Canoas Elementary School

I simply cannot say enough negative things about this school. Everything about it, from teachers to staff, from policies to programs, seems calculated to underserve and neglect the children unlucky enough to be enrolled there. My daughter reads and does math at 3 years above grade level. At Canoas her first grade teacher demonstrated alarming incompetence and took delight in first overburdening her with homework (~26 page weekly packets when other kids got maybe 4 pages), failing to teach her any of the information she would need in order to complete the big packets, and refusing outright to correct or hand back the homework after it was turned in. My husband and I sought to have our child moved up a grade, but the principal's slow and ineffective intervention resulted in my child being moved up a grade just in time to miss GATE testing all together. It's no wonder this is a failing school. They have failed my child on every level. No one should send their child to this joke of an institution. It should be shut down. Avoid Canoas Elementary like the plague, parents. Fight to have your child transferred.
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers at this school are awful. There are a few who do care about their students success but there are those who are there to hurt your child s education. My child had complained about the way the teacher treats the class and I went in to see for myself to see whether this was true. To my surprise it was worse than I thought. Apparently the teacher believes that yelling, embarrassing and putting children down is not an issue, especially when a parent is present. I can only imagine how much worse it is if a parent isn't present. There have been complaints but nothing has changed. Teachers have also discouraged me from going into their class and now I know why. So for those parents wondering why students scores are bad, and why parents do not volunteer, take this into consideration.
—Submitted by a parent

Although there is lack of parent involvement in this school, teachers and students are nice and polite. Students are not encouraged to do well. Reading should be a must. Students are supposed to be assigned one book to read and summarize every month. Deserving should get recognition and award. This way, the student will get motivated. Also, it sad to see parents transferring their kids to a better school. I'd been meaning to but this is my kid's last year in Canoas.
—Submitted by a parent

Canoas has an excellent teaching staff. They have programs for students who are struggling with reading and math, but also for students who are above grade level. This is a "back to basics" school as a result of a high rate of English Language Learners, but teaching and curriculum quality is high. Our family considered a transfer and private schools because we were worried about low overall test scores. But while our son was in Kindergarten we were impressed by the school's interest in providing our child with accelerated learning opportunities. Parent participation is poor, but those who do volunteer and come to meetings are wonderful and enthusiastic. Curriculum is standard across the district, and in speaking with other parents, there are no poor teachers at Canoas.
—Submitted by a parent

What a joke! Caring? High quality? Youve got to be kidding me? This school is just another one of San Jose Unified's failure schools. Poor administration, staff, and students with low testing scores. Beware!
—Submitted by a parent

There is a friendliness and a cohesiveness that seems to exhist between all groups and ages at Canoas. It is a fun place to be and the relationship between principal and students and teachers is one of attention and caring.

Caring, high quality teachers have made attending Canoas a terrific experience for our family! My kids are excelling and have all become strong, voracious readers. We LOVE the EPGY math program from Stanford - advanced kids can get extra enrichment. An EPGY tutor even calls my child at home once per week to work on extra math activities on the computer. An excellent opportunity at no charge to us!
—Submitted by a parent

Canoas Elementary provides every child the opportunity to be his/her best! We love our school! The teachers are the best you can find anywhere, and the principal is on his way up, making leaps and bounds in his experience and expertise, always full of caring for the kids. The only reason I do not give Canoas full marks is that we need more parent involvement to make our school as successful as the best schools. Any parent that is involved on some level will see their child get everything they need, as we have seen friends move on to the best public and private middle schools with easy transition.
—Submitted by a parent

Principal is a weak, mild mannered person that does NOT know how to manage a school properly. Stay away from this dump! As a parent I have many issues with the current principal and his lack of ability to effectively run a school.
—Submitted by a parent

We couldn't be any happier with Canoas Elementary. We were one of the families that previously transferred away, but decided this year to give Canoas, our neighborhood school, a chance. The teachers that work with our children, Ms. Fontes and Ms. Brady, consistently push our children to reach higher levels academically. They are also very caring and compassionate on a daily basis. This is a warm, inviting, small school that is really a gem. We are happy that our children are here and know that they are in safe hands.
—Submitted by a parent

Canoas is full of a dedicated and wonderful staff. It has a principal that is out there every day with the students from start to finish. Teachers are working very hard at getting the students to level if not above. Music and Art is being given by wonderful parent volunteers. However, We need more volunteers to increase this to all the classrooms. If more parents helped out, more could get accomplished. HOmework is given every night, including reading. Students and their parents are responsible to get it down. The score of the students are improving every year, and will continue to improve with the help of everyone who is around the children.
—Submitted by a parent

Frankly, as grandparents we are appalled by the apathy towards safety & discipline displayed by the adults we entrust our children to. We know there is a lack of parent involvement ect... There are good things about this school and there are not so good things. But the core need is for each child to feel safe & protected so they can learn. Dromero
—Submitted by a parent

The principal and the teachers are highly dedicated to the students. Yes, more volunteers are needed. Yes, more work is needed. Yes, there is a high turn-over rate. Many things need improvement, but things are getting better every year. If people gave Canoas Elementary a chance instead of transferring away, it could become an excellent school very quickly.
—Submitted by a parent

Academic standard is low, so students are not encouraged. Teachers have no control over the class.
—Submitted by a parent

Schol and teachers are ok, but parent are not interested in volunteer.
—Submitted by a parent

I don't recommend this school. Students are not diverse, almost no homework.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school, hard working dedicated teachers. A little tougher on the children than I'd like. A lot of parent involvment is encouraged.
—Submitted by a parent

I think homework is not enough for student, and teachers are not strict, so it seems that they can't control class.
—Submitted by a parent

It seems that students are not challenged enough. Principal is great but teachers are not caring about kids. I hope there is more quality teachers are there
—Submitted by a parent

Our daughter attended kindergarten in the 04-05 school year. Academic program was very good. Her reading improved dramatically. Good facility, with teachers who care. Parent involvement is not the strength of this school at all.
—Submitted by a parent