Submitted by a parent

Good test scores. Most of the teachers differentiate their teaching. Children are recognized for reading and it can be very competitive. Some of the kids get 1000+ points. What parent doesn't love that type of competition! Finally a competition where everyone wins. The school recently got Accelerated Math which also challenges the kids. Concerns about the principal are valid but she is new to the job and will hopefully become more comfortable dealing with parents concerns.
—Submitted by a parent

I agree whole heartily with some of parent's comments about the clicky parents and favortism. The atmosphere is vicious and I try to keep to myself. I volunteer and am very active in my son's education but the vicious gossip that is tollerated by the staff is unacceptable. I am considering a different school.
—Submitted by a parent

It is very frustrating to hear other parent's responses to those who might not be as satisfied with certain aspects of the school. Just because a parent might see room for improvement does not mean they need to take their kids and their so called 'negativity' and leave. I am a parent who spends a lot of time volunteering in the classroom, I go to PTC meetings, and I contribute and assist with fundraisers. However, when my child had an issue with one of the yard duties I coudln't get anyone to talk to me to work it out. I left 2 messages with the principal and never got a call back. Overall I have been happy with the teachers and all the fun activities and field trips, but not with the administration. Parent phone calls should always be returned.
—Submitted by a parent

Every child should be so lucky to attend such a wonderful elementary school as Catheryn Gates. Little credence should be given to the all too vocal minority of parents who, for some reason, seem to thrive on nit-picking every action by our outstanding principal rather than focusing on the overwhelmingly positive learning atmosphere that has been created by the principal, her dedicate professional support staff, the students and parents of Gates. Go Explorers!
—Submitted by a parent

Catheryn Gates is a truly awesome school. First there s the library, an amazing collection of books at all levels. Our wonderful librarian keeps the library open as much as possible so students have many opportunities during the school day to get books. She reads to all of the classes and instills such a love of reading in the students. The second is the yearly musical. It is choreographed by dedicated teachers and is staffed by teacher/parent volunteers. Many students have an opportunity to participate. Everyone works very hard and the performances are terrific. The third is the school carnival in May. Every year, the carnival gets better and better! There are games, inflatables (including the Giant Slide), demonstrations, animals, cotton candy, and snow cones. Everyone has an awesome time, and the kids look forward to this event all year long. What a fantastic way to end the school year!
—Submitted by a parent

I am puzzled how any parent could not love Gates school. My son has never enjoyed school so much as at this place. He says they have partys and fun activitys all the time and lots of times he cant finish his work at school because their is so much going on. He likes the large amount of afterschool and nighttime entertainments to. We came from a small school in a different state. It had great acedemics but a lot less activitys. California schools seem more round. Sometime my son has trouble to focus and getting his school work done. We try to help him with that at home. His teacher has a lot of student who need help. It is hard for her to give him much time. She was so nice and gave us good material to use with him at home.
—Submitted by a parent

My children have learned so much at Catheryn Gates. The quality of the teachers is quite high. And the level of parental involvement is incredible. Many of us who volunteer at the school have had children at Gates for many years. We are volunteers (PTC, art docents, volunteers in class, lead committees, etc.), and we make significant contributions to the school and its students. We are hoping that next year the administrative staff will be more open to parent suggestions and much less defensive and negative. We would like to work with the principal on many issues and would like to continue to have a positive impact on the school. We would prefer not to have to leave the school as others have been asked to do.
—Submitted by a parent

Wow, this year has been interesting. In all our years at Gates I have never seen so much negativity towards parents with concerns. The atmosphere on campus has changed dramatically, especially if you are one of those parents that has expressed your opinions or concerns. It feels like your back in high school with the clicks among the staff and parents. Our school was never like this before, so ask yourself this question, where does the real problem originate from?
—Submitted by a parent

I have worked very closely with my son's teacher to help keep him challenged. I love the Accelerated Math program and the Accelerated Reading program at Catheryn Gates. Both help challenge the child who needs a little bit more than the classroom can offer. I love the reward system of charms for reading. I think it is so sad that we are asking parents to take their child and leave our school when all they want is a great school. Maybe they could cluster kids and place them with teachers who are willing to challenge them.
—Submitted by a parent

Parent involvement is great. Teachers are great! The 'negativism' referred to here is about people who have given large amounts of volunteer time and postive energy to the school for at least the past 5 years, quietly giving time and energy, never writing letters, never causing 'problems'. The turmoil the school is in now didn't exist a few years ago and the critized parents were here then. There is a reason there are 36 comments on this website compared to 8 for neighboring schools. Come to our school. It is great, but be cautious and ask yourself why there is suddenly so much termoil that hadn't existed before. If you are telling other people to leave the school because they have opinions that are different than yours and wish a forum to address them, I say, have an open mind!
—Submitted by a parent

I love this school so much and am so sad that we will be moving out of the district! The only complaint I have about it is the parking situation. But other than that, it is the best school I've ever dealt with.
—Submitted by a parent