Highland Park Elementary School

We love Gattis! It feels like such a good family. Weve had amazing teachers and aides that have enriched my children's learning experiences there.

This school is honestly amazing! The parent support is like nothing I’ve seen before. The pta and homeroom parents support the teachers and staff. The teachers seem to actually enjoy their jobs and aren’t burnout. The staff is all so tenured. My second child is on year 4 and I have one that went kinder through 5th and I’ve never had a complaint. Any concern I had was always addressed and followed up with. It is truly an amazing school.

This schools ranking is only as high as it is because it hosts the talented and gifted program for 4-5th grade kids for the district. Without the talented and gifted program the test scores and ranking show a completely different picture. This school is on the chopping block to be shut down for the next school year anyways but overall I would not recommend this school to anyone that is looking to move into the district. My kids have seen so many fights, there are many issues with bullying at this school, the special education program needs help as they don't follow the laws and district rules. I hate that I didn't know all of this info before moving here myself. It's a low income school so all kids qualify for free breakfast. There are some great teachers who work so hard but it's just not enough.

My son attended kindergarten through fifth grade at Brookhollow. I had initially hesitated to put him in public school because he was identified as both gifted and special needs. We came to Brookhollow after a couple of failed attempts with small private schools that advertised themselves as supporting kids with ADHD and other learning differences. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that despite their marketing, small private schools don’t usually have staff who are properly trained with those conditions. Brookhollow was a godsend. The teachers were loving and attentive, and though the school struggled with being underresourced by the state, the administrators consistently were able to do a lot with a little. My son thrived at Brookhollow, which has a wonderful, cozy neighborhood culture. All the teachers seemed to know his name, and we were always dealt with warmly and supportively by all staff we engaged with. I would note that Brookhollow struggles with communicating promptly and consistently, although there are several different newsletters; the events that apply only to a single grade or class can easily get lost in the busyness, especially when the overstretched teachers are the ones responsible for communicating about them. I thought this was a small price to pay for access to such dedicated and experienced staff, though. My family feels extremely lucky to have experienced Brookhollow under Ms. Harris, the current principal. What a gift!

This school is such a special place. To have people that truly love and take care of your kids while you are away from them is invaluable! The class sizes are small and yet they still seem to have a very healthy number of teachers. Everyone is friendly and kind. The school runs very smoothly from what I can tell. The communication from our teacher using the app and pictures is amazing and we love that part.