Incredible school grounds! We fell in love walking around during our first visit. They have farm…read moreanimals that live there! The children get to interact with the animals and learn about them during animal care. The outdoor education program is our favorite too (one of the main reasons we wanted our child to attend). My son absolutely adores all his teachers from his classroom (shout out to Mr. Jerry and Ms. Amanda!) including "the farmer" Ms.Chellas and outdoor ed teacher Mr. Alex. They are so kind and knowledgeable. Everyone is Montessori certified and the staff is all amazing. They truly care for the overall wellbeing of your children! We've attended the early childhood program and summer camp. Highly recommend both!

My child transitioned from a local public into the lower elementary classroom. He couldn't be…read morehappier. They take academic rigor very seriously, while also allowing the students time and space to process and learn. He loves it! Lots of outside time in nature. The school does an excellent job fostering the natural creativity, curiosity, and enthusiasm in children as part of each child's learning journey.

Terrible school system. Teachers teach to state minimum standards. So long as teachers have a…read morespecific percentage that pass the class quarterly they could care less about those left behind. It is rare to have found teachers that have compassion towards their job. Just like any other job those new in the field get so beaten down by the pointless burroccratic rules that they too after a few yrs become miserable husks of individuals. The renton school district leaves a ton of kids behind and they could care less. If you average c's or b's in this school system you'll pretty much end up struggling your whole working career because you did not gain enough smarts to go onto the more advanced jobs. Please consider college after high school. It opens up a whole new academia world and teaches you skills that you other wise would not of gained. Working with a high school degree can only get you so far in life. If you find a trade or field you are like really good in then you can go far. Do not feel sorry for your bullies. Just because you get the short end of the stick in your youth will mean if they continue that path they will get the short stick of the path in their adult hood. I keep crossing paths with many of my once upon a time bullies and: They struggle keeping employment, end up getting addicted to drugs that destroy their life, bounce from one relationship to another, have poor financial skills and often end up homeless alot. Don't feel sorry for your bullies. This is their path if they continue it. I keep crossing paths with one lady who is an absolute drunk and could care less about personal hygiene so she's sweaty and frumpy half the time. The other half of the time she can't even talk without spitting. I attended renton school district in my academic yrs and despised it. The only fun part of the school system was elementary school. Kids can be cruel and even cruller if you are low functioning, have any sort of physical visual disability or impairment be it visual or not. Kids are not held accountable for their actions and system fails to properly discipline those that deserve it. Middle school was so cruel to me that I blocked it for most of my life and can't even remember it. High school was okay but I felt abandoned in my studies. When I got to college I realized how little I really knew. I hate to say it but the school system needs to start teaching tolerance classes to society. Not just the you have a physical disability. It goes for everything else too: glbt group, being obese, nationality background, physical impairment.... If the state taught tolerance classes to kids these days I think society would be less arrogant and belittling towards these groups. I got beaten up a lot in middle school because of my disability being very noticeable. It got so bad my parents were considering home schooling. The school agreed to suspend the kids for 2 weeks assaulting me. Sorry but that's just a slap on the wrist. The kids parents didn't even take it seriously. If it were not for my parents assisting me in my academic studies I would of failed school or averaged c's and b's most of my life. I hate to say it but kids these days have too much of a controlled environment. I had food allergies growing up and knew not to eat this or that or be extra careful if I saw a kid eating a pbj sandwich. Kids these days are so damn clueless. No they have to have helicopter state parenting because the parents can't teach them these basic life skills. I work retail and have tweens entering the work force and have absolutely zero clue how to manage their food allergies because of this controlled environment. By 4th grade I knew which foods were a no-no. And I was low functioning more so then than as an adult. Math. I hate to say it but the school needs to teach all math levels to everyone. I am currently tackling the math program in college (later in life) and I'm finding just how much the renton school district screwed my math academia. Stop separating kids from "normal" level math into "advanced" math. There is zero reason for this b.s. Anyone can learn math. I hate to say it but Please teach kids cursive. Since when did the school system decide cursive was obsolete. B.s. You still need to teach it to kids these days as they will not be able to read important documents such as our founding father's documents. It is still vital. I can not tell you how frustrating it is to know how to write cursive at work and companies are considering people being cursive illiterate a disability. B.s. it's not. It's you dumbing down society.

