Williams Elementary School

Great school. Lots of fun activities. Great teachers and programs, needs lots of parent involvement.
—Submitted by a parent

Some teachers are great, but there are a few (especially in higher grades, 3rd and up) that are horrible. Those teachers have not taught at Williams for a long time and bring inappropriate teaching styles to an otherwise great school.
—Submitted by a parent

Great teachers, excellent programs, structured environment, very involved parents, higher standards all around. Not a school for you if you are just looking for a daycare.
—Submitted by a parent

Great teachers and a superb lunch time activity program.
—Submitted by a parent

Great enrichment programs, amazing staff, parents volunteer a lot, art program, high scores
—Submitted by a parent

The leadership is not approachable & has no understanding whatsoever. However most of the staff is excellent.
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers are great - the students and cultures that demand more academics are removing the childlike feeling from the school. They need to be more well rounded. They will get more out of life if they had more time to play, be creative and not spend all waking hours doing homework.
—Submitted by a parent

I have two children that attend, a second grader and a fifth grader. The teachers for the most part are fantastic..and even the strict or 'grumpy' ones are still very approachable compared to other schools. The principle is the main drawback as she is very unaccessable. She seems logical and has good ideas but when you have a complaint...good luck getting any response from her. On the upside the artwork is fabulous! Music has never taken off but most have their children in private lessons after school anyways. Most of the teachers have their own 'plays' or musicals that they do every year anyways...but there is no school play which would be nice to have.
—Submitted by a parent

I found the teachers are extremely helpful, caring, loving and dedicated. We met great teachers that went above and beyond to help the kids with special need. Parents involvement also contributes to the success of the school. Very diversified culture and very fun environment for the kids.
—Submitted by a parent

Very happy with this school. Both of my kids are attend school from K-5th grade. A lot of parent involved. Academic and activities are quite balance well. Teacher are very nice and very helpful
—Submitted by a parent

Good parental involvement. Teachers are caring, and helpful and very nice. Pretty High academic standards.
—Submitted by a parent

Teachers are top notch. Also, school caves into pressure from cultures in school demanding top academics that sacrifice the well rounded child.
—Submitted by a parent

Both of my kids attended this school from K-5. In 5th grade. I would pick my daughter up and she would be crying every day not wanting to return to school. I switched her to another school and she had the best experience. Now in highschool, my son ALSO said he HATED Williams. The staff and teachers are GREAT but if you're not from the Almaden area, you're not 'in'. The kids AND the parents have their own cliques. Made me feel like I was back in high school again. I put in 100's of hours, staying almost all day, every day. All kids deserve to get the best education. They don't deserve to be made to feel less then because we're less fortunate.
—Submitted by a parent

Williams School is totally focused on academics. The entire curriculum and pace, is oriented around the API's, and requiring a high level of parent involvement. While this has resulted in the highest API scores in San Jose, there needs to be more balance on the development side, and extracurricular activities. There doesn't seem to be a lot of support for children who are falling behind or who have special needs. Because of the high API scores, families from other countries/cultures, where education is their highest priority, are being drawn into the area. Most are pushing for even more focus on academics. The school should not respond to these requests for more academics, and strive to provide more balance, so we develop well-rounded, non-stressed out, children.
—Submitted by a parent

Good parental involvement. Teachers are caring, and helpful. High academic standards. The downside is there is a lot of homework.
—Submitted by a parent

My kids go to this school and I think this is the best school in SJUSD. In general, most teachers are well qualified, but I see some inconsistencies between classes of same grade. This is the only thing I think need to be improved.
—Submitted by a parent

Williams is a high performing school with active parent involvement.Music, Art, and sports are tailored to fit into the curriculum and the quality of programs is excellent!
—Submitted by a parent

This is a wonderful school. I have my kids here since kindergarten and the teachers are very good and approachable.
—Submitted by a parent

Hard working dedicated staff and parent group. Very involved parent teacher association.
—Submitted by a teacher

Williams students consistently score high on tests, in fact it seems to be a main goal of the school. The PTA is involved in funding music and arts which benefits the older students the most. Parent involvement is critical to the school. Families are required to put in 40 volunteer hours a year. It really shows what a benefit this is.
—Submitted by Sue Gleadhill, a parent