Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary School

SCG has several wonderful teachers! Our favorite teacher is Mrs. Field! She is the best. She is so warm and inviting to all her students and their families. She's really genuine and cares for your child.Also, she makes learning exciting and fun! My son was lucky enough to have her two years in a row.

Excellent local school with great community spirit! Our family has been thoroughly impressed with everything Santa Cruz Gardens has to offer for our 1st grader. First and foremost, the quality of our child's education here has been top notch. Newly hired Principal le Roux has been actively involved in all aspects of the school. We regularly see her around campus and is very involved with teachers, parents, and kids alike. The teachers, the principal, and the school's Home & School Club are invested in SCG's kids and aligned in their mission to educate the whole child. We appreciate that our child is being taught according to the Common Core standards, supplemented by library/computer lab time, PE, character education assemblies, after-school courses in clay art/soccer/Spanish/etc, not to mention walkathons, the big buddy program, variety shows, book fairs, dances, and an upcoming STEM-based series of science classes. Santa Cruz Gardens has exceeded our expectations with its small-school environment, and with the kids, teachers, parents, and principal all looking out for each other and invested in each other's educational welfare.

This small school is a vibrant center of the community. They have managed to continue to provide music, library services, and afterschool enrichment classes, within a district whose budget is cut to the bone. Teachers here are dedicatee, skilled and hardworking. The parent involvement is high, and the community surrounding the school really values the children who attend.

Overall, any student/family would be fortunate to attend this school, with a few caveats. My child spent most of her SCG years while Principal Escobar oversaw the school. She was passionate, involved and always could be seen out in school grounds interacting with the kids. The new principal is much less of an on-campus presence. Her first day on the job last year, she was nowhere to be seen much to the amazement of many parent. My other gripe is with the preparation of 5th graders for middle school. Homework isn't the only standard, but it is important, and the 5th grade teacher gives out scant assignments, and they are never graded -- only checked to see if they're turned in. On the positive side, the rest of the teaching staff is tremendous and Sue does a fantastic job in the office.