Darby Avenue Charter School

My son has been going to Darby since Kindergarten and is now in 4th grade at the school. Not only has the teaching staff been exemplary, but the school takes great care with students who have learning disabilities. My son is on the autism spectrum and would be considered high functioning, so many may not recognize his autism. But the school and staff surrounded him with support to help him excel in areas beyond simple academics, such as social development, and peer-peer interaction, helping him with social cues and behavior in group settings, things where his autism may have hampered his ability to integrate and excel. I credit the Darby staff with with their incredible effort on my son's behalf, without which I think his social and academic performance would be severely underdeveloped from where they are now. I cannot say enough good things about our experience at this school after 4 years of attendance.

I have mixed emotions about Darby. On the one hand - some of these teachers are briliant, sweet, and very hard-working. On the other hand, these same teachers seem to be under alot of pressure and underapreciated by their leadership. While some schools foster a team effort among the teachers, my impression of these teachers is that they compete with one another, rather than working collabaratively. The leadership itself , led by principle Lucy Lee, is not very friendly or positive. The principle specifically does not seem to enjoy the children at all. I live near the school and walk around the school during reccess time. This school seems to cancell reccess much of the time and I'm not sure why they do that. I've asked my son, but he is not able to explain to me. I've asked his teacher, but I don't really have a answer on this question. Principal Lucy Lees out there yelling at the children and their seems to be alot of rules as to were the children can play or not play.I've tryed to get an appointment to talk to Miss Lee, but if I'm ever let in to talk to her, she brushes me off very disrespectfuly.I'm really not sure how I feel about this school.

My daugther ,who's a 5th grader, experienced bullying at school. Teacher was informed as well as principle and nothing was done to resolve this issue. My daugther was slapped, kicked and called bad names. Teacher knew about the bullying which still continue. My daughters' teacher didn't punish bully kids, but accused an innocent child of doing something she did not do. My daugthers classmate bit a piece of cheese put it on the table. The aid blamed my daugther told the teacher and didn't let her explained it wasn't hers it was someone elses. The aid and the teacher forced my daugther to clean the entire cafeteria during lunch and recess preventing her from eating her lunch. My daugther is a good girl who respects her peers and didn't deserve this horrific, traumatizing, humiliating punishment. Kids threw food on the floor while she was cleaning and nothing was said to those student not only was this embarresing for her, but also traumating in a sense that kids point laugh and shes in the stage where shes figuring out who she is. This won't help, shes all ready struggling in making friends now the teacher bulling her. I asked for her to have a different teacher and it was denied. I asked to change schools denied. At the end I took matters in my own hands went to the school that she belongs to where I live and they took her right in. Parents help your children if you don't help them then who will.

WONDERFUL Principal and caring staff. During the Pandemic the school really strived to provide a sense of calm to the community. The Principal and 5th grade team also planned a wonderful in person culmination for 5th graders. This school is a gem.

A lovely community. The parents and PTA are very involved, which is great. My child has had truly wonderful teachers each year, and accommodations are made to help challenge bright students and keep them interested. The teachers really care about their students, and it's clear they work very hard to make sure the kids feel supported and engaged. The school has a library, which is wonderful and uncommon in LAUSD. The campus is freshly painted and in great shape. The principal is kind and approachable. The teachers each have their own homework policy, which I agree with-- teachers know their students and the material best (even though I'm personally not a fan of homework in elementary, I trust the teachers.) The special needs and resources educators are wonderful and very involved. The school does a great job at integrating students with different learning levels, abilities and disabilities into one community and making sure no one is left behind. The school also has a gifted magnet, which I don't know much about, but it sounds like another great option for keeping bright students motivated and engaged. They school has a small but nice theater auditorium, so the students are able to put on little holiday shows. There's even an orchestra option the older students can join to learn an instrument. During the COVID pandemic the school did a great job providing devices and keeping kids learning. They also brought in the school psychologist to talk with the children and helped them to talk about their feelings, which impressed me. The students did yoga, mediation, dancing and stretching together over Zoom. I do think the school tries their best to help support the whole child. My only concern us that bullying isn't addressed at all-- children come home with black eyes and the parents of the bully aren't even alerted. If your child is bullied your child & family are left to "play defense" and fend for themself, the school will not address it in any way. They desperately need to implement an effective system (or any system at all) for addressing bullying. Both for the student's wellbeing, and to avoid lawsuits.But overall, a school is defined by its teachers, and Darby has excellent and caring ones. They are true educators who teach, adapt, encourage and challenge their students. I'm thankful my student goes to Darby.