S
Meridian, ID 83642

I have had 2 kids go through this school and have loved the teachers, the administrative staff, additional programs they offer, and the focus on kindness! I think at any school you have kids that are excited about learning and others who struggle and therefore don’t necessarily want to learn, but the encouragement and support for each individual learner is amazing! There is a feeling of community and belonging!

A deeply disappointing experience at Chaparral Elementary SY 2023-2024.I truly regret not withdrawing my son from this school sooner. He previously attended A Step Ahead Preschool, where he thrived—he was excited to go every day and approached learning with enthusiasm and confidence. Unfortunately, that all changed after enrolling at Chaparral.From the start, we noticed a significant decline in his enthusiasm for school. He became withdrawn and less confident when faced with new learning tasks. The most distressing incident, however, was when my wife picked him up from school and discovered he had been left in soiled clothing after an accident. Our son had peed his pants—a first for him, ever—and despite asking his teacher for a change of clothes, he was left in the same state for the rest of the school day. This level of neglect is inexcusable.When we raised the issue with the principal, she acknowledged that the situation was unacceptable and called it a "red flag." We then arranged a meeting with her and the teacher, but the meeting itself only further highlighted the school's lack of professionalism. The teacher arrived late, and we were told we had only 15 minutes to speak. Rather than addressing our concerns, the conversation was steered toward complaints about our child. They completely disregarded the fact that, just the day before, we had to pick him up early after the school nurse informed us he had been injured when another child picked him up and dropped him—resulting in him hitting his head on the floor.The leadership at this school is seriously lacking. The principal does not appear to be a neutral, empathetic, or effective advocate for students or their families. While I want to believe that there are good teachers at Chaparral, the one assigned to our son showed a troubling lack of care and basic responsibility.I hope our experience serves as a cautionary tale for other parents. We want our children to feel safe, supported, and seen—and sadly, Chaparral failed on all counts.

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