Bendwood School

We have been really happy with Bunker Hill. Our boys have loved their teachers, and we love the new principal. She's very approachable and has gotten to know families very quickly. The building is new, and we're getting a lab elective next year for the kids. The sports facilities and the field are great.Parents at the school are incredibly involved and do a lot of things that make the experience special for the children, like putting on an International Day, Spring Fling, the "Good Behavior" reward shop, and helping with the grade level programs, etc. It's a very nice school with a lot of fun "extras".

We wanted to provide a review for any new family ( not from Houston/ outside Memorial) considering this school for their children, specially for people of colour, or hailing from a different country. Our review is personal to our experience at the school and we appreciate may provide a different viewpoint than held by the majority of white families. We joined the school last year arriving as expats from another English speaking country, our child is brown of Asian heritage, was in third grade and was sadly bullied at the school. We raised a complaint but were told that meanness did not equate to bullying and the school assistant principal offered our son counseling at the school. We then learnt from other families of instances of bullying, specially from those of color, different religion. Some were too afraid to raise this publicly, but spoke of it in private. Many had no option to leave the school. We also had comments which we feel were racist made by a class teacher regarding black students our child was seen playing with being a “bad influence”on our child. This was a tipping point for us. We did not get invited to birthday parties, many families at the neighborhood pool would treat us as “invisible” and look past us. We were told by the school this was “normal”. My son was also bullied to give a gift to two boys “from a respectable” doctor family, who refused to invite him to their birthday thereafter. My younger daughter made only one friend, was questioned about her hair colour, was told to go away from a group of girls playing together and her only friend would never come over for play dates to our home. The school is very focused on testing results and lessons are raced through ending in a test. The GT classes are great but at Bendwood and many children we hear want to drop out of the GT program because of bullying/ rough playing at recess there. The school does little to educate its children to be inclusive, open minded or sympathetic. Foul language and hitting, video gaming, showing off about branded shoes seems to be the ethos here. We tried hard, knocked many doors and spoke to teachers. A few families in the neighborhood cared ( mind you also not native to Memorial) and we are thankful for their kindness. After a year we finally left the school for a private school this academic year. We hope this review sheds a light for anyone similarly placed as us, a professional, educated, brown immigrant family.

My little girl has been in this school since kindergarten and was bullied until the beginning of second grade also got dropped off in wrong bus stop at a very dangerous area in the neighborhood this school does not really let parents engage in activities with the kids. My daughter has only had one field trip in the 3 yrs and it was just making slime I don’t feel like they really care for the students .communication is horrible list goes on and on

My child was in this school for 4 years. I used to think great things about this school until we pulled him out. He is now thriving at his new school & the teachers are much more understanding. They do projects & take trips unlike at Wilchester. I would not recommend this school. There are much better options in spring branch.

Our family has been involved with this school for several years, which gives us a good perspective on how it has changed over time.The school's greatest strength remains its classroom teachers. Many are caring, experienced and deeply committed to their students. Unfortunately, in our experience, the administration has not provided those teachers with the level of support they deserve.Prospective parents should ask about:* Teacher retention and the number of experienced educators who have left in recent years.* How bullying reports are investigated and what consequences exist for repeated inappropriate behavior.* What specialized support is currently available for students with additional learning needs.* How the school handles conflicts between parents and teachers and what measures are in place to support its staff.The school promotes a caring and inclusive environment, but our family's experience has not always reflected those values. We have seen increasing tension between some parents and teachers, declining confidence in the school's leadership and concerns from students about how behavior issues are handled.We kept our children at the school because we hoped things would improve. Unfortunately, we did not see the positive changes we had hoped for.There are still many outstanding teachers who work incredibly hard for their students, and they deserve tremendous credit. My hope is that the school's leadership and governing board will take seriously the concerns raised by families so the school can once again become the outstanding community it once was.

We love Sherwood! Couldn’t imagine our kids in any other school. We’ve had both our children in since 2020 and will continue here through Elementary. The staff is wonderful, teachers are so nurturing and respectful. It is a small but mighty school that goes above and beyond for each individual student.