Washington Elementary School

I have two grandsons currently enrolled in Washington. Both teachers have been extremely helpful in giving my boys the best education possible. They, along with the ELD teacher, are making sure the boys progress as much as possible for their skill level. Thank you to Ms. Shaw, Ms. Sans and the ELD instructors.
—Submitted by a parent

My son just completed Kindergarten at Washington. As an educator, I fully understand the pressures and realities confronted by low performing public schools and was anxious about our decision to send our son to Washington. He ended up having a really wonderful year--he adored his teacher and always looked forward to going to school, excelled academically, and really felt comfortable in the school community and close to his diverse group of peers. I am part of a growing active parent group at the school and have enjoyed being part of a group of parents so committed to improving the school for all. We have a great new principal who is pushing the school in good directions and I believe that the school is getting better and better each year.
—Submitted by a parent

Up until the first day of school, my husband and I were questioning our decision to send our daughter to Washington or to try and transfer to another school. Our concerns dissipated immediately. She had a truly talented and caring kindergarten teacher who worked well with the wide variety of students in her class. By the end of kindergarten, our daughter had a solid foundation for reading and was doing subtraction and some abstract math concepts. Her first grade teacher this year is amazing! With over 25 years of experience, she has created a calm yet enriching learning environment for kids. This year the school has before and after care for kids which is helping working families and is offering Spanish classes four days a week! The school is also adopting an environmental theme that the teachers and the students are excited about. Bottom line, we're glad we stayed.
—Submitted by Morgan Mack-Rose, a parent

Overall our experience at Washington was great. The teachers are very open with parents and readily available for parent/teacher conferences. The academic programs are some what limited in that they do not flourish with tons of extra curricular tutorials; however, they do provide many multi-cultural activities, art classes, and school performances that keep the kids active and stimulated. The parent involvement was great. There were a core group of parents spending quality time for the school each step of the way and other parents volunteering for other services. Washington has a family-like atmosphere and if we had to do it again my daughter, who is graduating from the 5th and attended since the 1st would go again. Note: the student/teacher ration is high therefore, reiterating school work and extra homework was necessary. Again, great teachers!
—Submitted by James, a parent

My son's experience at Washington Elementary School has been very positive. Mrs Perlman's class jumped right into thing's from the start and in a short time there was already a noticeable improvement in my son's writing,reading and mathematical abilities. He really surprised me when he was doing subtraction problems by Christmas, He expresses his newly found knowledge proudly with self confidence which I directly attribute to Mrs. Perlman's teaching style. She really has been a big player in his development of high self esteem. The overall faculty of the school really seem like they care about the students and it shows when you see them interact. One thing that really stands out are the billboards for each class, where the students work is displayed. That really helps the students feel proud of their individual accomplishments. I think Washington School is successfully building a strong scholastic foundation for their students.
—Submitted by Brent Sacrey, a parent

My son is a Kindergartener at Washington Elementary. I am happy with the overall school enviroment. I was not sure upon entering, but after the first week I was content and have been since even more satisfied with my sons education and school community. I am impressed by the teacher and her ability to find time to do alot of one on one work with the students. She is always willing to listen and give and take input on how to help my son comprehend something he may be struggling with. I also like the fact that she uses artistic means of teaching to the class, being all five and six year olds this has proved to be a very effective way of keeping their interest and attention.
—Submitted by Elizabeth, a parent

My son is in Kindergarten at Washington Elementary. We love that it is a small, neighborhood school that represents our diverse community. The teachers are wonderful, and it is so great to be able to walk to your local school. I only wish more families would check it out for themselves, rather than transferring to other schools or going private before giving Washington a chance.
—Submitted by Whitney Walker, a parent

Washington Elementary School in San Leandro is a small school with wonderful staff. The teachers are great and really care about the children. It schows.
—Submitted by a parent

Washington Elementary school is a wonderful school with great caring teachers. Although it took some time, our new 2005-2006 PTA President Alicia Sierra has set the ground work to make the meetings quicker, more effeceient, and more fun to attend. The PTA is evolving into an indispensible resource to Washington Elementary School. It could be even better with more parent involvment. I am sure next year will be even greater.
—Submitted by a parent

