Montview Math & Health Sciences Elementary School

We love this school. This is my child's last year here and we have been very pleased with the whole experience, all 6 years!

I have had 2 children in this school and both tested outside of this school with very high IQ's. I found that this school held my children back. The teachers and administrative staff are more dedicated to helping children who do not speak english as opposed to children who are at their grade level trying to learn more. I finally started teaching my children myself and they only attended Montview as a play daycare. I found when I taught them, they understood and picked up the material quickly. One of my daughters in 3rd grade was given a low score in math because the math teacher didn't know english! This school could greatly improve by segregating students that cannot speak english with students that can. This would help both groups of learners. I have met a total of 3 teachers at this school that were awesome. Other problems include only 1 conference per school yr., no extracurricular that doesn't involve WIC, Food Stamps, or low income reasons, and no communication. Documents have no dates, or notification is 1 day prior, instructions missing. Lastly, a lot of wasted paper when I receive and english version and a spanish version. DISAPPOINTING

I had my kids at Montview for two years, in the early grades. Of the 5 teachers we knew: * 2 were saints * 1 was okay * 1 should have retired ages ago -- she was a beaten woman * 1 should have had her teaching certificate canceled for questionable discipline practices in the classroom. The principal -- well, God bless her for taking on making a low-income, high-ESL elementary school; that's dedication. That said, it's clear she's a by-the-numbers administrator: displays against state-mandated testing standards are posted all over the school. My kids were near the top of the class, and they were routinely ignored during lessons so that their teachers could work on the kids that were bringing down the scores (statistically that's the smart thing to do, but a bored kid becomes a troublemaker). So I pulled 'em and put 'em in Vanguard Classical, where they know TCAP is a joke and don't teach to the test. When we were there, we had to fight to volunteer. They had canceled the PTO because they were afraid the "parents would take over". We were discouraged from volunteering in the classroom. They don't seem to view the parents as advocates or allies.

The teachers and staff at Montview are incredibly dedicated, often taking time after school to host clubs such as skateboarding and science club. The students are motivated to become proficient and get better everyday. Come visit!! Also, Montview has won several awards recently. Check it out on Colorado Department of Education or on the aurorak12.org website!