Norton Space and Aeronautics Academy

Es buena escuela si hablas ingles pues a los alumnos hispanos no estan siendo conciderados para estar al nivel de los hablantes del idioma ingels. Es pecima la administracion nueva. La directora es inexperta y los cambios no hayn ayudado a nuestros hijos. No l arecomiendo.
—Submitted by a parent

My child is currently enrolled. He is in the 2nd grade. I agree the school is not as great with recent changes. It is a lab school. As of now. I am tired of my son being a LAB RAT. This will be his last year attending. Student teachers need to be supervised more, Outside/bathrooms need to be supervised. Thier are only a FEW teachers that have the gift to teach. They need more of them. I really didn't wont to give up on this school, but this is my child's education and he has been so stressed out about these tests, because they need better test scores My child is 7 he shouldn't be stressed. Unhappy parent.
—Submitted by a parent

The school has taken a terrible turn since Ms. Corea left and Ms. Girard is a poor, inexperienced Principal. The teachers are not as communicative as they were under previous leadership - I hope they address their management issues soon!
—Submitted by a parent

I have 3 children attending NSAA. My oldest son has been attending NSAA since its inception in the 1st grade and my twins are now in kinder. Overall, I am very happy with the education my children are receiving. The teachers are excellent and up to date with the current dual immersion research. The new administration has been very attentive. I have had very positive experiences with the psychologist and other support staff. Unfortunately because of the current educational climate and the emphasis placed on state testing, this school does not appear to be making academic progress. However, if you research how dual immersion works, it takes 5 years for students to become proficient in 2 languages effectively. Yet we are only measuring these students using english. In 2nd grade the students at NSAA are being taught 80% in spanish! It is not until 4th grade that students are being taught in both languages 50% of the time. So in a nutshell, the test scores for this school are misleading and emphasis should be placed on whether these students are able to effectively read and write in 2 languages within 5 years. I would recommend this school!
—Submitted by a parent

As a new family to this school (child began kinder) it has been a rough beginning, simply because of the office staff. They are not friendly, professional, or kind ... not a great welcome as one has to go through them to access any other part of the school. On a very positive note, the teachers seem to really believe in the immersion philosophy, and seem very structured and professional. They are patient and well educated. I think if one can get past the exterior look (bad neighborhood, ugly campus, unfriendly & unhelpful office staff), the interior has a lot of good and a lot of potential. We still aren't sure how long we will last ...
—Submitted by a parent

I transfered my son to Norton in the 2nd grade as he is very bright student and needed a challenge that our local school was unable to provide as the GATE Program was unavailable until 4th grade. We were promissed the world at Norton and I feel the school did not deliver. My son was always on the Principals Honor Roll at our local school yet he never received any awards for anything other than attendance, was that due to the majority of the childeren were not doing well?. When I asked the Prinicipal at Norton about a GATE Program all I was given was some paper work about what definded a gifted student and I guess she felt my child didn't qualify. My local school that has over a 900 STAR test scores average was thrilled to have my son back for the 5th grade and was tested and immediatly iand placed in the Gate program. I guess if you do not live inan area that has great school and exceptional teachers Norton might be a good choice. They really lack in excellerated reading program, music program, Gate Program, lunch menu. Don't even get me started on the school and how they deal with the kids who cause problems. Should my kid be punished for another students actions?
—Submitted by a parent

I have it on good authority that this is an excellent school for my granddaughter to attend.

I am proud to say my son goes to NSAA. My son has been there since the school opened, he began in Kinder there. He is now in the 3rd grade, speaking, writing, reading and translating in full Spanish. I couldn't be happier with how our son has excelled; I look foward to his future and how he will have the career opportunities that my husband and I didn't. We live in Perris, and have a long drive everyday, but because he has done so well in both English and Spanish, there isn't an option to change schools. We see it as investing in his future.
—Submitted by a parent