We transferred from a private school to Washington when our daughter entered third grade. (The private school was one that runs from preschool through second.) We're happy that we did so. The small school size, the friendly families,the diversity, the dedication of the teaching staff and the principal are all gratifying. No, this is not Head Royce, but my feeling is I want my kids to live in a world of diversity of all kinds, not only among families just like ours. The payoff is knowing we are participating in, battering our neighborhood school. It's a great feeling! Transfering out or staying private would have felt like an abandonment of our own neighborhood and friends. I look around and see so much talent and energy in our area, so many kinds of families. Our local elementary school should reflect our neighborhood! Think how great Washington can be with *everyone* here!
—Submitted by Patricia Bidar, a parent

My Son atteneded esculita Cri-cri at Washington and it was a wonderful experience for him. Maestra Martinez is amazing. The class was mainly in Spanish.
—Submitted by a parent

With regards to Washington's 1st grade program and teachers At the beginning of the year my child's teacher held a meeting for parents to informed them that her goal was to teach every child in her class to read by the end of the school year. Parent/family participation was encouraged and every resource was utilized to meet that goal. The teachers understood this was the year children would be setting a foundation for the education that would follow and reading was that foundation. My child's teacher often spent her own time and money to meet that goal. She made you feel like your child was special to her and nothing was more important to her than helping your child learn. It's such a relief to find a teacher that believed in what she was doing and really loved her work.
—Submitted by Maria Salas-Ontiveros, a parent

I'm just considering this school because we moved to San Leandro a year ago and we have a 2 year old son. It seems to me that there is a lot of parents wanting to get involved, but I am not sure the school is ready to accept help. The PTA seems to be struggling.
—Submitted by a parent

My child currently is enrolled in the Cri cri class for Spanish speaking preschool children. I like the idea that it is 3 times a week and it ends at noon. It is more set up as a parent coop teaching environment. The idea is that parents/caretakers take turns helping the teacher facilitate activities for the children once a week. However, not all parents contribute which leaves the teacher on some days without sufficent help which tends to beat the purpose. Overall, the program is a great stepping stone for introducing and preparing toddlers into kindergarten.
—Submitted by a parent

Washington has good teachers, diverse staff and students with a bilingual program. The bilingual program is strong, althgough the school is suffering from state takeover issues for not raising test scores for English language learners as a subcategory. As a result, they are going to be forced to implement unpopular reforms, standardized curriculum , officially excluding science and social studies. Many teachers are upset and parents too. The principal is new, and probably trying to tow the line, to save her job and show improvements, becuase as you may now, if you test drill everyday and focus on certain things you can raise test scores, but the students are not always better off. The yard and site itself is large and underused. with 400 or so kids, its small in numbers but large in sq. feet, with two parks and a huge grass field.
—Submitted by a teacher

Washington Elementary is a wonderfully exciting school. The teachers make you feel at home. Not a day goes by that I don't see a teachers face with a smile or a hello even if they don't know you. You could be walking down the halls and teachers will be waving to parents and children they don't know. The school is very calm, not rowdy at all. There is a lot of teacher, prncipal, parent involvement when it comes to a child at this school. My daughter had a speech problem and learning disability before she attended this school. I was worried that I would have a lot of problems with the school telling me she was a special child or that something was extremely wrong with her. The school on their own called a conference with the principal, speech therapist, psychologist, myself and her own teacher. They address to me that something definately was wrong with her speech, but that was all. They asured me everything else was okay with her and that all she needed was alittle help in speech. One year and a half later, my daughter (now in first grade)has learned how to read and her speech has improved dramatically. I'm very happy that all the teachers took time out to help everyday in helping her to improve. The patience, hard work, involvement and faith that this school has in the children is unbelieveable.I'm very happy and I'm glad I made a good decision in picking this school out for my child.
—Submitted by a parent