Encino Park Elementary School

Es excelente escuela. Mis hijas dieron un cambio total al entrar ahí. Su personal es muy amable y busca soluciones de manera rápida

We have been attending Canyon Ridge for the past 5 years. My daughter was identified as dyslexic in her second grade year. The school was fast to identify and put the measures needed to assist her in reaching her full potential. Her test scores improved as well as her confidence. From Admin to the Teachers to the staff, everyone strives to make Canyon Ridge the best school for learning and inclusion.

Our child began attending Bulverde Creek Elementary (BCE) her 4th grade year after attending Montessori the previous school years. She has blossomed and grown in all ways since then. For some reason, she was unsure of herself and had low self esteem her last couple of years at Montessori. She had bad anxiety when it came to school work and tests. It may have had to do with the teacher/s she had at the time since we heard that one was particularly harsh and strict on her and the other students. Her test grades have significantly improved since she transitioned to BCE, and her words and actions show us that she believes in herself and what she is capable of accomplishing. We can't praise the teachers and staff enough for this wonderful development. This is a great school!

All three of my children attended SACS from kindergarten through 12th grade. All three kids were accepted to top-notch universities, one of them earning a full academic scholarship. SACS thoroughly prepared my kids for college and a career. In addition, my kids grew in their faith and have never wavered. While the academics were sometimes stressful, students at SACS are strongly encouraged to have balanced lives and participate in sports, theater, band, fine arts, or other extracurriculars. In addition, local service projects and mission trips are highly encouraged and part of the school calendar. The teachers are loving, supportive, and experts in their fields. The high school has many dual credit and AP offerings, and all my kids entered college with 18-30 hours.

I am not sure if the issue is the school or the required NEISD curriculum, but focus seems to be solely on STAAR-test preparation and computer assessments. Math and reading assignments seem to be a mixture of packet and tablet and seems incredibly disjointed and hard to follow. My child tells me that most instruction is watching a video. With the exception of weekly spelling/vocabulary tests, the majority of the assessment are on computer, so I have no idea what my child is actually learning or what he is missing. A large number appear to be computer-based District End of Unit Assessments, and I have been told it is frequently hard for even the teachers to understand what the questions are asking (and parents never see them). Content instruction appeared to end in March to review and take practice tests for the STAAR. After the STAAR tests, my student had project-based weeks on economics and Ancient Rome that appeared educational and finally discussed a book in class, so I think maybe the teachers are trying, but everything else since has just been review. Until this book study, my 3rd grader, to my knowledge, had discussed no books in class. Short passages as presented on the STAAR test have replaced any discussion of high-quality literature. I saw maybe three writing assignments of any substantial length, with everything else solely short responses.Equally concerning is that content in science and social studies seems almost non-existent. Time is scheduled for either, not both, and for the past two years my child has frequently said they ran out of time to get to it. It makes no sense to me as this content, with varied information and types of material, could be used to augment language abilities and introduce concrete math and analysis concepts and thereby innately improve test performance. Grade and assessment wise, my child is doing well and with 12 MAP tests and other countless practice tests, progress well-monitored (no wonder there is no time for anything else). I just believe he is not being provided with a well rounded education or love of learning and it is reflected by his comments that school is a waste of time. I believe the exposure to a diverse study body is equally important, so other options are not ideal, making it incredibly disappointing that what is supposed to be a top public school in the area is so lacking in a quality education.

My children have attended this school for the last few years. They have always enjoyed their teachers, progressed well in all subjects, and we have had no issues with the staff. I would recommend this school to anyone.