Vinland Elementary School

Posted: August 26, 2023

Posted: August 26, 2023

Posted: August 26, 2023

Posted: August 26, 2023

Posted: August 26, 2023

i have volunteered my time at the school and in the PTA for almost 10 years now and my last child is currently enrolled. The relatively new Principal and Staff at this school care so much about our children and it is evident in how they live that out every day. Many years ago it wasn't as dynamic or engaging with leadership (though most teachers were still wonderful!). Now, there is a new vibe in the school and focus on both social and emotional wellbeing (especially after COVID) and academics. All decisions are made with the student's best interests at heart - even when there is no good choice. I would highly recommend this school.

Posted: August 26, 2023

Posted: August 26, 2023

Posted: August 26, 2023

Posted: September 28, 2020

We have always felt welcomed as part of the family. Every teacher we have met truly cares about their students overall well being and advancement through quality education.

Posted: September 28, 2020

Posted: September 28, 2020

Posted: September 28, 2020

Posted: September 28, 2020

Posted: September 28, 2020

Posted: September 28, 2020

Posted: June 10, 2018

My family loves this school. We enjoy it so much we pour our time and energy into volunteering. Families always show up for activities and kid presentations. I believe these are indicators of a good school.

Posted: June 10, 2018

Posted: June 10, 2018

Posted: June 10, 2018

Posted: June 10, 2018

Posted: June 10, 2018

Posted: June 10, 2018

Posted: August 18, 2017

Posted: August 18, 2017

Posted: August 18, 2017

Posted: August 18, 2017

Aside from the beautiful campus, there is nothing great about this school. My daughter attended two years here and we are now looking at other options. Teachers are frustrated and have too many students, there is no differentiation in work, and supervision is horrible. Incidences and bullying are not supervised or monitored adequately. This is a school that meets the status quo. These early formative years of education are so important and I'm done settling for this school and looking into private school options. I'm just sad I didn't move her sooner.

Posted: August 18, 2017

Posted: August 18, 2017

Posted: August 18, 2017

Posted: December 7, 2016

We were excited to start Vinland and it took 2 years of mediocrity (at best) and an incident to realize things would not get better there. My daughter attended this school for two years and our experience there was subpar. She is and always has been a good student and behaviorally had zero issues. There were a few reasons I was unhappy with the school, but my breaking point was when we had an incident on the playground that both teachers and the principle failed to deal with properly. I have spoken to other parents and it appears things like this are not uncommon. It is no surprise, as recesses there have 100+ kids running around all the play areas and the field with just two recess aids on a HUGE campus. Things happen on the playground and it got to a point where I did not feel like my daughter was safe at the school due to lack of supervision.

Her teacher either was consistently frustrated with teaching, or just did not care. Even on days I volunteered in class she would snap at other students for silly reasons. Parent conferences were immaterial and information was boiler plate. Her teacher couldn't even tell me what my daughter's strengths are. Conferences at both grade levels were general and could be summed up in a short email. I know of 3 other families in my daughter's grade level that had similarly negative experiences and have now chosen to private school or home school. I feel bad for parents who don't have the resources to do either. Advice I can give--be your kid's advocate and a wheel squeaker to get things done/noticed. Our experience at Vinland was a blessing in disguise as we moved our daughter to an amazing private school (Silverwood Elementary) where she is flourishing socially and academically. It's been so wonderfully different, at both the student experience, and parent communication level. My daughter now loves going to school and is bummed when Friday rolls around since she has to miss school. At parent conferences now, teacher feedback is specific both in academics and social/personality where I come away knowing that the teacher actually KNOWS my daughter. It's been a refreshing change all around.

Posted: November 26, 2016

Posted: November 26, 2016

Posted: November 26, 2016

Posted: November 26, 2016

Posted: November 26, 2016

Posted: November 26, 2016

Posted: October 25, 2015

This school is just way too big. They cannot meet all of the students needs. We moved from a much smaller school and so far I am not impressed. The teachers don't seem to even know my children's strengths. We are not finding differentiation for student learning levels. You do not feel part of a community here... just a number. I really think it is just too big for an elementary school. And the uniforms... what a joke. Anyone who thinks limiting a child's creativity of choice in dress will help his or her academics is archaic. All it shows our family is that creativity is out the door at this school. Boo... looking for other options for my children.

Posted: June 14, 2015

This school used to be great! Older reviews are justifiably higher, but any positive reviews more than three years old can be safely ignored. Principal and some of the staff are truly interested in student success, and welcome parent involvement. Overall school culture is fractured and parents are not as welcome as they once were, which is sad because research shows that parental involvement is the most important contributing factor to student success.

As other reviews have noted, one of the front office staff is incredibly rude and arrogant, unfortunately. Her arrogance has led her to provide guidance contrary to district policy and state law and the principal has had to correct her mistakes.

Campus is beautiful. Somewhat of a student drop-off issue, but not too onerous. With some staffing changes and revised school culture that values parental and community involvement, hopefully this school can be great again!

Posted: June 14, 2015

Posted: June 14, 2015

Posted: June 14, 2015

Posted: July 18, 2014

This school came so highly recommended when I relocated to the area last year. It's clear that they have some caring staff and teachers and the principal is genuine and cares about situations that are brought to his attention. That being said, the school is overwhelmingly disorganized and the left hand doesn't appear to know what the right is doing. There is one front office staff member that is incredibly rude and condescending. Parent involvement is not encouraged. Class sizes are far too big and the poor teachers are rendered ineffective against this limitation. They also don't appear to know how to handle children with varying degrees of learning. My child is well above his grade level in all areas. Because he's unassuming, quiet, well behaved, performed all work well and without supervision, and didn't seek attention, he became invisible. Even after repeated requests for learning geared towards his level to challenge him. The uniform policy is fine but a little over restrictive for young children. This school would be great if it could be reminded that it's a school made up of hundreds of different people as opposed to numbers on a roster.

Posted: January 15, 2014

I have had 3 children attend this school, one of which has special needs. If you have a SN child, avoid this school like the plague. The principal has no idea how to deal with differently developing kids. His solution seems to be to call the parents or have the child to sit in the office away from their peers. The uniform policy is ridiculous and inconsistant. While some girls are allowed to wear thick headbands, some are asked to remove theirs. Some kids are allowed to wear after school uniforms (cub scouts, girl scouts, soccer, etc) while others are made to change (cheerleaders, football uniforms). It is NOT a private school and happens to be the ONLY school in the district to require kids to wear drab, ugly uniforms. If we didn't own a house here, there is no way we would continue to have our children attend here.

Posted: December 19, 2012

I choose this school due to it's high rating, and high test scores, the first year my children had an awesome teacher, and did well, even coming up in math, this year, not so much. I'm watching my daughter loose ground and was told I need to work with her more. (Which we do) But it seems to be over worked teachers, they can only do so much, and I understand that, but watching your kid loose ground is horrific. There has been a large influx of students between last year and this year. The class started out with 34 students, (which I personally believe is way to large for elementary) and they opened another class, but only brought down the class size by 2 or 3 students, as they created a mixed class encompassing 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Which did reduce the class size some, but seems like a strange program to me. I'm not aware of any studies that this is a successful program. Moms definitely roll in a clique, I feel bad for you if you don't make the cut. I'm not a big fan of the uniforms, I think children this age should be encouraged to be individuals, I'd like to see the uniforms in the middle and highschools, where your branding is every thing, and fitting in critical.

Posted: October 8, 2008