Booksin Elementary School

This school is wonderful! My child is in kinder so this is only our first year but it has been amazing. The parent involvement is nothing like I have seen before! The principal is new & seems to have the children's best interests in mind. Nearly every morning, I see her walking around campus & talking to the students. There are so many great programs offered, as the previous post states. Cornerstone was one of my favorites. I have no real complaints about Booksin. Our first year there has been a great experience!
—Submitted by a parent

We have attended Booksin for 6 years now and I must express how happy we have been with the qualified teachers and the outpouring of parent volunteers. Booksin has an Art Vista program, Accelerated Reading program, Cornerstone Reading and talented parents who want to see the children strive in an academic environment. Booksin puts homework responsibility on both the children and their parents. You will be held accountable if your child does not take education seriously. We love Booksin Elementary and are sad this is our last year.
—Submitted by a parent

My son has been attending Booksin for 2 years now and I can t say enough good things about this school. The administration, teachers and kids together form a very strong community and a wonderful environment for the kids to learn and grow. The teachers are great and the parent involvement is outstanding. There are a number of extra programs like cornerstone, art vista and mastery reading that the kids benefit greatly from. The after-school Y-care program is also great. We will be moving from to the East Bay next year and will greatly miss Booskin.
—Submitted by a parent

Booksin continues to be fundamentally sound place for our kids to get an education. We all wish it had more for gifted students, and frankly we supplement our kids with some schooling at the Russian School of Mathematics. The teachers care, they help our kids get some more advanced work to do, they have great fundamentals programs for math and reading, and have done some nice things with the science fair efforts to make this an exceptional example of what a public educational system can do.
—Submitted by a parent

This school has great parent participation at every level from the classroom, to arts and afterschool events. We have three children in this school and are very happy here.
—Submitted by a parent

Not recommended for gifted kids. The teachers don't know how to deal with gifted kids. They won't help them to progress. Most likely they become averaged kids after spend 6 years in this school.
—Submitted by a parent

Great, great school. We have been there 6 yrs with 2 children. The teachers aren't their for a paycheck, they 100% care about the kids. The community is super strong...I stopped in the classroom this year and there were 4 volunteer parents working inside! There are now 30 kids in a class b/c of budget cuts (boo!) but with 5 adults in the classroom, the ratio was 1 adult for 5 kids!!
—Submitted by a parent

We were privileged to have two children attend Booksin K-5. We couldn't have found a better school academically (either public or private) or a more active, committed community. Despite its large size, Booksin consistently strives to attend to each student's needs and provide the tools required for success. Parent volunteerism is incredible - from raising money for the school to providing daily reading help, Booksin parents step up to plate and always deliver! The BEST elementary school in San Jose BAR NONE!!
—Submitted by a parent

We were new to the school this year. It is very welcoming and my children's teachers have been outstanding. I would highly recommend the school if you are moving into the area.
—Submitted by a parent

School still stresses test scores and volume over quality of learning. My daughter has been in the school since K-4th and loves it. However, will have to point out the over zealous parents driving their kids hard vs. how well they are retaining the knowledge that they are learning. Overall a great school but still has room for improvement.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is absolutely fabulous. There are wonderful teachers, a very strong parent group and a fantastic new principal! The school offers many during and after school activities, such as, a garden program(run by volunteer parents), student council(teacher and students work to improve school spirit and do community projects), cornerstone kids (teachers run this group to build Lifeskills of all students), Mellow Monday (teacher run library program), Fun Fridays (parents set up arts, crafts and activities for students to do during Friday lunch) and of course Booksin's fantastic parents organize and put on the most amazing fundraiser the Walk-a-Thon! Teachers and Parents at this school go above and beyond any other school in the area.
—Submitted by a parent

Booksin is outstanding. My daughter loves her teacher and the extra programs that are well funded by the parent support organization. Parent involvement is phenomenal. In her class there are 2-4 parents volunteer every day (at least 17 parents contribute a significant amount weekly). The curriculum is standardized but how it is taught looks to be equally as challenging as the private schools we visited. Her teacher is highly dedicated and really challenges the kids with difficult but fun projects/ homework. The kids in her class are well behaved/well adjusted and interested in learning. The facilities are better then any private school in the area. Located in a quite, affluent, safe neighborhood, it has new library, computer lab, playground equipment and some new class rooms. There is a wonderful sports field, park with beautiful redwood trees and an area for class rooms to do gardening projects. We love Booksin.
—Submitted by a parent

Our daughter loves this school. She has adored each teacher she has had so far. The academics are good, but I wish the curriculum had room for a foreign language. At least it is now available as an extra curricular activity (Spanish, French and Italian). Chess, Science and Art are also available after school.
—Submitted by a parent

Booksin is a great school which is part of a very, very large district which is socio-economically diverse and under financed. That means that in order to make Booksin the wonderful school that it is, the parents have become the driving force behind the school's excellence. The number of parent volunteers is phenomenal - the annual Walk-A-Thon which raises the money for the numerous extras the kids receive is almost solely parent driven. The vast majority of the teachers are excellent. The school is well maintained and safe. My kids love their school and we are very pleased with the education they are receiving.
—Submitted by a parent

After transferring from another school in the district to Booskin, we couldn't believe the difference. It took awhile for our children to adjust to the higher demands. The teachers are experienced and ask a lot of the students. Most rise to the occasion. Parents volunteer in every classroom. Children who are behind get the help they need. Children who are ahead are challenged. This public school is more like a private school than any other in San Jose.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school, great teachers, only public school that is on par with private schools in education.
—Submitted by a parent

High parent involvement, music and performances available and outstanding, excellant academic performance! My kids have loved their teachers every year!
—Submitted by a parent

We have had a wonderful experience with our first year's child at Booksin. She is enrolled in a K/1 combination class that has been thoroughly enjoyable with a wonderful teacher.
—Submitted by a teacher

Both my daughters attended Booksin from kindergarten through 5th grade and are now in middle school in another district ('05-'06) They left Booksin socially and academically well prepared for middle school. Extracurricular activities include student council, show choir, and project cornerstone. Afterschool childcare is available through the YMCA. Booksin students have the highest test scores of any SJUSD elementary school. The high expectations of the staff and families at Booksin will challenge any student. Homework demands were reasonable. This is an exceptional school for high achieving students whose families are supportive and involved. Most families volunteer. The Booksin parent-teacher group supports technology, music, and arts programs. Most classrooms have 4-6 computers. Teachers have laptops and communicate through email. Teachers are experienced. New teachers are mentored by those who have been at Booksin for years. The environment is clean and safe. Everyday is a good day at Booksin!
—Submitted by a parent

The best thing about this school is parent involvement. I have two children here and the teacher standard has ranged between terrible (2) average (1) to very good (2). The principal is a bureaucrat and not interested in parents opinions - in fact, she can be very dismissive. The school changed teaching hours at the beginning of 2005, notifying parents less than two weeks before school started that the finishing time would be 1.42pm - very inconvenient for working parents. This is ostensibly due to bus timetables, yet other local schools (Willow Glen Elementary) made no such adjustments. With the reduction hours in the school day, a large number of parents are unhappy and there seems to be extra pressure on teachers and students. We are considering placing our children elsewhere.
—Submitted by a parent