University Park Elementary School

Very disappointing. Teachers were the bullies. Too much screen time and not enough teaching.

I love this school. My kids had a fantastic experience there. I loved being able to volunteer regularly, I felt like I got to know the teachers, students and other parents very well. One of my kids had trouble learning to read initially but his teachers went the extra mile with him and cared very deeply about teaching him to read. We had some exceptionally special teachers at that school. Even the crossing guards are fabulous. They know the kids and parents by name. All the students favorite UP employee is head of maintenance, Mr. Gonzales, he has a smile and kind word for every single student and parent.

What a horrible little school. The teachers are awful and favor the students of moms who volunteer. It is quite common to see the child of a class mom be the star of the Christmas show, the son of the auction committee head chosen as the "art student" to represent at district shows or a mediocre child of a large donor placed in the TAG program, etc. In a way, it is to be expected. That is why the parents volunteer. But the school is horrible the way it sells itself out. There are teachers who will advertise their birthday on their homepage, presumably to solicit for gifts. And often, there will be. One teacher was given plane tickets as an end of the year class gift in addition to personal gifts. The shameless hustling for funds is a disgrace. And the teachers will have the temerity to be rude to you because you want to discuss your child's learning. They can't help it. They know the parents are wary of upsetting them for fear of reprisals in the classroom, which I have seen. The school's and the district's high test scores are lauded. I cannot say that is the doing of the teachers as I did most of the heavy lifting in my children's reading and math education. I would receive emails from teachers imploring parents to drill addition facts at home because "only five out of 24 students have them learned by heart." I can understand maybe only one-third of the students' not having learned them. But if 80% of the class hasn't, it means the teacher just doesn't want to do her job. There is also very little reading time with a teacher if your child is not behind. The students read to one another and to themselves and listen to books-on-video. And really, I don't need my children to learn how to use an iPad at school. They can do that at home. How about focusing on penmanship, how to write in cursive and the multiplication table? I highly recommend this school to parents who like social climbing, willing to enroll his children in at least two sports activities and have plenty of time to teach the three R's of elementary education themselves.