Gabriela Mistral Elementary

A great school where you child can become fluent and literate in Spanish on top of getting a good quality elementary education. Principal, staff and teachers are great.

Highly effective for my children. They learned a lot about diversity

A work in progress. Let's see how things change. It takes a community to build a school. If we change our standards and say we want better, and work hard to support and improve our schools, progress is possible. Stay active. Be honest. Good things can come out of tough transitions. I'm optimistic.

It is sad for me to write this review. The idea of Mistral is incredibly important - even more so in these times. Previous reviews here sounds more like what Castro/Mistral dual immersion program used to be. Our child started after seeing the amazing community and interactive culture the year before. We joined was because of great recommendations from friends, which were accurate then. Our experience is that new leadership is failing this idea and this school. After several incidents, we did what we were most afraid doing - pulling our child out in the middle of his dual immersion experience. Now he’s behind academically and we’re working hard to catch up, but that is the far better option than letting him finish there. Three things I believe the school district and school leadership needs to to right the ship:- Address cultural differences between hispanic and non-hispanic communities to foster a more integrated community. It's really hard to bridge this divide, but the success of the school depends on it. Simply encouraging playdates outside of typical social groups would go a long way.- Address emotional bullying and harassment head on, offering guidance to parents of all kids on how to handle incidents. School meetings, talks with outside experts, q&a sessions, anything to help parents help their kids- Clearly articulate a mission and purpose for this school and so that parents are clear on what is expected, how they can help, and get on board.