Ustick

We’ve had our children at Pioneer School of the Arts for two years now, and our experience has been nothing short of amazing. The teachers truly go above and beyond — they care deeply about every student, communicate often, and consistently welcome parent involvement in so many ways. Whether it’s volunteering in class, helping prepare materials, or participating in events, they make families feel part of a real community.Both my girls are part of the Gifted and Talented programs that are now offered in-house starting in 2026. The accelerated placement process wasn’t the easiest (it never is anywhere), but the staff listened, improved the process, and kept us informed every step of the way. Bureaucracy is rarely fun, but Pioneer handled it with transparency and care.The teachers are wonderfully communicative and visible, regularly sharing photos and updates that help parents stay connected to daily classroom life. The principal, Mr. Jakious, is approachable, engaged, and supportive — he sets a wonderful tone for the school community. The admin team, including Mrs. Jill Barton and Liz Ramsey, is exceptional — always kind, patient, and ready to help with anything from a forgotten coat or lunch box to scheduling and general inquiries. Their friendliness and efficiency make such a difference in daily school life.Starting fourth grade, students can choose a music elective — Orchestra, Band, CPAL, or Choir — while k-3rd graders experience both music and CPAL, which includes learning keyboard skills. These creative programs are a highlight and beautifully align with the school’s arts-based mission.The school also offers enriching programs like Pumathon during recess and countless community-based events that bring everyone together. Like in every school, parents have to advocate for their kids — that’s our job — but here, you truly feel supported in doing so.We made the transition from a Montessori-style private school after five years, initially apprehensive about public schools in Idaho after hearing some horror stories. But our worries disappeared almost immediately. Pioneer stands out for its creativity, arts integration, engaged teachers, wonderful staff and a fantastic PTA that brings it all together. We’re so grateful to be part of this community and can’t imagine being anywhere else.

As the parent of a kindergartner, I trusted Summerwind STEM Academy to provide a safe and supervised learning environment. That trust was broken when my 5-year-old son experienced multiple incidents of physical and sexual misconduct from another student — incidents that were reported directly to school staff.Despite repeated disclosures, and my direct requests to separate the students and speak with the principal, no meaningful steps were taken. Days passed. More incidents occurred. My son continued to be harmed. Ultimately, we withdrew him for his safety.In a recorded conversation with my wife, the principal admitted that no protective actions had been implemented and implied that my son bore some responsibility for what occurred. That response is not only trauma-ignorant — it's legally indefensible and ethically inexcusable.I am now pursuing legal action to address what I believe to be institutional negligence and failure to follow mandatory safety procedures. I am sharing this not as a threat, but as a warning to other families: please ask tough questions about how this school handles reports of harm, and whether your child will be protected if something happens.This review reflects my personal experience and opinion based on direct communication with school administrators and firsthand events.

If I could give a negative star review I would, but since I can't I am stuck leaving it as a one star. My son started kindergarten this year and we've had nothing but trouble with the school. He started being bullied and then because of that started to act out. He was not getting the support he needed or being watched very well. I will not go into details to give our identities away. But if I could start his kindergarten year over at another school I would. I am investigating and looking for another option starting today. Do not allow your kids to go here! I constantly worry about his safety at this school.

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.