Brea Country Hills Elementary School

I call it “selective” education. This school system is selective, because they focus on the students that are part of their churches. If you do not attend one of their churches, you are treated differently, less inclusive, and often times left out. Children are labeled early on, and despite growth and change, the label isn’t removed. My son witnessed another student being picked on/bullied and brought it to the attention of a staff member. He was told to mind his own business (how about rewarding him for standing up for another individual). The same student kept getting picked on, bring more stress to my child witnessing this and having been told to “mind his own business.”, he was left with either getting in trouble for stepping in or having to sit and watch. So troubling. The academics are below standards; they can barely teach at the average level. They say they have “advanced” classes, but the advanced classes aren’t that much different than the standard classes. We ended up removing our children from the school for social and academic growth reasons. They are thriving at their new school; probably the best decision we could have made for them. Please do your research. Don’t be fooled by the tour; of course they will be friendly, helpful, and Christ like; you are making a decision based off what you are shown and they know that. What you see is not what you get.

My child just completed first year at SAM and we both love this school. We had an overwhelming amount of communication at first but got used to it. School emails newsletters twice a week and each class have class moms that help bridge gaps between parents and teacher. Our class mom started a WhatsApp group just for class parents to communicate with each other, which I found so helpful. I did have an incident with the teacher and principal when we first started school and Ms. Tellez (principal) listened to my concern and suggested I speak with teacher first to try to resolve and if it couldn't be resolved to then involve her. I was able to email the teacher and did have a face-to-face meeting with her to address my concerns and we were able to work through it. The teacher emailed weekly and she and her TA, both kept us in the loop by taking pictures throughout the school year. Our class is remarkably close, and all the parents feel like we are family. In fact, if I ever need anything I know I can call another parent and ask for help. We have had a wonderful experience at SAM.