My son went to school at MWE, and he had a great positive experience. Not sure about all the lower ratings, but I found the teachers to be awesome, and the atmosphere pleasant. In fact, I believe the school is in fact one of the draws of living in the area if you have elementary aged children. All in all, I am happy my son went to MWE, and he loved his experience there with his teachers and friends he met there. We never had any big issues there while we were there. read more

My son has been at MWE since TK. He's had some amazing teachers and some just average teachers. But overall I can honestly say that this is a truly exceptional school. The parents are involved and they truly care - they volunteer at events, donate to the annual fundraiser (which pays for all the extras at this school that help make it so wonderful). There is a genuine sense of community here that goes a long way, and the kids can feel it too. Academically I'd say it's average, not too much homework but not soft on academics by any means. Most learning is done in classroom with light homework (mostly reviewing the days lesson) in upper grades. We've never had a bullying problem or anything that some other reviews mention. I've never doubted my son's safety at this school. He's made many wonderful friends here. We're sad to be moving on to middle school next year. We will miss you MWE!! Go Wolves! read more

It has been a disappointment. I attended this school and it was a great school. I loved my time here. Unfortunately it has changed. The bar is low for academics. I found myself, a long with other Mt Washington students, having to send my child to Mathnasium and to an English tutor. The school, the principles priorities are something else other than academics read more

Its hard to write a review on our neighborhood school that let us down time and time again. My husband and his family along with our lifelong local family friends went to Mt Washington Elementary as children. We are born and raised in this community.We only hoped our children, the next generation would have a similar positive, wholesome, kind, safe experience they did - but that was not the case- for us. The school has evolved into a very clichey white privilege under-toned environment. When my son started getting hurt, bullied, to the point of needing safety meetings put in place, we were treated as if it was our fault. This type of behavior is never okay. My son was punched, kicked, choked, called names, and even kicked in the head infront of his entire second grade class by a student who was allowed to return to the school the next day. I had to take my son to the Doctor after the incident and was told not to reach out to the parent directly. The parent never offered to pay the medical bill. Instead I was told the child who kicked mine in the head was seeking counseling. My son came home from school in tears more times that I can count. The student who kicked my son called his teacher a mother-effer infront of the entire class. A student physically pushed his teacher in the classroom. When we asked what was being done we were told actions were in place for consequences. My child received a death threat from a student (the student had to be held back as he was yelling that he was going to kill my son) and was questioned about his food choices in his lunch. He was called a murderer for eating meat by a student who happened to be eating a tuna sandwich. The Principal is the most kind and sweet and empathetic person. My child said as soon as we pulled him and his sibling from this school that he didn't fault the principal. He said he felt children never saw consequences to awful unkind bullying behavior and it just continued. He was called a cry baby, snitch, tattletale. We had to pull both kids from this school and had to put my daughter in a private school. Someone put a powdery substance in her water bottle after school which left a bitter taste. After that incident and multitude of incidents with her older sibling she did not feel safe in a public school. We were told time and time again that though the behavior of some of these students was completely and Unfathomably unacceptable that a child couldn't be denied a free public education. (when the topic of suspension or expulsion came up) but yet now we are paying for a private education due to the harm caused at this school that was never resolved. Every child is different and every situation has two sides to it. When looking at schools you want to be sure your children are safe, feel safe and sometimes on the surface in beautiful surroundings things can appear that way. It was not that way for us. My son did have a few teachers he absolutely loved and sought out when he felt unsafe and threatened. We are so grateful to those teachers. So many teachers have left the school as well as staff members. Im so glad we are now in a safe nurturing environment that does not put up with this type of behavior. When looking at other schools the first question my kids had for the administration was "how do you handle bullying " , and "will you suspend or expel kids here" My kids are now thriving and feel safe at their new schools. We have learned so much through this experience, made many friends along the way and will never forget to ask the hard questions. The questions we didn't want to ask but have to. Without a safe environment, consequences, and proper mental support for our children no extra programs, extra curriculum will ever make up or suffice. read more

I had 2 kids at this school, one for 5 years. I always knew something was off from the start but it took a while to figure it out - the whole "we are colorblind, we are all the same, we treat everyone the same" is alive and well at this school. Unfortunately however pretending race and racism doesn't exist or isn't appropriate to discuss with kids is a terrible way to run a school. There were the exceptional great teachers. My daughter's teacher was better for her than any other teacher she's ever had, but the unwillingness of some teachers and parents to confront the fact that Black kids were being called names and being treated differently, is completely unacceptable. It was not even any one incident, it was a culture, and having gone back to the school since, it was clear it is still not being addressed. read more

