Flora Vista Elementary School

Posted: February 26, 2022

This school took away my son's makeup classwork without any notification or discussion or anything else in place for him when he was sick for longer than was convenient for the teacher to put together the makeup work. They said it was due to a district policy that doesn't exist. They tried to have us do an independent study contract like we were taking him on a vacation. They tried to force us to use a home hospital resource that we didn't want to use...all the while they kept his schoolwork from him so he could not keep up with his class. This school does not care about what is best for kids...they cared less about this sick little boy. He became disengaged as a result. They are horrible and should be ashamed to call themselves educators.

Posted: February 26, 2022

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Posted: February 7, 2020

We have high praise for the special education staff. It is a tremendous relief knowing our kids our flourishing with their assistance.

Posted: February 7, 2020

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Posted: February 7, 2020

At the end of the day, the most important aspect of supporting kids with disabilities is for the staff to clearly see the child and formulate a plan to accommodate them in the most appropriate learning environment.

While plans are moving targets, I can say with absolute certainty that this school clearly sees our children's strengths and where they need support, and address these abilities inside the class settings and outside with one on one support. I feel confident knowing that Flora Vista "has" our kids. The staff is open and approachable, the IEPs are a living document that can be adjusted, and I am thrilled with the teachers and Special Education department at the school. I'm not sure what the disconnect is with the opinion of how the school handles kids with learning disabilities, but parents have a part in expressing expectations for the staff to assist their children fostering development. In my experience, if there is something they think they could do better, they are open to the conversation. What more do they want?

We have two children with special needs at the school, which gives us all the more appreciation for their efforts.

Posted: February 7, 2020

Posted: October 20, 2019

Teachers punish the special needs children that don't listen to them. Instead of putting them in time out in the bench at recess in front of all children they should teach the child what he/she is allow to do at recess. The Behavior supervisor Kristie Garcia says that children should learn to socialize organically. How come an autistic child learns to socialize organically if he has Autism?

Posted: October 20, 2019

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Posted: July 27, 2019

Bullying is very rare here. They reward students for asking kids to play with them if they are sitting alone.

Posted: July 27, 2019

My kids and the kids in their class love to do homework. I didn’t like homework as a kid. These kiddos love to learn and help each other do homework in the after school program.

Posted: July 27, 2019

The teachers are absolutely amazing!!! They truly love the kids and their job. The majority of teachers have been there for 15-28 years. It’s one of the hardest schools to get to teach in because the teachers don’t leave.

Posted: July 27, 2019

Every week there is a program like kindness week, or make a friend week. Always bringing kids together and teaching positive life lessons

Posted: July 27, 2019

They teach the kids to have a strong sense of self as well as learning to build others up

Posted: July 27, 2019

Not sure. My child hasn’t had these classes

Posted: July 27, 2019

The best! I feel so comfortable with my children here. All of us moms are friends and almost family

Posted: June 20, 2018

Wonderful. I love the parents and community. The PTA and EEF are so dedicated to the students, school and community.

Posted: June 20, 2018

I'm not sold that homework is effective, but school does a good job.

Posted: June 20, 2018

Posted: June 20, 2018

Principal very focused on this issue, as are the students

Posted: June 20, 2018

PTA is amazing with all kinds of parent volunteers (working inside and outside the home). Great sense of community!!!

Posted: June 20, 2018

Not thrilled with state support on this issue but I do believe the school tries to do the best with the funds they are given.

Posted: June 20, 2018

Principal and PTA very invested in this issue.

Posted: June 11, 2018

I don't believe elementary school aged children generally benefit from homework, especially in the youngest years. They are tired at the end of a long school day. Time after-school is precious- for doing some enriching after-school activities, spending quality time with family/friends, doing the important work of "play" and getting to bed early to ensure a full night's rest. I think doing some daily reading is enough. Also, the parent may want to focus on giving the child extra help in an area that the child is struggling. Some years I felt like the homework and take-home projects were too much. If a project requires significant parental help, it shouldn't be assigned. In-class projects are much preferred. This year the homework was very reasonable (light) and seemed to strike the right balance.

Posted: June 11, 2018

This school has mostly older, very-experienced, highly-qualified teachers. This is a school teachers want to work at, and they do not leave once they are hired. Some of the teachers are nearing retirement and can seem a bit "old school," but I have appreciated that most teachers seem to care about the students and are trying hard to do their jobs well.

Posted: June 11, 2018

This is a focus of the school.

