James S. Fugman Elementary School

Loved having my kids at this school, amazing teachers

We love this school! The teachers are kind, supportive, and really care about the students. The staff is always helpful, and the school provides a safe and welcoming environment. My kids are learning and growing so much here. Highly recommend to any parent looking for a great school!

Wonderful school ! This school should be on the top list in Clovis/fresno . The environment is warm and so far I love their curriculum.

I have two kids that have been through his school, and all I can say is that its an AWESOME school! The teachers are awesome and they care for each and every student. The academics, sports, music and all other activities are uptown mark!! Nothing but 10/10 for Valley Oak Elementary

I have 3 daughters, one that is presently attending Liberty Elementary School (5th grade) and 2 that have graduated from this school (now in the 8th and 10th grade). My experience with this school was great for my first daughter - no issues and quality education. However, I have seen a significant decline in the quality of academics, teachers, and administrative staff after she graduated Liberty, and more specifically after the pandemic. A vast majority of the classwork has become robotic in nature (essentially practice assignments for State Testing) with minimal challenge. The class work in grades 4 and up is primarily computer based, with kids spending a large portion of their day on a screen completing assignments or playing computer games as a reward for finishing. There is no incentive for kids to try for academic excellence. There is no encouragement to develop fine motor skills with handwriting or complete quality work.Two of my children participated in the GATE program. It is essentially a short meeting once a week (meetings start in December) where the kids are given an optional activity they can complete at home. Liberty's GATE program does not include academic acceleration, classroom based challenge, or a sense of pride in being academically different as the GATE students are encouraged not tell anyone they are in the program. There are some genuinely amazing teachers at this school. However, there are far more mediocre ones. Many teachers seem tired, lazy (using the computers to babysit their students and "teach" them using learning games), and generally don't seem to want to be there. The teachers K-3 are the best but as you get into the upper grades it is harder to find quality teachers. Safety and bullying at this school has become a big issue. Liberty had a change in GIS several years ago, and the new GIS seems to struggle with how to appropriately handle these situations. The bullying between the girls is bad and seems to fly under the radar. The GIS seems very focused on punishing trivial infractions like switching seats in the cafeteria, running in the hallways, not picking up trash, etc. than handling the more serious issues at that school.I am writing this review because this school is changing, and not in a good way. If you have a high academic student, care about safety and bullying, want a supportive admin staff, and want teachers that provide a quality education then this school will not be a good fit for you.

See the previous reviews. Ethnicity plays a hige role as well as who puts in more money and which mom who does not work helps kore at the school and who's husband has a better job. If your child is bullied they dont do anything. They dont have or enforce the policies or the zero tolerance policies. The new principle and GIS are worse and they favor their kids more so than others. They also dont listen to the kids who express themselves as far as the kids saying hey i dont understand or i need a little more help or so and so push or is saying threatening things to me. Everything gets brushed under the rug. They judge you by the color of your skin and the way you look and treat your kid the same way. Unless your white forget it. This school shouldn't get a 10 and as they get older it gets worse 3 of my kids went here and now granite ridge and clovis north. They are nightmares all the way around. My kids dread going to school and i dont blame them. Not playing a race card here at all. Just being bluntly honest. We are not going to go out of our way to be fake to be liked. People should not be racist and treat our kids wrong because of their skin color. Oh and if your white and cry, your kid will get away with murder. This has happened to my daughter 4 times this year so far and 1 time in front of me. When i brought it up it was brushed under the rug when that kid was clearly in the wrong. Race based. Principle and GIS and lunch time parent helpers are a joke. Make my kid feel uncomfortable along with a few teachers. Entitled kids with their Entitled parents. Apple doesnt fall far from the tree here.