Nestor Language Academy Charter

academic wise its a good school security okay, my daughter in 2nd grade and 6 months later shes bilingual, and she doing great.
—Submitted by a parent

Great teachers+great program= great future profesionals. Congrats you are doing a awesome job. I can't thank the teachers enough for their dedication and patience.they truly love what they do and we as parents truly appreciate your devotion.
—Submitted by a parent

I am a prospective parent. Thought I'd mention that as of the 2010-2011 school year Nestor Language Academy became a charter school and now serves grades K-8. I read about the Nestor Language Academy in the Union Tribune in 2011 and it was listed in the top 3 middle schools in terms of percentage of seventh graders achieving advanced or provicient grades on standardized tests, when compared with all Sweetwater middle schools and two other charters in the area. GREAT WORK!

I am an educator, and have been teaching both students and teachers for over 20 years. I have a PhD from Stanford in teacher education, and have observed many, many teachers in various schools. Both of my daughters have been at Nestor since kindergarten. I continue to be amazed by the incredible work of both teachers and the whole school to create an environment of caring, bilingualism, biliteracy, and consistency. The teachers work in teams extremely effectively, and both my daughters are fluent in both Spanish and English, are at the top of the CSTs, and love the school and their teachers. I have spent many mornings observing the teachers as I volunteer in the classroom, and the teaching is clear, kind, stimulating, uses many varied techniques, and in many instances has taught ME something about teaching! I cannot recommend this school highly enough. I would gladly be a teacher there, and will keep my daughters there through 8th grade without any hesitation. From the day-to-day teaching in the classrooms to the whole-school assemblies, I have been continually impressed and proud to be a part of Nestor.
—Submitted by a parent

I have to say, this school provides the challenge that I would excpect. When they told us of the intensity that is taught at this school, they were not kidding. Wonderful system that keeps both of my kids challenged with homework with high expectations. Watching them grown in dual languages is amazing. Not only are the kids held accountable but so are the partents. They are focused on making sure the kids learn what the need to while at the same time enforcing the rules. I didn't buy a house in another city because of this school.
—Submitted by a parent

Nestor Language Academy is an exceptional and exemplary school that is a rare gem in the educational system. The school is comprised of intelligent, dedicated, and compassionate teachers and staff who have made a commitment to providing the students with a solid, comprehensive and meaningful academic education. The students are offered the opportunity to achieve complete fluency in two languages. Whether the child's first language is English or Spanish, their fluency will be solid in both before they reach fifth grade (or sooner in many cases). "English only parents" are kept up to date with their child's progress and in close communication with their teachers which is important during the early years when the majority of instruction is in Spanish. The children adapt very well to the program and it is wonderful to see how much they are capable of learning under the care of the pecially trained teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

Nestor is an excellent school. The scores might not show it but there is a reason for that. It has a dual immersion program in which students learn two languages. This school follows the 90/10 model. In first grade students receive 90% of their instruction in Spanish and 10% in English. In second grade, 80% of instruction is given in Spanish and 20% in English and so each year students receive more and more of their instruction in English. Therefore, since the CST is in English students in the lower grades do not test as as they could if the test was given in Spanish. That is why you have to look at Nestor's results from the upper grade levels when they are already being instructed 50/50 so that you can do a better comparative to other schools. I would highly recommend this school b/c your child will acquire 2 languages.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a great school, I have had great help and support from the teachers as well as some staff including the principal. I enjoy the way that they involve themselfs in the kids education , they just dont see them as another number. I highly recomend it with no complaint. Only the secretary needs to improve her people skills. Thank you Nestor staff The Nunos
—Submitted by a parent

As a parent of two children, I have nothing but praise for Nestor Elementary School. My eldest child attended from kindergarten through sixgth grade and my youngest for four years now. Both have thrived and continue to do extremly well academically. Nestor is about eleven miles away from our home and we've chosen to send our kids to this particular school because of it's award-winning dual language immersion program.
—Submitted by a parent

