535 Winterberry Way
San Jose, CA 95129

My two kids attended De Vargas for about two years. My older kid had Ms. Simpson, Ms. Connors and Mr. Tatman, who were all competent and caring teachers. So he had a normal elementary school experience. But my younger son was not so lucky because of his 2nd grade teacher. Shortly after the kid transferred to her room, she accused him of plagiarizing a math solution from another kid, and her evidence was the similarities between how the numbers were written. The kid (7 yo!) insisted that he didn't plagiarize, but the teacher was adamant that he did. The kid was frustrated, and he voiced his displeasure because he thought he was wrongly accused. Rather than letting it go, the teacher doubled down, and it got to a point that it seemed like she was hellbent on proving her case, and she demanded an apology from the kid. The whole ordeal was hard on the kid, so my wife and I told the kid to apologize to her in an attempt to put an end to it and move on, which he did. But she continued making similar complaints and accusations, at which point I insisted that she meet with me and show me the proof she had for all her accusations. I went in to the meeting with an open mind because if my kid plagiarized as she has accused him, I needed to know for a fact so that we can help him to avoid it in the future. Her evidence and explanation was so flimsy, and when I pressed on more concrete evidence, she kept doubling down and changing goalposts. I came out of the meeting furious and I was determined to take him out of De Vargas.After several such incidents with this teacher, the kid started hating school, and it became very difficult during COVID lockdowns. The next year, his 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Chow, got some help with counseling with Ms. Alma (who is phenomenal), and it took over a year for him to go back to his normal self. He is now at a different elementary school, and he has blossomed into a smart and cheerful kid. All schools have bad teachers, but no caring teacher would try to destroy a 7 yo kid's morale for her own ego boost. The kid probably didn't know what plagiarizing meant, and what did she accomplish by putting him through such a torture?! If her evidence were to be presented in court, a judge would through it out and scold her. If you get this teacher as your kid's teacher, keep a close eye, and question everything.

As a concerned parent, I must warn others about the troubling experience at Hyde Middle School in the Cupertino Union School District. This school, expected to be a beacon of quality education, was a major disappointment.The environment under Principal Ethel Anumba was hostile, affecting students, parents, and likely the faculty. Her negative impact was profound, despite her short tenure. Academically, the school has declined, with a shift from core subjects to oversimplified "social-emotional learning" and a concerning reduction in advanced math classes, jeopardizing college preparatory paths.Teaching quality is inconsistent. Specific teachers, such as Madhavi Gudivaka and Usha Kolachalam, have been sources of distress due to ineffective teaching methods and inappropriate disciplinary actions.Moreover, attempts to address these issues were met with retaliation from the school, creating a stifling atmosphere for concerned parents. Given these experiences, I strongly recommend parents to seek alternative educational environments that truly foster learning and growth.

I went to this school and during my time the school faced a bunch of neo nazis that the school took over a week to solve, they disregarded massive events and instead give students cheap but boring events even though the school had a lot of money to make these gigantic events according to several students. also, the school has a big issue with the split between smart people and dumb people such as me, with the school favoring intelligent people who had the opportunity to take advanced classes starting from middle school and disregarding those who didn't cut. the school also had an issue with people who did sports since apparently they only gave awards to people who are going to university instead of people that are just going to community college, even though I know athletes who are going to a community college that have been doing excellent at their chosen sport, perhaps even better than those who got awarded. Also at one point, the school forgot that black people existed which made many people (such as me) mad and I realized that the school this whole time was faking their whole "racial equality" maintenance. The only reason I gave it 2/5 stars is because the students are generally nice in the school, even though some are just completely weird and do drugs.