We feel incredibly grateful to be part of such a warm, welcoming, and enriching school community…read more From the very beginning, our family has felt supported not just academically, but personally as well. The teachers and staff truly go above and beyond to create an environment where each child feels seen, valued, and encouraged to grow. We currently have three children at the school, and each of them has had such a positive and unique experience. The balance between strong academics and character development is something we deeply appreciate. It's clear that the school is focused on nurturing the whole child, building confidence, kindness, and a genuine love for learning. One of the highlights for our family has been the musical program. Our daughters have been involved in the school musical, and it has been such a meaningful experience for them. Not only have they grown in confidence and creativity, but they've also formed friendships across different grade levels, which has been so special to see. The sense of community that comes from these programs is truly something unique. We couldn't be happier with our experience and feel lucky every day to be part of this amazing school. It's a place where children are encouraged to thrive, friendships flourish, and families feel genuinely connected.

I have only GREAT things to say about Mt. Helix Academy!!…read more My little 3rd grader has THRIVED at this school. Known to be very shy and often wouldn't participate in class, we were desperate. There wasn't ever any trouble, just no willingness to be part of school functions, class projects, and we were about to succumb to the idea that was just the way it was. No joy for school or even extra-curricular activities. Well... these teachers did amazing things!! My child is like a whole new kid. The small class sizes helped them focus on my child's needs, and the care the teachers showed made such a difference. Now my child loves school, can't wait to "try" math (it can still be hard) and is in the school play! I would have never thought this could happen. I was just looking for a place where a child could feel welcome and loved, and, oh yeah - learn. I am so very thankful that we took a chance on Mt. Helix Academy. I can't recommend them enough!

It's a Good school. The curriculum was challenging and prepared my son for high school. My son…read moresaid in high school as a freshman he noticed there was a knowledge gap between Hillsdale students and kids that attended other middle schools. Hillsdale kids had a more rigorous curriculum especially in math and English.

The worst school! Teachers and staff don't care about students!…read more Very low morale, multiple lockdowns without proper explanation, cockroaches in girls locker rooms, no soap in the bathrooms, mean, rude and standoffish teachers, overcrowded classrooms, mediocre education at best. I can go on and on! Do yourself and your kid a favor and find a better school!

This school has shown a pattern of behavior that makes many students feel unwelcome and unfairly…read moretreated. Numerous students and staff have expressed that the administration often behaves disrespectfully and dismissively, especially toward members of the Chaldean community. Many Chaldean students at Valhalla feel that they are spoken to with unnecessary aggression, singled out for minor issues, and treated with less patience and understanding compared to others. This creates an environment where students feel targeted rather than supported, and it damages trust between the administration and the communities they are supposed to serve. Students deserve to feel safe, respected, and valued no matter their background and many feel that isn't happening here. Many teachers are very racist towards students as well always making Chaldean comments. This treatment towards the Chaldean students needs to stop. No other student gets treated as horrible as the Chaldean students at Valhalla High School.

It was all right school a little racist I just feel that they didn't give African American kids the…read morequality time that they needed nor did the football coach allow the African American kids to really plan the games-..

We are thrilled with this school! Our child started with almost no English and, within a year,…read morebecame one of the top students thanks to the fantastic teachers (Mrs. Melanese, Mrs.Haley) teachers were amazing! The individualized approach and excellent after-school program have been a huge help.

Principal, nice staff don't listen when you get hurt or you wanna go to the office when someone…read moregets hurt and see them and especially the staff do not listen and when trying to solve problems in their office, they don't say anything right and don't listen to the other person.

Holy crap DD, was that an autobiography or a review? Going from a private catholic school to a…read morepublic school is always a challenge. You can whine about it on yelp over a decade later or be an adult and learn from it. I went in the mid-80's, and it was fine.

