Northridge Elementary School

We will give an honest review of our experience and observations over many years. Principal works hard, is approachable and seems to be liked by most parents and employees. Office staff is no longer friendly and can be downright rude on the phone. So maybe don't take it personally. Specials offered are nice but there are too many. Kids don't get enough time in each to learn much in any one subject. Phys Ed is really lacking. If you want your kids to learn sports, rules and test basic physical aptitude it won't happen at school. Good social emotional lessons. Very good school counselor but sadly she quit. Academics are okay. Northridge is one of only a few in the district with the discovery GT program. Teachers and parents call it a school within a school. It helps Northridge with high testing scores it receives every year. The school also spends weeks teaching to the standardized tests and putting kids under pressure to perform leading up to the test. Maybe that is standard at all public schools? Discovery program at the school is not good for students who learn too early they are not special or good enough or smart enough to be included in discovery. We have even seen the rest of the students referred to as "non-discovery". There are a lot of cliquey parents associated with the discovery program depending on the year who can make other families feel excluded or as if their children are less than. Other school districts manage and integrate GT programming better and more compassionately. Really high turnover rate with students and teachers. A few great teachers. Too many teachers and support people who are really burnt out and negative who need a new challenge, grade to teach or career change before it affects too many more kids. Being able to connect to your child's classroom and teacher is inconsistent and mostly lacking. A few teachers request classroom volunteers. Majority in each grade do not welcome any help or any parent presence. This is uncomfortable and has concerned us for many reasons. The school building is old. They fix and update some things but the age and too many students crammed in to the old building takes away from their learning experience. This has improved somewhat with fewer and fewer students every year. Still too many kids for the building. Overall Northridge gets a C from us as a public school in Douglas County in 2023.

Our three children attend this school and it has been wonderful for our kids and family. Northridge has an inclusive culture and environment, they focus on the whole child, and they emphasize problem solving and critical thinking. The children at this school are really nice, bullying is minimal, and behavior problems are delt with in a constructive way. The school fosters good leadership, teamwork, and community. ALL the teachers are engaged and passionate about educating and helping the kids. The whole school (teachers, staff, administration, etc.) genuinely cares about all the children and work to help all of them each according to their needs. Finally, the principal (Katie) is outstanding and she works hard to make this a good school, and to protect the children, teachers, and staff. I highly recommend this school.

I have a child in G&T here and another in a “regular” classroom. We love this school so much. My G&T kid is involved in multiple clubs and competitions and has received so much support from his teachers and the admin. The diverse student enrollment is amazing too - especially for the area we live in. The school embraces that diversity with school activities and the specials that are offered. We open enrolled here knowing that our kids would receive an amazing education.

The admin of this building are despicable. They will spend their efforts lying, covering up their lies and deflecting blame. They will not spend time supporting your student, building a positive school culture, or holding them to rigorous academic standards.You will have to fight with them tooth and nail to get them to do things correctly they should have done initially.Avoid this school at all cost, it is not worth the damage they will do to your child and household.I’ve never seen a worse run school.

Both our kids have learning differences. One was on an IEP and now is on a 504, and the other is in G&T. The school has been wonderful for them and us. They really do care about the children and work hard to make sure their needs are met. They also work hard to provide a good environment for the kids: they take care in hiring good teachers that fit with their approach, they are on top of bullying and bad behavior and take a productive approach, they encourage good leadership, they help kids with development and growth, and they foster and reinforce an inclusive environment. The kids are able to reach their potential and the results are reflected in the test scores and ratings for this school.