Colonia Del Valle

My son attended the first half of his freshman year at this school, and in the beginning we were all hopeful and excited because it seemed like a great concept and inclusive school on paper. By the end of the first month of school in September 2023 the problems began. First off there is almost zero engagement with the parents, no orientation week for freshman or parents to get to meet the staff or learn how grading is done. In September the previous head of school fired the special education director with no cause and 6 teachers staged a walk out (mind you there were only 8 teachers to begin with) which ended with 1 teacher fired and the head of school on permanent leave. The special education director returned for 2 weeks then quit. The art teacher wasn't teaching art and quit, office assistant quit, English teacher quit ( eventually they were replaced). It wasn't until November that a new head of school was hired. The students to this point were not being given grade level work to do and still zero communication with parents. Every single change that happened I found out thru my student. The kicker and final straw for our family was our son was directly threatened by another student seeming to threaten a school shooting. We were not called by the school nor did they notify law enforcement, I called them and the head of school appeared visibly annoyed that I reported it. We have removed our son, and several of his friends have also been removed from the school due to safety concerns. There is no security system, no resource officer and we were told about the threat by our son who called us not the school. There is a lack of experienced leadership in this school, I believe the teachers try their best and do care about the students however their efforts fall short. The only truly positive thing is the school lunch is amazing and healthy, my son couldn't stop saying how good it was. The education director however is truly amazing and did a great job holding things down till a new head was hired. However the lunch is not enough to make up for the lack of academic short comings, revolving door of staff and the head of schools callus handling of a very real threat made that make this school a awful choice. Don't expect much from the school board either, they are generally MIA for everything.