Though reviews for SVMS on "rate your educational institution"-type websites are, at best, tepid, I…read moremust admit I don't know how the school is faring now, because I am a former student and it's been a long time since the last bell rang for me. My parents made the mistake of believing all the hype about Spring Valley Middle School, which, during the mid-to-late nineties, had a reputation as an exemplar of administration, curriculum, and instruction. And, considering what the rest of Spring Valley had to offer in terms of public schools, I can see why SVMS had such buzz surrounding it. Sure, there were good teachers and good administrators here. Unfortunately, as caring as some--some--of the staff may have been, they were no match for the community riff raff the school served. What I learned from my time at Spring Valley Middle is that no amount of education or empathy can keep up with an army of no-good child-gangsters who have nothing but contempt for education and perceived weakness (or human frailty, or just humanity, if you prefer) in their peers. One must acknowledge, however, that Spring Valley, save for a couple of isolated pockets of lower-middle class comfort and a swath of affluence on Mt. Helix, is a rough, tough town. Granted, it's no Euclid, but as far as East County goes, it's a blemish of a community which has been declining since the installation of cheap housing (and LOTS of it), the entirety of which now amounts to little more than a vast, glorified Hooverville. Perhaps it isn't the fault of SVMS (established in the late 1950s, arguably before "urban poverty" took root in the area) that it happens to be situated very near the heart of this squalor, and consequently has to deal with all the children who are forced to attend school there simply because of proximity, but one would think that the barbaric behavior that takes place on its campus could have been reigned in somewhat--at least during the years of my attendance. The result of what I believe to be a lack of vigilance on the part of the administration was that SVMS was more like a prison yard than a school, where, accordingly, factions and gang-like groups quite often distinguished themselves along racial lines. The bullying was intense, and when you weren't getting pushed around because of the color of your skin or because your physical appearance didn't meet the expectations of your peers, you were ostracized and snickered at by those in the tragically hip cliques, many of whose members came from the better-off corners of Spring Valley. Of course, no one bothered them. Having transferred from the Catholic school across the street and being somewhat overweight, I was a stranger in a strange land on my first day at Spring Valley Middle, and, of course, an easy target for the scum with whom I would shortly become acquainted. Suffice it to say that this was not an easy transition for me. Every day I was dodging this group or that, or this bully or that, and very seldom getting away. This continued for the duration of my attendance here. I became paranoid and depressed. I believe that my experience at SVMS, which felt like three years of hell, was nothing less than traumatic. I don't normally indulge in the histrionics we tend to associate with self-reflexive psychobabble, but I do believe that my stay there scarred me, as I know it scarred many others, because I wasn't alone. Perhaps one of the greatest sins of the faculty, aside from the obvious looking-the-other-way which all too many school figures are guilty of, is the implementation of the "Zero Tolerance" policy, which was something of a fad in the educational system at the time. This policy stipulated that absolutely no student violence would be allowed, and that every act of student violence would be severely punished--no matter what role the student played in the violence. This meant that if a kid walked up to you at lunch, socked you in the jaw, and you hit him back, you were both getting suspended for a week, or worse, regardless of who did what. As I was a good kid scared to death of getting in trouble, I took this policy to heart. Unfortunately, it was (at least partly) for this reason that I suffered abuse at the hands of fellow students for so long. I was afraid to strike back. There were a few times that I did retaliate and punch an agressor out of anger, and while such actions seemed to mitigate some of my problems, I was suspended after each incident. But that was a long time ago. If you're debating sending your child to SVMS, maybe you can hope that because times have changed, the school has changed also, and maybe for the better. But the socioeconomic conditions of the surrounding area it serves have not, and in some ways have grown worse. This may offend some people as insensitive, but having to endure life in this sort of environment tends to throw such sociological, liberal sensibilities out the window. Anyway, good luck with your decision!

I've been at this school since kindergarten and I'm in 6th grade, my final year here. This school…read moreis amazing, all the teachers try their best and have taught very interesting subjects in very fun ways. They also know how to deal with trouble makers and other rude people. But you will mostly meet nice students and nice teachers. The staff work really hard on making this school enjoyable and have succeeded. The recess areas are also really nice and fun to play on. So I rate this school an easy 5. -Korbin Bergman

The school dynamic is amazing. Mrs. James is an amazing principal, the staff there are all so…read morefriendly and care so deeply for all the children. This is a very tight knit school. The parents are very involved when it comes to after school events. Overall this school is very underrated. My daughter has been here since TK(this is her 6th year at the school), each year has gotten better and better.

The best school and teacher out there my daughter loves it and I'm so glad she's attending this…read moreschool.

Best school in El Cajon. We are truly fortunate our kid goes here.... especially considering the…read morealternative public school he would attend (and we own a home in a good neighborhood). Idc who you voted for (btw, we're democrats) or what God you pray to (btw, we're not religious).... we know a good school when we see one! Anyone who writes a negative review can take their kid to the low rated public school they live by. I mean...who writes negative reviews about schools!?!!??!! Unless you're paying for it! Charter schools are elective, and if you're unhappy with it, send your kids to the local public school, move, pay money for private school, or teach your kids yourself! Home school is an option if you think you can do better! Teachers are are under-paid and extremely undervalued. They take care of our kids for almost 8 hours a day...for free (well, almost...taxes pay). They try to educate our kids along with teaching them how to be responsible members of society. Even bad schools have good teachers.... who try and care! We previously had an issue with a teacher here and after sitting down with the principal, it promptly stopped. Our kid is almost in high school and has been attending lfcs since kindergarten. Lfcs provides a FREE and "private school like" education. Ik when my kid leaves in the morning he is learning something, safe, and well cared for. Ummm.... and the school rating is 10 out of 10....I mean really????

Boy has this school gone down hill fast. There are a few good teachers left but honestly there is…read morenot enough support. We moved my youngest and she is already excelling in a short time. Oh! Just try calling the school! You will NEVER get a live person. You can try every extension and I bet 1 out of 10 may pick up. Just trying to get my daughter out of the school was a nightmare! No one helps! No one calls back! I swear I feel like I have ptsd from the experience!

Don't recommend this school /district Very disappointing with this school not enough support or…read morehelp for there students that were/are struggling this past year. Don't get me wrong there a few great teachers and am grateful for them and I am sorry for this review to those few good teachers don't mean this towards you, but the actual district and administration obviously have not done enough for all the students that are failing and struggling badly and poor kids are feeling helpless and going into deeper depression as months go by and year almost over and still not much done to help these kids/students. So sad..for these readers I don't recommend this school .