Mary Farmar Elementary School

We are technically within Mary Farmer’s remit and landed at Robert Semple as overflow, having moved mid year. Nothing against Mary Farmer (which we don't know) but in light of our delight with RS, we have chosen to remain there for our sons’ remaining elementary school education.

We moved from Concord due the poor schools in the area. Matthew Turner is a 180 in comparison. My daughter absolutely loves the school, teachers, staff and PTA. Everyone goes up and beyond to give kids great experiences on a daily basis. I’ve even known people to drive from Orinda to bring their children here. Highly recommend!

My children enjoy going here. We have only had one teacher out of all the kids’ teachers who we didn’t get along with. Unfortunately, we have found Ms. Buck an abrasive Principal on our dealings with her. I would love to see more diversity on staff. There has been consistent turnover with SPED staff and they increasingly have turned to using computers (Imagine Software) for IEP support and using a videoconferencing speech teacher.

Not the best pick. Staff is not the best at all they don’t handle issues with kids or sensitive concerns well. We had an extremely bad experience and we’re very excited and anxious to get her out of there

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when cliques run a school, leadership treats chaos as a management style, and overcrowding is mistaken for a business model — welcome to SDS!Homework is piled on like suffering builds character, parents become unpaid tutors until midnight, and turned-in assignments may or may not vanish into the academic Bermuda Triangle. Need support? Cute idea.The parent culture feels less “faith community” and more exclusive country club with uniforms. The hypocrisy is almost impressive — nothing says Christian values quite like gossip and social exclusion.Classes are packed, tuition is high, accountability is low, and favoritism seems to be part of the curriculum.