5010 SE 44th Ave
Portland, OR 97206

Middle school is notoriously tough for kids. The transition from elementary school to sixth grade, with so many new classmates, new schedules, and a variety of teachers, all while kids are changing so much so quickly is a LOT. I was really nervous about how the transition would be for my sixth grader. Lane has exceeded my expectations. The adults are working to create a positive, inclusive school culture where students feel safe and ready to learn. While there is far less communication between classroom teachers and families than I was used to from elementary school, teachers respond quickly to emails, the office staff is welcoming and helpful, and the principal genuinely knows and cares about the kids and the teachers/staff. There are lots of ways for students to thrive socially--band, choir, dance, art, OBOB, and a bunch of after-school classes through the SUN program. Most of all, my kid is has made a lot of new friends, likes his teachers, and is happy to go to LMS each day.

Our son has been at Woodstock for a couple of years and the teaching has been tremendous in 1st and 2nd grade. His teachers have really helped with learning to read, sending extra books home to challenge him at the right level. He struggled for a long time and is now completely up to speed for his grade level. These kinds of personalised touches are really appreciated, and help increase parent participation. Class sizes have been small for him (18-20 kids), so this is a contributing factor. Judging by other reviews some class sizes used to be larger. He has also excelled at Math, an area he had no interest in prior - so they're doing something right. I wish we had got into the Mandarin immersion as we have heard great things about this program as well as the parent community involved.

We moved from out of state to Portland and researched schools before we came. We chose Cleveland because of the choir program and theater program. The website boasted 3 plays a year, etc. It was a bait and switch. We got there and the theater teacher was suspended for mysterious reasons and no productions only a substitute teacher that knew nothing about theater. After being an excellent student all her life my daughter started to have problems with her work and started hanging out with a bad crowd (school does nothing about kids leaving the grounds). This school only cares about kids who do well without effort. We spoke to guidance counselor at the end of 9th because we were concerned with slipping grades and some skipped classes and she told us not to worry and recommended a private academic coach, who cost us $2000 and did not help! I literally begged the choir teacher to give my child extra encouragement because I knew if she quit singing that we would lose her. Teacher did nothing. Only interested in the stars of the class.To make a long story short, this school grossly failed my child. After I insisted on an IEP out of desperation, they were slightly interested - interested in getting her off of their books! They pushed us to go to the Community College program, which was not suited to her needs at all and she failed it. Covid hit. She never graduated. Thanks, Cleveland!!!There are some GREAT teachers at this school, and some not so great but still very compassionate. The vice-principal (the principal was a revolving door when we were there) and counseling staff are the worst! They actually assigned a counselor to my child that was the mother of the student that caused my child a lot of grief. Completely clueless. The neighborhood is pretty awful also, if you are unfamiliar with Portland look at the setting the school is in - near Cleveland lots of camps and drug use in the park across the street, and strip bars less than a block away. No healthy food restaurants anywhere. Do not send your impressionable sensitive child here!