This is an outstanding school with an incredible curriculum that prepares children to compete in the 21st century global economy. How? By being bilingual/trilingual and focusing on science and math. My son (I am a dad) is starting his third year. He entered Norton in Kindergarten a nonnative speaker, with no Spanish words. Today, he is able to read, speak, and write Spanish at the level of a NATIVE Spanish speaking second grader. And his English? It's even better, even though over 85% of his education has been in Spanish. Why? Because language skills transfer. It's glorious to watch. He is also learning math in Spanish, and the school's math emphasis had him doing multiplication by the end of 1st grade and math word problems in the 2nd grade. Science class is EVERY DAY at the school, and he loves it. What's next? The school just became 1 of 3 schools in So. Cal. to be selected as a partner with UCLA's Confucius Institute for teaching Mandarin Chinese. This tri-lingual education starts in 5th grade and accelerates through middle and high school. Want your child to be a global citizen, ready to compete in the 21st century global economy, send him/her to NSAA.
—Submitted by a parent

Great School! My husband and I are so glad that our daughter attends NSAA! The Dual Immersion program is amazing and my daughter is thriving in the environment. The teachers, Principal, staff and other families are great. We are so impressed with the school.
—Submitted by a parent

begining of school i'm pleased. I have had some changes! have had some challenges at the beginning of the school, and the school has should some concern be complying with the safety of my child. My child has been speaking some Spanish at home.
—Submitted by a parent

I am so happy that we decided to put our child at Norton. Along with the excellent teaching, there is a great community of parents and staff! I drive from North Fontana - it takes me about 30 mins. and I could walk to our neighborhood school (with test scores in the 800+ range) but I enjoy what my child is learning at Norton!
—Submitted by a parent

The way of teachers teach.
—Submitted by a parent

My son has been at Norton going on 3yrs. he is in the 4th grade, I think that the teachers are very qualified and experience is irrelevent to how they teach. They are very eager to help their students advance to the next level. It's sounds to me that maybe the parent that had a difference of opinion "Focus more on discipline being the easiest way to go" have they ever thought, way is my child being discipline all the time? Maybe because the childs behavior is disruptive to the other children in class? or does this parent really think that thier child is being single out? I doubt that was the case. I don't get it, if my child was bored in class, I would make sure to speak with his teacher in regards to his boredom and find a solution, rather than put blame on the teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

My child is currently in 3rd grade (Mr. Anaya's class) and I have to say I am extremely happy with everything! My child loves to go to school everyday and enjoys all the activities the school has to offer. I know that my child (and I) couldn t be happier having Mr. Anaya as a teacher. Yes, the school still needs a lot of work (construction and actual classrooms not portables) but the school is trying *remember times are hard and money is hard to come by*. I was reading the comment posted earlier and was extremely bothered that a fellow parent thinks that just because all these teachers are new to their profession means that they have very little to no experience, and focus more on discipline since its the easiest way to go . Well to comment on your comment you couldn t be more wrong. All the teachers are very knowledgeable on the various strategies it takes to teach our children. As for the discipline of course they have to focus on it because they are like a second parent to our children (remember that these teachers spend more time with our kids then some of us do). So I thank my child s teacher and the school for doing all they can to help my child become a better student & person. Oh one more thing the duel immersion is awesome I see the difference in my child!
—Submitted by a parent

We transfered our child to Norton, left a very good school with the promise that this would be a better learning experience for them. We are very involved parents, in the classroom and throughout other extra activities at Norton. After two years at Norton, our child has found the classes to be 'boring' because the biggest challenge they get is learning spanish. We feel as if there is MORE interest in dicipline than academics. Most teachers are new and with very little to no experience, and focus more on dicipline since its the easiest way to go. Therefore, We will no longer continue at Norton Space and Aeronautics Academy.
—Submitted by a parent

This will be my childs second year at Norton, he will be a third grader. Since this is a brand new school, im a little aprehensive to compare it or make a complete analysis. But what i will say is that Norton definately challenge their students with the academics. Most of the parents ive spoke with have all said that they enrolled their child in Norton because they felt that thier son/daughter needed to be chellenged. Mr. Barksdale, the principle is great with the students at Norton. I am looking forward to being with Norton and watching my child excel.
—Submitted by a parent