Longfellow Elementary School

Mr. Pisarik is the most amazingly magnificent principle. The way he shows empathy to each student and how he embraces each student is amazing. He has the ability to make each student feels unique and special. His warm smile and everyday greeting and salutes to the kids. Mr.P makes Shimek my kids’ second home. My kids grow, thrive and academically, they were amongst the best students. Also, Mr. More who taught my kid in 6th grade, Mrs. Montrose second grade teacher, the best, she has a warm heart as big as Victoria lake. She is so sweet, so genuine and very understanding. Mrs. Schneider, third grade teacher, she made my kid a beast on math, science and reading. My kids stayed 4 years in Shimek. One of the best 4 years of our life. Always grateful!

Overall I feel that this school is great if you have a child without any disabilities, and is academically in the middle or higher. If you have academic deficits or learning disabilities that require additional supports look elsewhere.

My kids loved this school! All of the teachers we had were absolutely amazing! The low scores that the school gets is mostly because of the high turnover of the students (such is the area, with a lot of apartments), but if your student stays through the entire school year, they will progress! This school has so many programs to help kids learn, and my kids greatly benefited from them!

Lemme is not just a school. It is a school family. When people ask where my kids go to school, they always say something about it being a positive place & know we're the leopards. Lemme is a community.

Mann is a great neighborhood school in the historic district of Iowa City! Diverse racially and socio-economically with great new principle and strong committment to the school community. Zero tolerance of bullying and counselor and teachers teach kids skills they need to be positive role models, stand up for themselves and others, and be kind and compassionate members of the community. School offers gifted and talented program, support for learning disabilities, after school foreign language classes (Spanish and Chinese), GirlsOnTheRun group, orchestra (5th & 6th grade), fantastic and engaged after school program. This is a true neighborhood school! Your neighbors are your classmates, tight knit neighborhood community is deeply involved in school events and activities. 100 years old in 2018, school will be newly renovated by 2019. Our girls have thrived at Mann K-6th grade, and benefited from learning in a diverse and supportive community of learners. We love this school and test scores don’t provide the whole story of what it is like to be a student here. It’s a gem and we feel lucky we’ve had the opportunity to be a part of this amazing neighborhood school!

Our children have flourished at Lincoln. Teachers seem happy which is a good sign. Many neighborhood parents are professionals but we have not found it to be a pressure-cooker. Changing the high school zoning to City High may have chilled everyone out a bit.