9280 W Highlander Rd
Boise, ID 83709

Spalding elementary was one of the biggest mistakes we made as parents sending our children here. They say they are a STEM school however over the course of the year my son did two stem assignments ( one was once a week for a couple weeks) When he asked why they don’t do more stem, he was told that was for the older children. Come to find out the older children for fourth and fifth graders also did not do much STEM. They are advertising the last week of STEM activities, they will do more STEM in the last week of school than they have done the entire year combined. If you were choosing Spalding elementary because it is a stem school, I would recommend finding a different school. Not only was it not a stem school as it was advertised and we believed, but there were major issues with the school itself. My child’s teacher has also told the students several times to “not snitch” about things that happen. This has been said so many times that my child has said they don’t want to tell me things because the teacher says “don’t snitch”. This is the worst thing to teach a child. We should encourage them to tell an adult if teacher if something makes them uncomfortable, hurts or if something bad happened. This is inexcusable. There were also instances where my child was physically hurt by another child. We noticed it when he had large scratch marks and bruises on him. At no point during the day was I called or notified by the teacher. When we called the teacher, we were told that she said she did everything she thought was right, and that she had taken care of it during the day but again my child was physically injured and assaulted by another student and no call was made. The parent should at least be notified of the situation, this happened on at least two occurrences.My child also told me that a student got a bloody lip during class with that same sub. The teacher would not allow the child to go to the nurse and actually got mad at them for bleeding. Told them to take care of it themselves. Not only should this not be a school of choice for West Ada it should not be a school choice for any parent. I would not recommend sending any child here at all.

My kiddo has attended this school since 6th grade, she’s now in 8th, and it’s been an absolutely joke. Education is terrible, staff is rude and in terms of handling anything you ask them about, they simply don’t. We also had foster kiddos attend this school, and while not all the staff is rude, a good chunk of them are. Additionally, they let absolutely anyone coach any sport. Teachers who have absolutely no business coaching sports, coaching. Now while I understand middle school is about learning the fundamentals of sports, the kids don’t even get taught that. Don’t play tennis if you truly want your child to learn. Mine had fun, yes, but in terms of fundamentals, learned nothing. Plus, quite a few of the children who attend this school are bullies and go out of their way to make others feel inferior or less included. Mind you, these children also receive special treatment due to social status. This year, the 2025 school year, they decided to finally implement individuals who direct the drop off line and it honestly made it more chaotic. My daughter is extremely intelligent, and hasn’t learned anything special since being here. I was actually about to pull her and homeschool, but she loves the school aspect and her friends so we opted to keep her in. It’s not just Lake Hazel Middle School, it’s West Ada in general. My daughter actually chocked at lunch, and I didn’t hear about it until she called me after school. When I found out I called the nurse and her response was “I was going to call you after school” 4 hours later. On top of that, she has surgery late last school year and I personally walked her pain meds to the nurses office to ensure they were handed off properly. The nurse bluntly told me “well I don’t like to give these if I don’t have to, I’ll give Tylenol first”. No, you will give her what I tell you to. I called west Ada to talk to someone, never got a call back.

I like the school it's not that bad everyone is nice if your nice to them

We have attended 4 different elementary schools in 5 years due to military service. I have been so happy with each and every one (even the one in Nevada which is such a low performing state academically). Our 7 months at Desert Sage have been an absolute nightmare. It is unreal. The front staff will answer no questions. Absolutely nothing is their problem. They will tell you to google it if you want info about after school activities. If your child is lost and confused about their bus and in the office asking where they should go? They won't direct them. They will call YOU and tell you they "don't communicate with the busses." Your child will be groped on the playground, punched in the face. Nobody will do anything. They won't acknowledge the ALP your child brings from their prior school until you get an educational advocate involved. They won't let you watch your child carol with the choir in the hallway because it is a security risk. Yet when you walk in, they won't look up or make you sign in unless you purposely get their attention. I have never felt compelled to leave a review for a school, but you should know what you are getting into if your child attends Desert Sage.