Valentine Elementary School

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My child has been attending this school for 2 years. The place and staff reminds me of the Stepford Wives. From what I can tell and hear from other parents, Carver is the better elementary school in San Marino. I feel like Principal Shields is the problem. She cares more about donations and fundraising. Maybe next year we'll try to get our child transferred to Carver.

Valentine is easily among the best elementary schools in all of California, public or private. Yes, it's also consistently one of the highest-rated with the best test scores, but what really sets the school apart is not just how well the students do in statewide standardized testing, but how well the students respond to the teachers and the curriculum. Before my husband's office was relocated from Cupertino to Los Angeles, our two kids were enrolled at William Faria Elementary, another highly-rated school. What we were surprised to see was the school seemed singularly focused on academics and teaching children how to do well on tests. It wasn't a system where kids were taught to use their imaginations or foster their creativity. Parents were also encouraged to enroll our kids in after-school sessions at independent tutoring centers where the "mission" was performing well on multiple-choice testing rather than to sign them up for after-school activities involving sports, music or art. While our kids did well in school, they also seemed vaguely disinterested. They didn't show much enthusiasm for anything school-related at all.

When we moved to San Marino and enrolled our kids at Valentine, the change in their attitudes seemed almost immediate. Now they looked forward to school in the mornings, were beaming when we picked them up in the afternoons, and didn't make a fuss about doing their homework. They also became more creative, making cards and artwork for us all the time, and not just for holidays and special occasions. The culture seems different here where the kids love Saturday soccer at the middle school and summer swimming at the high school so it's not just all about academics. Having a world-class museum and gardens nearby at the Huntington Library doesn't hurt either, where the kids go annually for field-trips, and where we go on weekends occasionally at the urging of the children.