Thornwood Elementary School

I am writing this review to help parents make an informed decision when considering this school. I can only speak from my personal experience.I moved to Texas in February and enrolled my daughter after missing the private school enrollment deadline. We previously lived in Florida and believed one year here would be manageable. Unfortunately, the experience has been extremely disappointing.The enrollment process was disorganized and redundant. Although documents were submitted online, I was still required to bring them in person. There were no clear instructions, and we had to walk around the campus to find the enrollment office.“Meet the Teacher” day was chaotic and poorly communicated. When we finally located the classroom, I learned the teacher had 29 students with no aide. As a former kindergarten teacher, I know this is inappropriate. Two months later, I received a letter from the state stating the school was out of compliance with Texas’ 22:1 ratio.The first day of school raised serious safety concerns. There were very few staff members and no clear directions. At dismissal, my daughter was missing for nearly 30 minutes. Staff did not know where she was, and I had to use an AirTag to confirm she was still inside the building. She was found hysterical due to lack of supervision.Dismissal procedures remain alarming. Students are often unsupervised, and I have witnessed staff distracted on their phones and a child pushed from a 6–8 ft platform without immediate intervention. Backpacks are frequently left outside for days.My daughter has experienced verbal and physical bullying. Despite reporting this to the teacher and principal, no action was taken.Communication from the teacher has been minimal. Items are sent home without instructions, and multiple emails requesting clarification went unanswered. The curriculum is weak and below kindergarten expectations.After submitting documentation for private speech therapy four months ago, staff had not reviewed it and ultimately denied services, wasting valuable time.Overall, this school has ongoing issues with safety, supervision, communication, and academic support. My daughter will not be returning next year, and I do not recommend this school.

Moved from Alexander elementary. Great special eduction! Keep up the good work !

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 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.

Yorkshire Academy is by far the best school we have experienced, not only from a parent point of view but also our kids as well. Our girls love Yorkshire. The staff and faculty are amazing. The school provides a challenging curriculum to ensure the kids are more than ready for their next stage of their education. In addition, the school does an amazing job establishing an environment that is not only conducive to learning but promotes social growth as well. We love Yorkshire Academy.