5143 Bakman Ave #320
North Hollywood, CA 91601

My kid went to highly gifted magnet here. A couple of major issues I see.Good:Kids get good grades and few teachers are good and truly want to help kids.Bad:Some teachers are extremely bad. They dont teach and spew a lot of liberal filth on to kids. During the COVID days online education days, I had opportunity to see what goes on in the class. In most of the classes they do not teach the real academics. Instead, they teach extreme liberal ideas. They do not just teach about LGBT, but they encourage kids to try out being LGBT. They get kids confused with their extreme liberal ideology push. The kids are pushed to the limits on the Highly gifted magnet program. From my kid, I found that a lot of kids talk suicide in normal conversations. Whether the kids mean it or not, you hear things like "I am going to jump of the building if I dont get an A" . The school counselors are a bunch of incompetent people who always blame the parents instead of finding solutions for emotional issues. It is common to see kids smoking (and drugs) in bathrooms and the staff do not do anything about it. Probably they are short staffed or just plain ignorant. Conclusion:If you just need good grades and do not care for your kid's emotional well being (or) your kids have good social habits, this school is perfect for you.

I'm noticing that most of the reviews for Reed come from IHP parents and students. We do like this school but are NOT in IHP and I notice quite a chasm between IHP and other academies. The school overall is very nice but there is not a sense of community in the other academies. Moreover, there is a stratification at this school that is very disturbing. Hard to miss that the richest kids/families are all in IHP and all other students are then scattered into different academies. Is this because only well-off families have highly gifted students or because only well off families can afford tutors and can advocate for their students? Not sure about the whys of this, but it is noticeable how much more cohesive and nurturing the IHP program is as compared to the other tracks. It also seems that they have more exclusive events including IHP parents arranging get-togethers and even a dance night on campus just for IHP students. An exception to all of this though, Walter Reed has an amazing music program that is a feeder school into North Hollywood H.S.'s music studies. If your child is interested in music or already plays an instrument and wants to continue on, this is definitely the school for you. The classes are amazing and the opportunity to play an instrument priceless. This is where you'll find community outside IHP.

Our students have returned after a year and a half at home, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The students were not used to the structure of school at the beginning of the year, and have had to re-acclimate themselves to being at Lankershim Elementary School. Many are well below grade level, and are dealing with difficult experiences or trauma from the trying times we all have been living in. Our staff has gone above and beyond to meet the social/emotional, as well as academic needs of our students. The dedication and love toward students is evident. It has not been easy and there have been many unique challenges for students and staff during this year, but we are all moving forward and progressing. The school has provided safety measures for everyone: the daily pass to enter school grounds, hand sanitizer provided in all classrooms and all around the school and easily accessible to all, a mask mandate for most of the year, weekly Covid testing for students and staff, social distancing at lunch and in walkways for much of the year, training for staff on providing social/emotional support through lessons and discussions, air filters in all buildings and rooms running all day, daily grab and go bags of food provided for all students who leave after school and food provided for children in after school programs, and more. Entering school in the morning and dismissal at the end of the day has been highly organized and efficient. Teachers wait with students of all grade levels to see them picked up by family members and guardians. Zoom meetings have been set up for back to school night, parent conferences, open house, etc. The staff at Lankershim Elementary will continue to work with the children, to help them to continue learning their academic skills and concepts, and to help the children adjust to being in the school environment once again. Thank you to all of the families and guardians who are also working hard to send their children to school and supporting them at home. It is definitely a team effort to raise and educate our children. Go Lankershim lions!