3213 Smathers Way
Carmichael, CA 95608

This is a terrible school. Teachers yell at students, insult them, and openly humiliate them by pointing out their mistakes during tests. The staff ignores these issues even after complaints, and the same applies to bullying. Students are bullied because of their race, sexual orientation, or financial status, and no consequences ever follow. On top of that, some teachers assign an unreasonable amount of homework that takes the entire night to complete. This kind of behavior is unacceptable, and teachers like this should not be working in education.

This school lacks mental health advocacy.The entirety of years here were full ofbeing pulled into offices being unwillinglyinterrogated without parental consent.. andlack of knowledge when it comes to certainmedical practices and mental illnesses. This isbeing done to my younger sister as well.

Our two children attended Rio, graduating in 2023 and 2024. The school faculties are in need of a lot of serious upgrading. They lack school counselors. Most of their friends brought drugs with them to school on a regular basis. Both our children took AP courses and played fall, winter and spring sports, so they were very busy. We live close by and they were able to walk to Rio each day. Both are attending a UC now for college.

Love Starr King! Caring teachers and staff (including caring principal and vice principals), ethnically diverse students/families, and a joyful school environment. I feel like my kids are loved, are learning, and are academically challenged. Parent volunteers are welcome in the classroom, PTO is active and open to ideas, and the school is communicative about upcoming events, etc. Teachers are also communicative about things going on in the class and responsive if you have any questions or concerns about your kids. The office can get a little busy at times (which makes sense for a TK-8 school) but it’s so great that I can take all of my kids to school together without having to do multiple drop offs and pick ups at different schools; so great to see them bond on their way to/from school as well. Also a shoutout to the after school safety team/plans in place; many staff help ensure students are safely getting to their vehicles. And the changes this year with adding the vehicle lines/cones has helped facilitate after school traffic as well (usually not too much traffic before school since drop off is pretty quick and after school traffic has been streamlined). Also great that free breakfast is offered before school and that there are free field trips and sports. One of the things that I like best about Starr King is that the kids all love each other; so beautiful especially for such a diverse school. Also for reading, they have UA (Universal Access) time where kids are placed into small groups with a teacher based on their reading level so each kid can have the support they need. There are also online games/programs to help your kids with reading and math (like iReady, Lexia, Frax, and Reflex) that they do at school sometimes and can do at home too. My kids are in Kindergarten and 3rd grade and we’ve been at Starr King since my oldest was in Kindergarten and we’ve been loving it! My son went to TK at Starr King last year too and had a blast. Also great that there are instructional assistants in many of the classrooms (especially the lower grades) instead of having just one teacher since younger ones often need more support. Thanks again, Starr King teachers and staff!