Sandra J. Gallardo Elementary School

I question the direction this school is headed. The front office staff is a direct reflection of the type of response you will get from the principal. Very rude and not willing or inconvenienced to help. If your child has any type of behavior/learning issues I would look elsewhere as Galardo does not provide a supportive environment for these needs.

SJG is a great school in a caring environment. The principal, Mrs. Graham, is engaged with the kids and approachable. This school walks the balance between academics and arts, with technology and tools that make it on par with a private school. I had to shake my head at a previous poster who implied their kindergartener was receiving professional help because of the pressure of testing. First: they don't test kindergarteners. I've had two children go through kindergarten at this school - they do standard k curriculum and it's light and enjoyable, it's not full day, and they've divided in an overlapping way so the class sizes are smaller and the kids get more individualized attention.We love this school, we enjoy that it has diversity, a variety of activity opportunities for the kids, and there's onsite student care, all of which were important to us.

I would love to give this school a higher rating because my daughters teacher is amazing, but the front office staff is horribly unfriendly. They talk down to you and are not quick to help you with anything. I am seriously considering moving schools because of how rude and unfriendly the front office is. Very sad too because my daughters teacher is fantastic.

This is our first year at SJG (2012) and I am sorry to say that our experience has been disappointing. We moved from an out of state public school that had the resources to provide smaller classes, better technology (and more access to that technology), employ well-trained teachers, and offer more school days per year. It's my opinion that Gallardo's reviews sound fantastic because--thanks to CA's budget cuts--no one around here has experienced anything better. While I am assured by my neighbors that there are some really fantastic teachers at SJG, we weren't lucky enough to get one of them, this year. Our child has felt so stressed and unhappy in her learning environment that we have sought professional counseling to help her cope. Her therapist, sadly enough, reports that she sees quite a few children from SJG who are also struggling deal with the stress of keeping up in a fast paced environment with more emphasis on standardized test success than individual needs of children. Both teacher and principal have been less than responsive to our concerns for our child. If you are looking for a safe, joyful learning environment for your child, look elsewhere.