Vinland Elementary School

i have volunteered my time at the school and in the PTA for almost 10 years now and my last child is currently enrolled. The relatively new Principal and Staff at this school care so much about our children and it is evident in how they live that out every day. Many years ago it wasn't as dynamic or engaging with leadership (though most teachers were still wonderful!). Now, there is a new vibe in the school and focus on both social and emotional wellbeing (especially after COVID) and academics. All decisions are made with the student's best interests at heart - even when there is no good choice. I would highly recommend this school.

We have always felt welcomed as part of the family. Every teacher we have met truly cares about their students overall well being and advancement through quality education.

My family loves this school. We enjoy it so much we pour our time and energy into volunteering. Families always show up for activities and kid presentations. I believe these are indicators of a good school.

Aside from the beautiful campus, there is nothing great about this school. My daughter attended two years here and we are now looking at other options. Teachers are frustrated and have too many students, there is no differentiation in work, and supervision is horrible. Incidences and bullying are not supervised or monitored adequately. This is a school that meets the status quo. These early formative years of education are so important and I'm done settling for this school and looking into private school options. I'm just sad I didn't move her sooner.

We were excited to start Vinland and it took 2 years of mediocrity (at best) and an incident to realize things would not get better there. My daughter attended this school for two years and our experience there was subpar. She is and always has been a good student and behaviorally had zero issues. There were a few reasons I was unhappy with the school, but my breaking point was when we had an incident on the playground that both teachers and the principle failed to deal with properly. I have spoken to other parents and it appears things like this are not uncommon. It is no surprise, as recesses there have 100+ kids running around all the play areas and the field with just two recess aids on a HUGE campus. Things happen on the playground and it got to a point where I did not feel like my daughter was safe at the school due to lack of supervision. Her teacher either was consistently frustrated with teaching, or just did not care. Even on days I volunteered in class she would snap at other students for silly reasons. Parent conferences were immaterial and information was boiler plate. Her teacher couldn't even tell me what my daughter's strengths are. Conferences at both grade levels were general and could be summed up in a short email. I know of 3 other families in my daughter's grade level that had similarly negative experiences and have now chosen to private school or home school. I feel bad for parents who don't have the resources to do either. Advice I can give--be your kid's advocate and a wheel squeaker to get things done/noticed. Our experience at Vinland was a blessing in disguise as we moved our daughter to an amazing private school (Silverwood Elementary) where she is flourishing socially and academically. It's been so wonderfully different, at both the student experience, and parent communication level. My daughter now loves going to school and is bummed when Friday rolls around since she has to miss school. At parent conferences now, teacher feedback is specific both in academics and social/personality where I come away knowing that the teacher actually KNOWS my daughter. It's been a refreshing change all around.