There is an alternative school housed in the bldg I know this b/c the Renton Worksource employee…read moretold me. I was going to the Worksource when a student whom I did not know was a high school student attempted to approach me. At the time I was smoking a cigarette. There needs to be in place a separate space for the alternative school kids the minor alternative school kids. There were at least over a dozen kids standing around a make shift awning smoking. It doesn't make for a great impression. These kids should not be in close proximity to the adults it just didn't seem too appropriate & I didn't feel comfortable.

My baby attended Circle Time from October to June, and we had such a great experience, the only…read morereason we left was moving to Puyallup. Everyone there was so great with my baby. Miss Misha, the infant room teacher, is so kind and helpful. She spent months helping my baby learn to roll over. Every day we dropped her off, my baby was all smiles to see her friends and teachers. I cannot recommend them enough.

My kids and I honestly love Circle Time! The only reason they no longer go there is because my work…read morehours exceed the time they are open and they are closed on Saturdays. If I could, I would transfer my kids back as soon as possible. The staff there have been nothing but amazing. They treat my kids like they were their own. My kids are pretty shy when it comes to strangers and don't like anyone. But they love them there. I still use them as my temporary care for when my kids' current daycare is closed for holidays and such. Lyn, Shelley and Amanda are so kind and patient. They are the ONLY daycare my kids have ever been to that isn't in home and it's because I trust them 100%!

As a former family of this Catholic K-8 school community, I was disappointed by the way graduation…read morecelebrations were handled. The decision-making process appeared to favor certain groups within the parish, leaving some students and families feeling excluded and undervalued. My concern is not with celebrating any culture or heritage, which can be a wonderful part of a school community. Rather, it is whether all students were treated equally and given the same respect regardless of their ethnic background. When school leaders and board members make decisions that appear to benefit one group more than others, it can create a perception of bias and division. Future students and families should pay attention to how decisions are made, whether all voices are heard, and whether the school's actions reflect its stated values of inclusion, fairness, and respect for every child.

Awful school. Hoffman is the worst; a very uncaring teacher and unnecessarily mean. Admin is…read moreterrible as well. They will always back the teacher even if there's no valid reasoning behind it. Also lied to us in terms of how communicative they'd be about issues that arise, and the principal basically admitted that the staff had given me inconsistent info because they should've "communicated with each other ahead of time and worked on their communication" before talking to the parent. Basically, getting their lies together straight so that they can back each other up instead of being honest with what's really going on!

The teachers here are so loving and kind! As a 5th grade student, they do everything to make out…read moregraduation the best day of our lives. This school is great for your education, the teachers here solves problems if you need help with anything. We do spirit weeks! Leadership is a great influence if you wanna show the kindergartners how to behave as they move on in life, I love this school with all my heart. My 5th Grade teacher is Ms. Kawachi, she is the best teacher i could ever ask for. Show her some love if your moving onto 5th grade, also Ms. Kawachi is possibly getting a new job at McKnight! And, please show some love to Ms. Lauritsen, she's moving to a different school since she lives in Tacoma now :(. Ms. Wesley is a Kindergartener teacher in 2023, she allows 5th graders to help in her classroom, she's very sweet ! I have so much passion with many teachers and I wish Elementary school is never over. Now that i'm moving on to middle school, im going miss everybody and everyone at this school. Being an influence is a huge part of me, we're the oldest in the school. But It's time I go to middle school. Goodbye, I will miss everybody here. Enjoy your stay at Honey Dew Elementary ! :) - Sincerely, A 5th Grader.

My son attended their extended day Pre-K program this year and just graduated this week. It was…read moresuch an amazing experience! He learned so much and gained so many skills. The teachers are fantastic and I always felt comfortable leaving him in their hands. They have an indoor play room with large toys and a nice outdoor play set with a fence. No matter the weather they are able to get their energy out. We'll miss Highlands Preschool and we'll definitely bring our other children here in the future!

The staff at Highlands Preschool is phenomenal. My daughter's teacher has been working for 16 years…read moreand had her own daughter go to Highlands Preschool. The school has been around for 70 years and for good reason! There is so much love and care. Every time I drop off my child, I know this is a place of love, safety, and intentionality. Every classroom is different and caters to students as a whole and individually. My child was one of the oldest kids and the teacher taught her leadership skills, and helpfulness with younger children. I loved the way the teacher helped my daughter solve problems. Whenever there was a small issue, it never felt like a big deal because it was solved in the classroom, and my child felt empowered to learn how to solve her own problems in a loving way. I would recommend Highlands Preschool to all families!