2814 Birch St, Alhambra, CA 91801

My two children attended this school for several years. My oldest through 6th grade and my youngest through 2nd grade. Unfortunately, as the years went on, I continued to lose confidence in the school’s ability to protect my children and properly address issues involving bullying and student safety.My oldest experienced ongoing bullying, and too often I felt there were little to no meaningful consequences for the students involved. Because the school is so small, nearly every student knows one another, which can make it extremely difficult for a child to distance themselves from negative influences or ongoing conflicts. Over time, I watched my child become increasingly influenced and pressured by what other students considered “normal” behavior within the school environment.As a parent, I repeatedly tried to advocate for my child, but I rarely felt that we received the support needed to actually resolve the underlying problems. More often than not, my child seemed to be the one left dealing with the consequences while the larger issues continued.What ultimately pushed me to make a change was seeing similar patterns begin with my youngest child in 2nd grade. At that point, I knew I did not want to wait several more years hoping things would improve. We made the decision to move and place our children in a different school environment.In my experience, having students from kindergarten through 8th grade together on such a small campus also creates challenges that the district needs to seriously evaluate. Kids are kids, and conflicts will happen, but bullying should never be minimized, normalized, or allowed to continue without meaningful intervention and accountability.I initially saw hope for positive change with the new principal and was optimistic about the direction the school could take. Unfortunately, my experiences with the vice principal ultimately took away much of that confidence.I genuinely hope the district makes serious changes to the way bullying, student safety, accountability, and parent concerns are handled. Every child attending this school deserves to feel safe, supported, and worth protecting. Not just expected to adapt to an unhealthy environment.