I think all the schools in Oakdale are wonderful. I just really like the way this school treated my…read moreson's when they were in elementary.

The school needs to be more clean, especially the kindergarten through 3rd grade bathroom, there…read morehas been toilet paper with poo on them, diapers and trash everywhere. Another one is when they mow they keep the dead grass on the field and bush hide in it and they bite kids. Lastly the janitors don't clean, the one that did left to go to the middle school, I wonder why.

My 4 year old daughter is in the Head Start / Preschool program at Everett and I am extremely…read morepleased with their care for my daughter. She comes home every day from school telling me all the new things that she learned including her alphabet, counting, sing-along songs, writing skills etc. She is always excited to go to school, and is well monitored while there with multiple teachers supervising in the classroom at all times. You can tell the teachers have a passion for children and genuinely love their job. They have flexible hours that you can adjust to fit your work or school schedule. They offer full day school and extended hours which is difficult to find for toddlers. There IS a waiting list, but it is well worth the wait! I highly recommend the program

My nephews go to this school its right around the corner from us and so far its been good.(3years…read moreand counting) We are enrolling our daughter this year and I'm excited for her. We had an option to enroll her at GVA with her other cousins but so far my sis- in - law has had some issues with them nothing major but enough for me not to feel comfortable with. When my nephews first got here (Everett elementary)they were behind in school due to my sister not taking them in Lodi, that's when we became legal guardians and enrolled them here, right away the teachers were very helpful and did everything they could to help one of my nephews catch up they split him in k/1st grade it was a lot for him but the teachers worked very hard for him. I now have two happy healthy boys and I thank the twins Ms. Vaughn and Ms. Vaughn for helping my nephew get through this rough patch.

My son was a kindergartner at Woodrow this past year, and I have filed an administrative complaint…read moreagainst the principal JOANNA O'BRIEN and am in the process of transferring him to a new school for first grade. I didn't know what to expect for the first year that my son is in school, but I have had an awful and truly unacceptable experience at Woodrow. I saw one review claiming that Woodrow doesn't notify parents when their child is hurt at school, and I can corroborate that claim with my own experiences. One day, my son came home and told me that another child had choked him at recess. I know that adults were present and aware of what happened because my son told me that an adult talked to the child who choked him afterward; but I was never notified about it. Another day, my son came home with a black eye after another child had accidentally kicked him in the face at recess (he was walking too close to the swing set); and again, I was never notified about it. I was only told what happened when I took my son into the office and wanted answers. My son could have been seriously hurt in both of these situations, and not only was I not notified about them; but my son didn't receive any medical attention! Unfortunately, this is not the worst of my experience with Woodrow. One day, I received a phone call from Woodrow that my son had had an accident and was in the office. I went to the school, and when I got there; I asked my son what happened. He told me that he had asked his teacher to use the bathroom, and she asked him if he could "hold it". He told her that he couldn't; and she said, "I think you can," and then he wet his pants. My son was embarrassed and upset. I complained to a woman in the office, and she said that she would "let someone know". It was obvious that she had no intention of doing that, however; considering that she didn't even bother to ask who had denied my son the right to use the bathroom, even after he had told his teacher that he couldn't "hold it". I asked her, "Don't you want to know the teacher's name?" and she said, "Oh yeah," as if it was an after thought. Her indifference and lack of action made it VERY clear that Woodrow does NOTHING to keep students safe or to hold staff members accountable for incompetence or misconduct. Again, it gets WORSE! For context - Parents can drop off afternoon kindergartners as early as 10:20 am, but the bell doesn't ring until 10:27 am; so drop off time for afternoon kindergartners is between 10:20 am and 10:27 am. For the first half of the school year, I dropped my son off at 10:20 every day. One day, I had to be at work early; so I dropped my son off at 10:19, and I instructed him to sit in the office until 10:20. There were other kindergartners and their parents gathered outside the school, and I saw my son's teacher walking toward them to unlock the gate for them and let them in. I waited until my son was inside the office, and I left. After school when I picked up my son, I was reprimanded by his teacher for dropping him off 60 SECONDS early. I was told that I left him "unsupervised", despite the fact that there were kindergartners, their parents, and office staff (who he was directly supervised by for the entirety of the 60 seconds that he waited) present. After that day, I changed my work availability so that I had more time in between dropping my son off at school and work; and I started dropping him off by 10:27 every day. Unfortunately, dropping my son off by 10:27 also seemed to be a problem for his teacher, who regularly passive-aggressively projected her frustrations onto my six year old. My son told me that his teacher (the same teacher who reprimanded me for dropping him off early) made MULTIPLE statements to him over the course of the second half of the school year along the lines of, "You need to tell your mom to be on time," etc. To clarify, 10:27 IS ON TIME; and regardless, talking badly to a six year old about his parent(s) is inappropriate and unacceptable. What's even more inappropriate and unacceptable, however; is that on April 1st, my son came home and told me that his teacher had given everyone in his class "pop it" bracelets except him. When he asked his teacher, "What about me?" she responded that the bracelets "are for kids who are on time," THIS IS NOT OKAY! This behavior indicates low emotional intelligence at the LEAST and is very concerning. Dysfunctional adults are in no position to be in the presence of, much less to be responsible for children. That being said, I'll move on to the straw that broke the camel's back. I'll post the rest of my experience in pictures since I've exceeded the text limit.

Woodrow is a very inviting and wonderful school. Teachers and staff are very helpful. Dr. O'Brien…read moredoes an exceptional job as principal and school leader.

Love Freedom! We have been there for 16 years. Great staff. Great kids. I have had amazing help…read morewith special needs kids. I would highly recommend.

The teachers seem great and quite good at what they are doing. The principal, Mrs Garza however…read moreneeds to be reevaluated. Not caring about parental concerns

I do not recommend this school! Its all good until your child needs help or if a troubled child is…read morein your class..... If your child is behind or struggling, no help... just excuses... If another child that is troubled in your child's class they will not do anything... they can curse, throw things, talk inappropriate, but just send them to the "connecting room". I know many parents who took their kids out of this school and I'm thinking of doing the same. Very disappointed.

I recognize this will probably be brushed aside as another concerned parent, over reaching to be…read moreheard. But I feel my recent experience isn't an isolated case. In Modesto, educational options are limited. You often have to choose between overcrowded public classrooms or high-tuition private schools. On the surface, GVA (Great Valley Academy) seems like the perfect middle ground: a non-tuition public school with smaller classes and a focus on 'the whole child.' I attended the orientations and understood their pillars, but I was never informed that my child would be graded on her character on a numerical scale. There is a massive disconnect between encouraging 'character development' and issuing a formal report card that scrutinizes who a child is as a person. It is heartbreaking to receive a document that feels more like a subjective pronouncement on my child's personality than an academic evaluation. While I am thankful my child is too young to understand this level of scrutiny, the precedent it sets is alarming. Furthermore, the front administration's response to parental concerns is disappointing. If you disagree with a policy or wish to opt your child out of an assessment you feel is detrimental, the standard response is effectively, 'You can go to a different school.' While technically true, this 'take it or leave it' attitude is a failure of leadership. It treats parents as obstacles rather than partners. In the real world, performance is measured by output, reliability, and conduct. It is never measured by a superior's personal interpretation of your 'spirit'--especially when that superior isn't held to the same standard. Parents deserve a choice in how their children are evaluated without being told to simply leave if they ask for professional transparency.