Summit View School

My daughter attends Summit View West. This is a terrific school. Dedicated teachers, excellent administration, wonderful student- teacher ratio. Nancy Rosenfelt , head of school is the most dedicated, energetic , experienced, educator I have ever come in contact with. If your child has any kind of learning disabilities this is the place !
—Submitted by a parent

I'm a Summit View high school student. It grieves me to report that one of the main math/science teachers has made a specialty of ruining students' opportunities to go to a good college. Ms. Cao taught me biology, chemistry and precalculus the past 3 years. She gives male students half the points she gives female students for identical work submitted. She answers questions from female students but not from male students. The average precalculus male grade is a D-, vs a B+ for females. Her chem students' average SAT subject test score was below the national average, the first time this ever happened at Summit View. She gives extremely lengthy and tedious homework in precalculus, such as over 100 problems due the next day, and each one with many time-consuming parts to complete, with most problems redundant to each other, often for completion in 24 hours. Her class presentations do not make sense. Her students are not learning, and she is torpedoing their chances of going to a good college. None of us understand why the school administration won't fire her for all her misdeeds. When told by students and parents what's going on, they say "oh well." Please don't send your kids here!

I too am a student at Summit View high school in North Hollywood. The typical class size in Ms. Cao's math and science courses is 12 students or so. Several of us have cumulative GPAs in the 3.2 to 3.8 range, or at least we did until we encountered her classes (biology, chemistry, precalculus). She is giving the guys D's and F's in her classes, compared to B's and C's for the girls. Even the girls will not see an A in her classes. Her teaching methods are very confusing to us, and she is a really unfair grader. Her grades seem to be based on nothing more than capricious personal preference for one student over another, and she strongly favors the girls while strongly disfavoring the boys. The school administration won't listen to us or our parents on this, or on her poor teaching skills and strange homework practices, they just turn a deaf ear. If you have a son who wants to go to a good college like a UC or better, don't send your son here for high school. There are plenty of better alternatives in the area that also specialize in kids with learning disabilities, without a bad egg teacher like Ms. Cao to ruin their GPA and a deaf administration ignoring it.

My son and nephew have attended here for 4 years. My son struggles significantly with dyslexia and dysgraphia. The school is very strict in their acceptance policy and will not take children that have behavioral problems. Yet with some of the emotional problems my son has struggled through, the staff has been very supportive and understanding. Academically, even with modifications they do not dummy down the cirriculmn. They are very strong in the academic program and try to offer a variety of extra curricular activities. Not the same as at a high school, but if your child matures it's possible to dual enroll for those activities in a regular school. The parents are great and very supportive the school. My son has gone from hiding under the table in 5th grade due to low self-esteem - to college bound with ambition and a feeling of direction.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a wonderful school. My child came from 5th grade with low self esteem, poor grades a learning disability that seemed unsurmountable and depression. She's a junior today, happy well-adjusted and planning on attending college. The teachers are committed and caring and the leadership is very strong.
—Submitted by a parent

This is a place of miracles. Small classes, personalized instruction, and cutting edge research and information make this a place where you want to send your child. I watched my child grow, and bloom, and conquer all of the roadblocks to learning. The Director of Summit View is a gifted educator and administrator. Call her first!
—Submitted by a parent