West University Elementary School

If you could or want to afford a decent house in this area just for the school, then, think twice. The school is having a lot of student discipline issues; teacher student ratio is higher comparing to the other HISD good schools. Principal refused to hire a music teacher for already over two years. As a language magnet school, there is only one Spanish teacher to teach the entire school (800+) students who picked Spanish as their magnet course.

all three of our kids went there. Wee loved it. The principal is top notch. Thank you

In spite of what they present, STMES is NOT a peer school to St. John's, AOS, and River Oaks Baptist. The administration is not willing to confront issues with the programming and continue to stick their heads in the sand. Instead, they bend to the whims of a few loud parents. The "community" of this school is nothing but a facade for enabling codependent children.The school's mission statement includes the idea of play, but the teachers and administration are not able to see intellectual play as a possibility. This is taken so literally that even in the upper grades, students are rarely given personal responsibility for developing independent thoughts. Rather, the school focuses on creating self-handicapping, immature students who cannot problem-solve or show grit when facing practical and academic challenges. These children are overly reliant on adults to closely monitor and navigate every aspect of their lives, so the children never feel the discomfort of learning a hard lesson. What a shame for these kids when they enter high school and college where their parents' power to save the day will significantly diminish. The academic program here is significantly below grade level even by HISD standards, over 20 years behind modern standards and educational research. On average, students are about 2 years below grade-level. This becomes increasingly apparent in the higher grades with 4th and 5th graders barely able to write simple paragraphs with supporting details and many students who have not mastered basic multiplication facts (generally expected to be fully memorized by the end of 3rd grade in other schools).While the teachers are nice, there are many who do not have teacher certifications and other formal training. This no doubt contributes to the school's issues with adequately preparing students academically.This environment is worst of all for students who are gifted or high achieving. Because nearly 50% of the student population is receiving special education accommodations, teachers are forced to give these students the most attention, leaving more advanced children to read or complete busy work without the benefit of teacher instruction to provide challenges and push their thinking. The large class sizes negatively impact the students with accommodations as well. Because there is no opportunity for reteaching during class nor after school tutorials, students who are absent or need additional support miss their enrichment classes daily.

I highly recommend Post Oak. I have had a wonderful experience there with three children across Young Children’s Community, Primary, and Elementary. The teachers are excellent. The way they apply the Montessori method and prepared environment is outstanding. The classroom communities foster an independence, confidence, and creativity in the kids.

We moved from New England in the summer of 2020. One my wife's new colleagues suggested SHMS in lieu of our ability to go tour schools due to Covid. We signed our 2 year old daughter up believing that we could move when everything opens up. She is now in Kindergarten at SMHS and our son, who wasn't born at the time, is now there as well and we couldn't be happier. caveat - Neither of our children are disabled or have major behavioral problems. Things of note - 1. We are paying almost $1000 less PER MONTH than we did in New England. Now that we've been here for a while, there are cheaper options for sure, but it felt like a MONSTER discount when we got here. 2. For additional fees, they offer soccer, ballet, spanish, and piano lessons during the school day. 3. There are schoolwide events - Fall festival, spring rodeo, Halloween, Christmas programs, etc. 4. They do offer kindergarten. It is small, 2-4 kids per older classroom, 3-4 classrooms, who combine together for "socials," field trips, and lessons together. 5. Siblings often cannot be in the same classroom so that they do not distract each other and can develop their own identity. 6. I have only seen 4 of the classrooms, 3 younger and 1 older, but every single teacher I have met cared a great deal for my children and helped them through potty training, teething, tantrums, learning to read, learning to do math, working out problems with other children, etc. 7. They have a FANTASTIC summer program which includes a pool! Older children get to swim, there are lifeguards. 8. One downside, other schools we have seen provide digital pictures or video of your child on a daily basis. This school does not have an app or (at the time of this review) even a website. It definitely feels like a word of mouth restaurant. 9. There are multiple parent-teacher conferences throughout the year. There aren't grades (before kindergarten) but they do give you written feedback on behavior, learning milestones, etc.