9402 Hipkins Rd SW
Lakewood, WA 98498

Admin is horrible. Teachers are great but unfortunately can’t do their job because of the lack of support by admin.

This is a diverse and inclusive school. The diversity changes with each year due to the demographics of this city. They have a waiting list at Idlewild because they are well respected for both teachers and curriculum. The PTA has always been strong at Idlewild. Parents, teachers and community working together to form new citizens through education and awareness of self and respect for others. My child started here in kindergarten and continued through to college graduation and is a contributing citizen today. We were a middle class military family (now retired). My grandchildren now have the opportunity to attend Idlewild and are even luckier with the addition of the IB curriculum. No one is forced. New ideas or feelings are embraced as teaching and learning opportunities by the staff. People who feel left out need to get involved not complain on this forum. Addressing the comment I saw about Black heritage month being ignored. January was when the school was on remote learning due to covid-19 in 2020. I can assess that Latino/Hispanic heritage month was September/October 2021 and that my grandchild shared with me a few things from school on that. In Idlewild's defense it is much easier to notice awareness of the respecting of heritage during in school attendance. The school and staff were doing their utmost to give the best education to each and every child under difficult circumstances last year. Our thanks for a job well done. Teachers should not be made into surrogate parents. Idlewild's teachers give parents and each student the tools to excel. What you do at home to enhance and develop them is up to each individual family in the community. In conclusion I would add- once a falcon always a falcon "Soar to your highest level". We can raise the ratings by being personally responsible for supporting good citizens in every way as individuals, students, and community members.

As a recent alumni, I have much experience with this school. I would say, however, the best decision I made with Lakes was to join running start and participate less in the school. In Lakes High School, when I was last attending, academics were not exciting. In fact, very little of our classes were engaging and interesting. Teachers in the algebra class chose to teach a mechanical process, rather than teach what algebra was. However,nBeing that I was a Freshman during COVID, I find that my experience was far different from the younger students.The greatest thing about lakes, for me, was the faculty and staff. During my time, Lakes had great therapists, amiable teachers, and generally a good atmosphere for those I stuck around. However, I'm aware this is because of the people I chose to stick around. I have heard horror stories of teachers in other classrooms, and personally had a few vindictive teachers myself. Overall, the staff were 50/50. One thing I can say is that most of the office, teachers, therapists, counselors, and administrators were fantastic people to meet during my tenure in Lakes High School.The staff do care about students and often joke around with those who go out of their way to meet them and talk with them. It's clear that a subset of teachers appreciate and enjoy their jobs in Lakes. I personally believe that one thing Lakes needs to focus more on is student motivation. The students in Lakes aren't motivated, and those who are tend to stick out from the rest. This makes it very hard for motivated students, like me, to stay motivated. The environment is unmotivated and slow. I believe this is a problem for the student body and administrators to discuss. I do not know what goes on behind the school's administrative walls, but, to me, it feels like they're not doing enough student outreach and events. The school seems hyped up during school assemblies, but the overall feeling of the students is certainly lacking. If teachers were allowed to make class more engaging and exciting, I'm sure students would be more participatory in class and prepared for real life.

We were excited our daughter made it into this school as her teachers had recommended it for her. Shortly after her first month she said she was 'gender fluid'. When asked what that meant she simply replied that what she had been told by her teachers. I think we have more pressing issues in our schools then teacher telling our children such things. Can we not just let them be children??