Birney Elementary School

Amazing school, our experience has been wonderful and my kids always look forward to going to school. We are very happy with Washington.

The half-day kindergarten set up is extremely disappointing. Given that "half day" is really less than 3 hours and part of that time is free choice time and recess (two separate times), it leads to an inadequate amount of academic and social-emotional learning time. Based on the assessments and discussion at the beginning of the year, it is clear teachers depend on students already entering Kinder having mastered beginning (and some middle) of year K standards in order for them to be on grade level at the end of the year. While some families can support this, not all have the resources to do so.

My son is in his 3rd year at Birney and we couldn't be happier. He has had wonderful teachers and has continued to grow socially as well as academically. The parental involvement in this school is incredible and a big part of why this school does so well. We all care and it shows in the programs and academics that are offered at this school. The principal is fairly new and though she is good with policy she still needs to work on how to better communicate with the parents. That said, I am thrilled to have a wonderful public school just blocks away from our home!

This is a review for the Redondo Beach Unified School System at the district level, not for one school in particular. If you have a high achieving or gifted child who is grads K-2, then this district is not the place for them. I am looking into weather this school system would be the right fit for my child who is performing well above his age so I thought I would ask what the school district does for children before they qualify for the GATE program in third grade. According to Educational Services, my high achieving child would be better off in a private school, as he would not receive any differentiating instruction in the classroom. I find the approach of giving cookie-cutter education unfair and it's certainly not a place where we will be sending our child. Most of the other districts have a cluster program that separates children into below, average, and above average performance groups in the classroom. According to Educational Services, there are no such clusters at RBUSD. It's one-size-fits-all learning here! It was certainly surprising considering the district's high ratings, but it's apparent that the district is only concerned with maintaing the status quo.