Posted: June 11, 2018

Principal Juarez is exceedingly warm, caring, friendly, and approachable. I feel very fortunate he is leading our school now. I've emailed him a few times about concerns I've had, and he has responded promptly and thoughtfully. He is supportive of the school-related events that occur outside the normal school hours (fund-raisers, tournaments) and I have been impressed to see him make a showing at these on his personal time.

Posted: June 11, 2018

The district as a whole does not have a real program for "gifted" children. It does rely heavily on iPads and says that curriculum is differentiated because the iPad apps are adaptive according to the user's performance.

Posted: June 11, 2018

This is also a focus of the school and the children are educated about bullying.

Posted: June 11, 2018

Overall, I'm very happy with the school. I have two children attending. It has a great principal, highly qualified teachers, and is made up of a community of very involved, supportive parents. I was blown away by how much parents do to support this school with their time and talents- and that really makes a difference in the student's education and experience. It is a small, tight-knit community. Of course, students are also bound to do well here just due to the demographics- these are privileged kids who tend to have highly educated, older parents. The school facilities are old and not in great condition- but I don't think that bothers the kids and ultimately the quality of the people (teachers, principal, and families) is what matters. The playground is big, which allows the kids to run and get plenty of exercise. I would prefer smaller teacher-to-student ratios, but I'd need to send my kids to private school for that (not worth it, $ better saved for college), and I'm not convinced charter schools are better. It's actually amazing to be able to send my kids to such a great school for free (aside from our donations to the PTA and school support fund.)

Posted: June 10, 2018

I expected more from FV. I love all of the extra programs the students have access to weekly- yoga, science lab, gardening, music. However, there is a lack of curriculum for math and social-emotional development.

Posted: June 10, 2018

The homework is supposed to reinforce skills taught in the classroom and for many it probably does. But for my son, he finishes the entire weeks work in about an hour on one day. So it's really just busy work for him and not effective.

Posted: June 10, 2018

The teachers take time to get to know every child in their class and build relationships with them. They are struggling to provide a strong curriculum especially in math, because the district has yet to purchase a research based comprehensive common core program. So teachers are piecing things together.

Posted: June 10, 2018

On the playground the kids call each other names. Take things from each other, and shame each other. They do not show respect to the noon duties or other adults. There is a lack of consequences for inappropriate behavior. Many ask "is this all I get" when given a reward.

Posted: June 10, 2018

Principal Juarez needs to be more visible. Especially during arrival, dismissal, recess, and lunch. These are the times when supervision is needed and there is not enough of it.

Posted: June 10, 2018

There is a pull out reading support program for struggling readers. However, there could be more programs for higher achievers. And there are many high achievers at FV. They use computer /ipad based learning programs to differentiate instruction for higher achievers. For my child this has pretty much been his math curriculum for 3 years. Rather then challenging him with projects or higher level questioning he is given Ten Marks assignments to do on his own daily. So he is able to do computation and problem solve but is not able to verbally explain his thinking because no one talks to him about math.

Posted: June 10, 2018

There is not a school wide anti bullying program. A school counselor could help support such a program, but there isn't one available at FV.

Posted: May 27, 2018

The experience has been an absolute nightmare!

Posted: May 27, 2018

Educators are too consumed with Common Core instead of sparking the love to learn. Teachers need to be creative and impassioned with class and homework, not busy work just to satisfy the "Common Core" agenda.

Posted: May 27, 2018

Shame on every teacher at this school for not standing up for any and all of the students. Reporting inappropriate and harmful behavior to students by higher-ups, the principal or anyone is your responsibility by law. I would like to see just one teacher stand up for a child and not allow the principal or anyone to dictate as they willingly follow. The children are the reason they have a job, not despite them!

Posted: May 27, 2018

The parents of the students in the community are the role models for their children, not the school. There is no respect and absolutely no compassion. A child who was in a very bad accident was forced to leave the school, and I will speak up about that. I don't understand why no one else has? No child should be made to feel like they aren't good enough and not safe at school. As a parent, I expect the school to keep my children safe and do what's in the children's best interests, not theirs!

Posted: May 27, 2018

I agree 100% with the other parents' comment about, Principal Chris Juarez' lack of any leadership skills; they're dead on. He is a bully and has caused what was a really great school to be a breeding ground for negativity, inappropriate punishments of elementary students, and parents who don't do as he says.

Posted: May 27, 2018

Posted: May 27, 2018

The principal is the biggest bully in the school.

