Woodland Elementary School

I have to be honest, I was a bit hesitant of taking my kid to a public school. Although my husband and my older daughter (NHHS alumnis) and I came from public schools, I felt that my son needed to be in a smaller classroom so that he can receive more attention from the teacher. After being here for 2 years, we are loving this school! A lot of parent and teacher involvement, enrichment and Stem programs are impressive, teachers and staff have been great, and all of the parents I have met are so friendly and down-to-earth. I think the school has done a great job of keeping everything organized from the drop offs and pick ups (I don’t think it’s chaotic at all), knowing all the kids names, dealing with after-school programs and child care/nannies all the way to ensuring safety and keeping a solid educational program for our children. Keep up the good work Woodland staff and PFO!

We love Woodland Elementary! Solid community among the parents and the teachers and staff are excellent. Great leadership, everyone seems to be friendly all around, awesome and fun events, and the school has a strong system and curriculum. My son is currently a 1st grader at Woodland, and we have been enjoying this school!

Nope done would not recommend this school, even though several friends kids went here some were happy and some were not, however I only know one other family that actually removed their child from this school so I myself was hesitant when this was our elementary. My son started kindergarten and I immediately had my reserves, the pick up and drop off is chaotic! So unorganized and zero supervision from any teacher or staff member, last week a father was floored to find his son sitting alone in the pickup line crying unsupervised! My son comes home daily complaining of a fellow student pushing him and taking his snacks daily , to my surprised this has gone on without one person acknowledging the situation until I stepped in this is only the second week! The class has several students that are very disruptive already having complaints from fellow parents and teachers themselves! My sons education and safety is number one , I only fear he will observe these other behaviors and possibly fall in the whole monkey see monkey do. I do not feel safe that my son is in a good place here at woodland and decided we are pulling him out as well. Very disappointed in this school .

My child currently attends Woodland and we love it. Awesome teachers and great parents too. In a surrounding community that can often be very pretentious, I find Woodland's family community to be much more down to earth. We also love that Woodland is just K-2 and Kaiser, the sister school, is 3-6. We feel it is less overwhelming for the kids and keeps them with peers close to their age.

We love Woodland. It is adorable because the kids are 'young' and excited about learning in a great environment. (Woodland is only K-2nd grade, across the street is our sister school, Kaiser, which is 3rd-6th grade.) This year, Woodland also began a separate (free) TK program which has improved the class sizes in kinder and teaches a modified/age appropriate curriculum for the TK'ers. (TK is for kids born between September 2nd and December 2nd and who will be turning 5 between those dates - so they are too young to go into Kindergarten, thus, they can enroll in Transitional Kindergarten (TK). Per the California Dept of Education: "TK is the first year of a two-year kindergarten program that uses a modified kindergarten curriculum that is age and developmentally appropriate. Pursuant to law, EC 48000(c), a child is eligible for TK if a child will have his or her fifth birthday between September 2 and December 2.")Our child started at Woodland in kindergarten in the 2014 school year. My child loved it from the beginning and had an amazing kinder teacher (they are all great here!) As a parent, I definitely felt "lost" at the beginning of the year. There were 8 kindergarten classes ... not great communication from the principal, etc. Perhaps that is how every first time parent in kinder feels though?However, in 2015, a new principal took over (Tiffany Lewis) as the old principal (Medve), retired. So far, Ms. Lewis has been amazing. She is completely involved in the school, you constantly see her on campus, she engages with the children and they love her. She is receptive to parents and it seems like she will really make Woodland shine.As for the teachers, they are great too! I now have a second child attending Woodland. While the school is BIG (almost 500 students in just 3 grade levels I think), I have found if you get involved in the school, you get to know other parents & the teachers. Just like anything else in life. So, we are proud to be involved in the school and proud of the advances the kids are making there. The PFO and financial support and fundraising at our school continues to grow. In fact, the PFO just approved over $35,000 for new iPads for all 1st and 2nd grade class rooms. Plus, we have a full science lab also supported by our school's Foundation, which also pays for a full-time science instructor.