I have been a committed Nestor parent for the past seven years. I have never met a more dedicated group of hard-working teachers--even as I have spent the last eleven years working as a teacher in several schools. Because I live nearby, I often drive by the school on evenings and weekends, and can count on one hand the number of times I HAVEN'T seen a teacher's car in the parking lot. My son is now in middle school, and did extremely well academically in both languages while in their immersion program. With his sister entering her second year at Nestor, we are satisfied that we will see the same results. Nestor parents demonstrate a level of involvement rarely matched at other schools, and we are proud of our school's music program. I look forward to the next six years my daughter will be spending at Nestor!
—Submitted by a parent

This school is the worst school ever. My daughter's education is not the priority of the school. The principal never does anything. Security is horrible. anyone can come in the school and take a child out. Why is this being allowed. Something must be done now!
—Submitted by a parent

I have 2 daughters attending this school. Every year its a new problem and the principal does nothing. My children have been assaulted by other students and made to feel inadequate by some of their teachers.
—Submitted by a parent

We choose to send our son to Nestor Language Academy, even though it was not in our geographic area. I thought that the school and program were outstanding. The teachers had the class well disciplined, and constantly focused on learning. I could easily send my child to a private school or a school in my neighborhood that has a good reputation, but the value of becoming fluent in second language before the sixth grade, cannot be beat! The teachers that my son has had, have been very good and dedicated. I also believe that the school leadership is strong. I would highly recommend this school.
—Submitted by Julie, a parent

This school has been completely unsatisfactory to me as a parent, as well as to my children. The teacher that my son had was incredibly rude. When I went to visit one day, the entire room was in chaos. There was more structure in my daughters pre-school class than in this one. I am very disappointed in the school and teachers as a whole.
—Submitted by a parent

The after school program (gift of time) is a life saver. Level of parent involvement is great too.
—Submitted by a parent

I currently have 2 childred enrolled in Nestor's Language Academy. It is a spanish immersion program. They both went in speaking only english and now my eldest is in 5th grade and speaks and writes both spanish and english fluently. My kinder child is still learning. The teachers in this program are very dedicated. I would highly reccomend it!
—Submitted by a parent

I have 2 boys enrolled in Nestor and have been very happy with the education they are receiving.
—Submitted by a parent

I currently have two children in Nestor's dual emersion program and because of the high cost of housing we are forced to move to Riverside County. I believe our move will be harder on me than my children, because unlike them I can see the wonderful academic place Nestor is. The 'Language Academy' and the teachers here are very impressive. Both of my kids started the program in kinder and by the end of the school year the kids were reading, writing and were able to write short stories. The kinder teachers give so much and now with my kids in first and second grade the quality and effort of the teachers continues. For parents like myself that are bilingual but commit the mistake of not showing or enforcing the spanish language at home this is the program for you. We will miss Nestor greatly.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter attended the bilingual dual immersion program at Nestor from 1997-1998 (K) through about 2 months of 1999 (2). At this time the program was brand new and my daughter was in the first and senior class of this program. Neither my wife nor I knew any Spanish. During the summer before my daughter's 2nd year, my wife became terminally ill and we move after a few months into Helen's second year. The program was a 7 year program and we were concerned that Helen might be a bit behind in her next school. We spent Helen's 2nd grade in the Philippines. She missed a lot of her 2nd grade there. First 3 months of school (different calendar) and one month when Helen's Mom passed away. Nonetheless she graduated in March 2000. During a few months in the 3rd grade at a US School, Helen was rated at a 6th grade reading level. She was placed in the gifted program and has done very well. I was concerned because Helen had gone through such an emotional year. She transferred a lot and missed a lot of school. She attended a Spanish program for grades K-2.2 and I really was worried she'd be behind. In reality, her grades were never higher then that 3rd grade year. She slowly regressed over the years at her new school to the point were she is now grade level. I believe that Helen learned something she could have never learned at any school than Nestor. I believed she learned self-esteem. I believe that Nestor's enviroment was a major reason why Helen endured a academically chanllenging year and came out assessed on a standardized test as 6th grade level in the 3rd grade. Of course Helen only tested 6th grade level in English. Her Math scores were closer to her grade level.