29 Lemon Via
Anaheim, CA 92801

I have two children at Edison Elementary. They have had excellent, caring, motivated teachers who have worked well with their individual styles. However, the teachers are required to work within a strict system because of the school's Title I standing. Because of these federally mandated standards, the vast majority of the class time is spent on language arts and math. My 4th grader complains that they get cursory science lessons perhaps once every two weeks, and the same with history. There is no P.E. and no art or music during the week. We love having the kids walk to their local school and had hoped to make it work, but we feel that there are too many lost opportunities in other subjects so we will be moving to a different school next year.

My son, who has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), deserves a safe and supportive school environment. Unfortunately, his time at this school has been the opposite. Instead of receiving the protection, guidance, and consistency he needed, he experienced ongoing bullying while the school failed to take meaningful action. As a parent, it has been heartbreaking to watch my child struggle not because of his abilities, but because the very people who were supposed to help him ignored his needs.From the beginning, I did everything I could to communicate with the school. I reached out to the woman assigned to support my son through his IEP. She told me she would talk to him about the bullying and help him feel safe. She even promised that she would take him out every day to check on him—as long as he was doing well in his classes. I trusted her. My son trusted her. But that promise was never kept.Instead of receiving daily check-ins or support, my son was left alone to deal with bullying that continued to get worse. Each day, he came home more stressed, more anxious, and more afraid to return to school. The person who was supposed to help him barely followed through on her word, and the school did not intervene to stop the bullying. There were no real changes, no consistent follow-ups, and no plan to protect him.For a child with an IEP, structure, trust, and support are critical. When the school breaks that trust, it affects the student emotionally, academically, and socially. In my son’s case, the school’s lack of action made the situation worse. The bullying continued because no one stepped in to prevent it. Instead of feeling safe, he felt abandoned and unheard. No child should ever feel that way.Overall, this school has been the worst experience for my son. Not only did they fail to support his IEP needs, but they also allowed bullying to continue while offering empty promises. My son deserved better. Every child deserves a school that listens, protects, and supports them. Sadly, this school did not meet even the most basic expectations, and my son paid the price for their lack of responsibility.

This school isn't all as bad as most people say sure there are rude kids, but not all of them are like them. Most of the kids there greeted me with respect.