Leonard R. Flynn Elementary School

We have our kindergartener in the Spanish Immersion program. He is having a fabulous year. All the kindergarten teachers work as a team, the principal, Mr. Karling, is very skilled with the kids and the PTA is quite active. If you're looking for diversity in the broadest sense, this school is a model for diversity in action! We've been most impressed with the recent Read-a-thon, where the kids raised over $20K for reading books. There was an author night, story-telling assemblies, bilingual book fairs, and a closing ceremony/spaghetti dinner for all. It was a great fundraiser--lots of school spirit, a strong focus on the fun of reading, and of course it brought in much-needed funds for school supplies and books. We highly encourage anyone looking for a good public school to visit Flynn...we're so happy here!
--Submitted by a parent

Much to everyone's amazement, we recently chose to move INTO the city with four children and a commitment to public school education. Nobody is surprised that we love the Spanish Immersion K program, but all seem flabbergasted when they hear us praise the third grader's GE class. He was evaluated in our old school district and tested in the 99.9th percentile for GATE. He reads at a middle school level and has a sophisticated mathematical reasoning ability. He is possibly the only "white" person in his GE class besides his teacher. (I'm not really sure how to identify anyone's ethnicity and I'm just guessing based on skin tone, admittedly inaccurate and possibly worthless information, yet people seem to care.) We LOVE his teacher's commitment + knowledge, the ethnic and socioeconomic diversity, the staff who all know and care for our children (even the two who don't yet attend), and the challenges that our son is facing and meeting. He is learning, happy, thriving and his perspective is expanding. There is an amazing chorus director, an organic food garden, a fabulous librarian, dedicated parents and an amazing principal. Do not fear the GE, it's rad!
--Submitted by a parent

I think this school is amazing. The new principal is focused and his energy towards the children, teachers and community is unparalleled! I am the parent of a kindergartener and seeing him thrive socially and academically is incredible. Great parent involvement too! Teachers are so talented!
--Submitted by a parent

Great School with a clear path toward a top notch curriculum which will benefit all.
--Submitted by a parent

The kindergarten team is amazing, after that the teacher quality goes downhill. The teachers engage their kids, and care for them, but many of them do not teach the basic standards. This is a problem especially in the upper grades.
--Submitted by a parent

My son is a first grader in the Spanish immersion strand. We are very glad to be a Flynn family--the staff is experienced and caring, the children are safe and engaged, and the community is very involved. Like any public school in SF, Flynn has its challenges: coping with funding issues, addressing the myriad needs of a diverse community, and meeting the required academic expectations. That said, there are many positives including a new principal--and vice principal--this year, implementation of the PYP program (http://www.ibo.org/pyp/), a fantastic library, and a number of good onsite afterschool options.
--Submitted by a parent

I'm quite disappointed in this school. My third grader (last year) was far under challenged. The school isn t doing what it should to bring students up to speed. In addition, the parents of the children who are not doing well don t seem to care much. I don t see a sense of urgency or concern coming from many of the families. I think that the school should do the following: 1. Enforce basic rules of behavior and homework. I ve never seen any consequences of incomplete homework. 2. Establish a school culture that says, We expect effort from our students and families. 3. Enforce school uniform policy. Uniforms are required, but at least half the kids don t wear them and nothing is done about it. 4. Many families are lower income, and student performance is affected for various reasons. However, Flynn incorrectly has a lower standard for many of its families. Raise the standard!! They can do it!!
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter was in Kinder in 2007-08 and is going into 1st grade. We are very happy with the staff, facilities (Library, Precita Park), and the English Language Strand. The cultural divesity is also a big factor in attracting us to this school.
--Submitted by a parent

I have two students in the English program at Flynn and one who will attend in the fall for Kinder. My oldest has been there for 3 years and we love it the teachers and staff is very attentive and the communication lines are always open .
--Submitted by a parent

We're a double-dad family and new at Flynn this year. Our son is in the English-language Kindergarten and we are really impressed with the teachers, staff and parents at this school. We live nearby, and it's great having a good public school we can walk to. The recent test score improvements show that the dedication of the entire school community is really paying off.
--Submitted by a parent