This is a warning to people of color to think twice before sending your kids here. There is a strong undercurrent of white privilege that dominates this school. On too many occasions my 6 year old, who was the only black kid in her class, came home with stories that raised red flags for us. We thought for a split second that maybe she was introverted, but then the "hair" incident happened. We immediately appealed the LA County Board of Education to release us from LASUD so we could put her into a Pasadena Unified School, which has a beautiful mix of students. It has been a night and day difference at her new school - Willard Elementary- where instead of being ignored, she experiences joy, happiness and confidence. read more

ZERO STARS!!!!!!! This school is so bogus. They have the principal go in to the kindergarten classes and run their "numbers" like a business, and decide which KINDERGARTENER goes on to 1st grade! Are you kidding me!? Did any of these "educators" actually study early child development?! 5-6 year olds are learning writing skills and basic math skills. To belittle children in front of them is a disgrace. If you love your child dont send them to this school. Ever. read more

A few years later and I now have two kids attending MWE. Both kids are loving school and run down to the playground every morning. Not only are my kids enjoying their fantastic teachers and. classmates but I have made some wonderful friends as well. I feel like I have a tribe. The other parents know my kids and greet them every morning with a huge smile. There is something magical and very special about this school and I feel privileged to have them here. The school is a little more traditional with expectations for behavior which I LOVE! There is homework but I use that as time to spend with my kids one on one. Their reading and writing is off the charts and now my kids will sit and read books by themselves. It's really wonderful. read more

You may be wondering, why did I give this school a one star? I'll be telling the reasons why shortly. I went to this school a few years ago and graduated 6th grade. Throughout the entire years of being at that school it was the worst experience. The school is the definition of white privilege, the parents are honestly annoying with that. I was treated differently, I still don't know why I was (I think it was because I acted like I was a special needs child at one point). I've been told that the school had racist individuals, I only think people thought this because of that one instance in which a student of color was called the N word by, I'm assuming, a white student. Besides the point, I struggled socially at that school, I basically never had friends. I was left out a lot, it effected my mental health. 6th grade was probably the worst, I believe I was depressed. I had developed a habit due to the experiences from that school and I still suffer from it. I've gotten over it a lot, but I wished I was at a better environment for my elementary school so that I would be a better person today. I still have problems socially but I'm hoping it will get better for me. The school challenges students academically a lot, it does give plenty of homework. The only credit I will give to the school is making me intelligent, as a base for greater opportunities. read more

I would give this school zero stars if I could. This school expects kinders to already knows how to write complete sentences with perfect penmanship and can color completely within the lines before they start kindergarten. Pulled my kid from the school after a few months with kinder teacher Fowler. Her classroom lacked energy and enjoyment. She expects absolute silence in her class of 5 yr olds (!), she'll gives them a long list of instructions, expects them to remember, and then scolds them for asking questions. She openly calls out kids who don't color perfectly within the lines as "scribble scrabble." The other kids then proceed to taunt these kids with that label. Furthermore, I got attacked during the outdoor assembly by a fellow parent for not saying the pledge of allegiance, which I have the right not to. He questioned my patriotism! The place is messed up. read more

Our daughter is in the kindergarten class this year after attending TK last year. She's had a great time at the school. Parents are really involved with fundraising and volunteering. read more

I know Yelp may not be the most reliable resource for school reviews, but I also know that anyone reading Yelp and seeing such a low score may be concerned about sending their child to this school. That would be an absolute shame and a colossal mistake. We started our twins at MWE earlier this year and I can wholeheartedly tell you it's the best decision we have ever made. The school is exceptional, not only in setting (which is undeniably beautiful, peaceful and safe), but also in terms of the very diverse community of parents and students who work so hard to make the elementary school experience fun, exciting and wholly inclusive. The teachers are all outstanding--both of our kids come home every day and tell us about all the new things they've learned, and we can track their progress by the fact that they are now reading and writing within just a few months of starting kindergarten. I'd say the faculty and staff also have a sense of humor which I believe to be unmatched by other schools (especially having gone through LAUSD myself). They care about teaching, they care about students learning, but they don't put a burdensome amount of pressure on students, and the style has thus far proved to be very effective. We could not be happier with the school and our kids' experience so far, and hope that any prospective parent/student tour the school and see for themselves how impressive it truly is. read more

