This school failed us big time. My daughter went there last year, for about 3/4th of the year before we moved.
The school initially advertised that they were going to be in North or South Des Moines and they were going to do home visits. We then decided to send our daughter there. When they found an old rundown school, it was nowhere near where they initially claimed it was going to be. South Seattle is not part of Des Moines. We were not sure if the distance from our home to this school was worth taking our daughter there. However we said let's give it a try since the bus route seemed fine.
Guess what? They eliminated the farthest south stop, 5 miles from the next one - with traffic this added 20 minutes each way, 4 times per day. This is what they sent: "We heard you! And Harlow's heard us! Bus Routes have been updated to include more stops." They did it at literally the last second - a few days before school started. I tried to talk to anyone that was in charge and they were extremely unhelpful. The principal said she couldn't do anything and that I should call the bus service myself. This school does not care about following through their promises either. Many times we drove there a few minutes before the bus was supposed to take off only to find out it left already. When you say 7:55 pick up then stick to it, don't just leave at 7:45 assuming that everyone dropped off their kids.
By the way, there was no home visit either. Most parents I talked to were not happy with how the school was operating and a lot of parents withdrew their kids' enrollment. The school principal thought they will have so many students that they they will be doing a lottery. Nope that did not happen either. There was a sign by the school door when I was picking up my daughter on her last day "Help us find new students or 5th graders" (something like that.)
Math teacher Morgan Krieger was so unhelpful I thought my daughter was just not good at math. Now at her new school her GPA is at 3.75 and constantly improving (Math is now her strongest subject).
We decided to move to TX for better education and the schools are superior here compared to most schools in WA state. My daughter was depressed and always angry while attending Rainier Prep but now she is doing great. The charter school my daughter is attending in the Dallas area is like a private college and the teachers are hands on. I feel like going back to school now, the opportunities are endless.
And also Rainier Prep uses kids to clean up the tables with bleach and I noticed some of my daughter's clothes were ruined. I asked her and she was hesitant to tell me what happened, I knew it was bleach so finally I got it out of her. I asked the school and her teacher Alie Ibarra why they are using kids to clean the tables especially with bleach, her response was we don't do that anymore. I later found out a couple of kids thought it was funny to spray each other with bleach. I know there is not really many great options when it comes to school in the South Seattle area but this school was not our answer either. I see it more now after moving here. read more