Sycamore Plan in Pavillion Park by The Rob Ellerman Team
West Des Moines, IA 50266

This review is not just reflective of this school, but the Waukee district as a whole. This district and school are just too large to really be effective. My 10th grader didn't get into any electives they wanted this year due to them being full. I am talking about basic electives like Art 1. Unfortunately, classes like this are a pre-requisite for more advanced electives and this is already the second year of high school for my child. This doesn't leave much time to explore career interests, and post-secondary readiness is an area the Waukee schools fall short in based on state standards. The general attitude of staff at this school is one of disinterest and lack of concern. Nobody seems to care that a sophomore is not able to get into very basic electives. Also, teachers hand out "F" grades like candy. My student is a very hard worker and has achieved an over 3.5 GPA prior to this school. Now, getting an F on assignments, quizzes, tests is commonplace. I have talked with other parents who have the same experience. If you are lucky, certain teachers will allow a retake, but often it seems like they enjoy placing these F grades. These teachers seem to have no accountability. If a student is failing a test, quiz, or anything really. They really should reach out to the student and family to find a solution. Instead, I feel like teachers/staff act like I am being unreasonable when I ask for clarification on grades, what can be done to improve, etc. It's almost like they want the kids to fail. I would recommend finding a smaller school district and really look at those state ratings and standards. If the state is raising alarms about a school and district, it is definitely for good reason.

I had students follow me home, and jump me. I was bullied badly. Came home crying, scared to go the next day, and moved cities because of bullying and sexual assault.

This school has been a big disappointment for our family. I have 3 children at this school. Our family moves frequently, and this is the third elementary school our family has attended. This school is different from the other schools in several unfavorable ways. The most alarming for me, is the total refusal of the school to allow parent volunteers during the school day. Other schools have happily allowed parent volunteers during the day to assist with small group projects and helping the teacher with miscellaneous tasks. Not at this school. The only times parents are invited to the school during the school day is to attend 3 carefully curated class room “parties” a year. These parties pretty much consist of kids playing games and eating. They do not in any way depict what is actually going on in the classroom and what kids are learning. As a parent, I find it vital to be involved with my child’s classroom. Just volunteering in their classes once a month at their previous schools gave me valuable insight into what they were learning and helped me reinforce learning at home. By denying parents the opportunity to be present in classrooms, it makes me wonder what exactly they don’t want us to see. Parents are also not invited on field trips making me question if supervision is being adequately provided. Although Great Schools gives this school a population of 599 students, it is actually closer to 750+. Boundary lines were recently redrawn for this school, and there is a large amount of high density housing within it’s boundaries. I question if these schools were built to accommodate such large enrollments. The cafeteria is only big enough for one grade level at a time with kids in grades k to 5 needing a lunch period. This results in kids needing to eat at very inconvenient times ranging from 10:50 am to 12:45 pm. I do question if the school refuses to allow parent volunteers because they do not want the overcrowding to be seen. My kids do complain that they feel the school is crowded, but classroom size has been below 25 kids for all of them. The schools has 5-6 sections of each grade. Finally, I am very disappointed by the lack of after school enrichment programs at this school. I feel like elementary schools on the northern edge of the school district, such as Grant Ragan and Schuler, get the bulk of the after school enrichment programs.