Howard Pence Elementary School

Two of my kids have gone to Howard Pence so far, one for half a year of kinder and the other for half a year of kinder, 3rd grade and 4th grade.Positives: Mr. Daily is a great principal. He treats the kids with respect and disciplines fairly and kindly when necessary. Mrs. Gilbert-Magana had a positive teaching philosophy for my third grader. I appreciate that breakfast is served in the classroom, as this saves time and stress in the morning.Negatives: Uniforms are an unnecessary expense for some families and a distraction if kids aren't allowed to be comfortable in their own clothes. As much as bullying is talked about nowadays, I have found that not much is done to address incidents unless the parents make a stink about it.My biggest criticism concerns kindergarten classroom management techniques. Too much emphasis is made on correcting developmentally appropriate behaviors, such as goofing around or chatting too much with their classmates (remember these are 5 year olds), which I've observed to have a demoralizing effect on kids. The color code system also promotes a kind of herd mentality among peers. If you get a green card or better, you're part of a special club. Get yellow or red and you get made fun of. It's concerning that this method must ultimately be employed by teachers to keep the kids on track or test scores might slip.I ended up pulling my kindergartner from Pence due to unaddressed bullying and a teacher whose classroom management techniques I disagreed with.School should be more than test scores. It should be a place that encourages a love of learning, a safe place of loving encouragement and a no judgement whatsoever. Until that happens, our schools will continue to fail.

Excellent school and excellent teachers my daughter's feel very safe in this school and happy and they have learned a lot in here mrs. Arancibia is an excellent teacher and mrs. Hernandez from first grade . Mr. Daily is an excellent principal...

My son is in 2nd grade and thanks to the teachers pushing my son to challenge himself with new things everyday he is an advanced student. He finished 1sr grade at a 3rd grade reading level. Mr. Daily is awesome he knows every student & is a motivator. Mrs. Arancibia to me is the best 1st grade teacher.

Pence is not the school of choice. My three children attend this school and they all complain about the staff, the food, and their classmate. There is lack of respect. They spend on remodeling the school but not on education and making children feel comfortable. Their after school program also on the low end. The staff are kids taking care of kids.