I think that as a student here from the late 1990s to the early 2000s,this is a great place to go for elementary school for most reasons, except the teachers! I'll try to make this as brief as possible. Your kids will probably have a good elementary school experience here growing up with the teachers and kids here (even the janitors! haha). Although I remember some bad times, conflicts with other kids and being really sad sometimes, overall, it was a good memory for me. Even though there's an auditorium and intercom system that wasn't there when I attended (and no more Eagle's Nest :'( ) , it's in a good neighborhood and has great classrooms and playground. The after school area is so much fun after school! You'll remember so many great friends from there and hopefully be able to stay in touch with them after you leave. I'll admit, the apparatus sucks and is a little dangerous, but everything else is top knotch! The food they serve there is quite good too! As for the teachers, there were an equal number of good and bad ones. I'm sorry to say that the ones I had there, namely the good ones, are all gone and don't teach there anymore. :( The best experiences with the good teachers were the ones that helped me get ahead and learn well. Ms. Coburn read us a great book called "Would You Rather?" (so much fun to participate in), let us learn with a great logic machine, get me ahead in classes, let us do great projects, have fun, and even helped me later in life with getting education! Ms. Hunt and Ms. Ryan was also willing to help me learn well and get ahead! I wish I could still see them there There were three principals there when I attended, and the second one was excellent and so easy to work with! Other kids said they didn't like her, but she was great! The bad parts were probably some supervisors (a few were great, the other half of the teachers, and maybe the last principal experience and policy on lunch. One teacher pushed me classwork materials out of the way for her own stuff when I was working, wouldn't help me get ahead, couldn't understand more complex, but absolutely accurate ways of doing homework, didn't make sure there was order in the classroom, and sent me to other rooms as "punishment" even when I hadn't done anything! She also sends back homework from 4 months ago and says to review it with her. (This was on the during a new millenium, so it was homework from last millenium, LOL). When she lost homework, it wasn't graded as completed. This made me copy all my homework through high school in case this ever happened again, I'm not kidding. I was smarter than her, HAHAHAHA! Another wouldn't help me learn higher education, and more importantly, PUNISHED ME FOR DOING EXTRA WORK AHEAD OF TIME! Spelling was easy for me, so I got the work done for the week, something necessary to do by the time you get to high school! I was actually forced to erase work I already did! It was a miserable experience. The last one I'll mention was angry this teacher didn't see my pencil moving and writing. She claimed I wasn't doing my work. (Actually, I was, I was thinking at the moment. And for a 5th grader to learn algebra on their own, I don't think they'd be writing something constantly.) When I ate lunch there, the supervisors wanted us to eat the healthier parts of our meals first. It makes sense, but isn't a good idea when we have frozen juice bars or yogurt that's melting on hot days. In my last year, instead of having 40 flexible minutes of eating and playing, it was divided into 20 each. 20 minutes to eat isn't enough, especially when you're waiting in line for food. If you didn't finish, you ate with people that weren't your age and were encouraged to leave and not finish. This gets between a C- and B rating. I don't know how the place is now, but this is a review of how it was when I was there around 9 years ago when this was posted. Even though this review ended on a bad note, this is overall a great experience and a good place for your kids to go to elementary school! :D read more

Unenrolled both my kids from Mt. Washington Elementary today. It felt great to get out of that mess. The newly hired teacher went out on medical leave week 3. The newly hired long term sub couldn't effectively answer how much teaching experience she had. She verbalized to the 5/6 class that she wasn't very good in math, she named called a student, making other students around feel uncomfortable, she had tons of "support" from the other 5th grade teacher, principal, director, reps. of LAUSD...why a teacher of supposedly 15 years needs all that support is anyone's guess...my guess is she didn't know what she was doing? Shame on the principal for hiring just any teacher to fill a void. Shame on the principal for not being decent enough to call me herself to tell me that my daughter won't be moved to the other class...the principal's boss Celia Ripke who introduces herself at a very serious meeting with "Namaste." It's not a yoga class! She's a big joke too. You would think that the PTA would lend an ear/hand regarding the class/teacher situation in the 5/6 split...no! Not one PTA rep. representing at the class/LAUSD meeting in a library full of concerned parents. Beware of this school, the principal lacks innovation, effectiveness, and a positive presence at the school. The vibe of the school has gone downhill when she started a couple of years ago. read more