Posted: January 15, 2018

Our experience has been superb. We really love our teacher and school. My kid can't wait to go to school every day. So grateful to have such a great school.

Posted: January 15, 2018

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Posted: December 12, 2017

The school does not properly support any student who has learning disabilities or learning abilities. Any parent that faces these circumstances has to fight for every single thing their child requires to be successful. The school also will agree to accommodate your child, but never implement what they have agreed to be it an IEI or a 504.

Posted: December 12, 2017

This school and district enable bullying, and the worst bully is the Principal. To threaten parents, and punish their children if you speak out is unacceptable. Harassment and intimidation do not make for a good the school/parent partnership. To discipline a child by retaliation is bullying; bullying by a student, a parent, a teacher, a principal or a district must be dealt with and stopped.

Posted: December 12, 2017

I would rate my experience and my child's experience at Flora Vista Elementary as an absolute nightmare! Hands down, Flora Vista Elementary under Principal Chris Juarez is by far the worst school I have ever experienced in my 30+ years of child rearing. We have removed all our children from this district, but unfortunately, not everyone can do so. Schools belong to the communities they reside in, not to the educators who refer to them as a number, or a nuisance. These are our most precious gifts in life. As parents, we entrust you with their safekeeping, that they'll be fed full of knowledge, respected as you would want yours to be, and nurtured with positivity and not to be dragged down by anyone's agenda.

Posted: December 12, 2017

I believe that homework is good training for our children, it teaches discipline. As our children get older and have more homework, it can be challenging. I don't believe that busy work should be sent home as "homework," and it usually is.

Posted: December 12, 2017

There are good teachers, great teachers, and some teachers that should just not teach. I believe that you should love what you do with a passion and teaching is at the top of the list. This sentiment applies to every teacher, in every school, in every district.

Posted: December 12, 2017

Flora Vista parents teach their children how to be compassionate, respectful, and have integrity. The school itself is crippled by a narcissistic, ineffective, and disinterested principal who doesn't care. Why would a principal choose to punish, not praises the bright, sweet, and passionate students that attend this school?

Posted: December 12, 2017

There is no leadership at this school, but there's a lot of disproportionate punishment. This school exemplifies all that is wrong with our educational institutions. If the district chooses to sit idly by and ignore the parent's pleas to remove a principal who is: ineffective, emotionally absent, and punishes children instead of empowering them, more and more families will continue to remove their children from the school. This school could be great, but until there's change, it will continue to decline, and that's unfortunate.

Posted: January 9, 2015

We love our neighborhood school. There is such a great sense of community and the teachers are always going above and beyond!

Posted: March 11, 2014

Very Provincial. We have two children that attend Flora Vista and the experience so far hasn't met our standards. what has troubled us the most is that we are regularly reminded how insular the community tends to be. It's a 'fall in line' culture at Flora Vista that tends to promote a very singular vision. If you desire a more progressive education for your children that embraces different cultures and perspectives I would steer clear of FV. Teacher quality has been hit or miss for us, but I should note that there are some excellent teachers at the school. Parental involvement is extraordinarily high which is both an asset and liability to the school. There are loads of activities for the children and plenty of helping hands, but the level of gossiping and cattiness amongst the moms and some of the faculty is astonishing...a problem that really needs to be addressed. Overall, If we had the choice to make again we would have looked more closely at other alternatives for our kids.

Posted: January 17, 2013

My child was treated very poorly by a teacher and the principal. One amazing teacher, one nightmare teacher. Principal used as a threat circa 1950. Appalled, disappointed, flabbergasted!!! These people went into child education??? Where does the 10 rating come from? Very uptight group of parents. If you want cookie cutter and judgemental, his is your go-to. Enjoy. Thrilled to be leaving.

Posted: January 2, 2013

We love Flora Vista! My three children are receiving a great education from the dedicated and loving staff. The parents and PTA work tirelessly to ensure a high level of support. We feel very lucky to be in this sweet, little school!

Posted: May 3, 2012

My daughter is finishing up her first year in Kindergarden and we are very happy with the quality of her education. She has excelled in reading and her self confidence is off the charts. We are so happy we chose Flora Vista as our school of choice!

Posted: August 15, 2011

My boys have been going to Flora Vista for the past few years and we love it! The principle and staff are very involved if your child needs extra support and help! We feel blessed to be part of the Flora Vista community!

Posted: November 2, 2010

Great Principal, Great Teachers Crazy group of 6th grade girl parents, thank god they will be gone in 8 months!