If I didn't (obviously) know better, I might think that Kenwood Elementary was a private school…read more The attention and love that every teacher shows the kids and the amount of involvement of the parents & families is on a scale I have never seen in an urban public school. To be fair, my comparisons are in Philadelphia and NYC but even compared to other public Minneapolis schools, Kenwood is head & shoulders above the rest! I've just returned from their annual back-to-school open house and BBQ. After the summer off, it was like a family reunion. My daughter will be starting 1st Grade and we are just thrilled. While waiting for our ride home, a dad and his son and my daughter and I were playing at the park across the street. The man told me that with the bus rezoning, his old address was no longer in the Kenwood bussing zone. So he checked out Jefferson...and then moved. To a new home, within the Kenwood bussing zone. That's how dedicated you and yours will become to this old-fashioned-in-the-right-ways and cutting-edge-in-others fabulous school. Every year they consistently score above every other school in the city- and they also take their arts education just as seriously as all the book-like studies. I once had a parent of a girl in my kid's kindergarten transfer her child to another school. When I asked why she said she thought it was "too clique-y". I highly and wholeheartedly disagree! Kenwood welcomes everyone, with open arms, regardless of ethnicity, race, religion or socio-economic circumstances. And I may be one of the few, but I do not like school uniforms and thankfully Kenwood does not use them. The one thing that kept me from giving a 5-star review are the school hours. 7:30 a.m. start time is just sooo early.......ugh! I'm editing this review as my kid is now in 5th Grade at Kenwood and I feel it's only fair to follow up in case parents of kids are considering Kenwood as an Elementary choice. Let's just say that the bloom has gone off the rose a bit since my last posting. To be fair, Kenwood and it's staff/educators are bound by the limitations that the Board of Ed put on them so I always try to keep that in mind--and because of that, and that the other complaint is actually more of a parent/neighborhood issue, I kept the stars at 4. I wound up having to hire outside tutors to supplement my daughter's education but because she is dyslexic. If your child isn't learning different, then thank your lucky stars and enjoy their curriculum (that sadly, since my last posting, is no longer geared as much towards art--they've lost their "Arts" status) but still has loads of cool things like an African drumming workshop, Taiko drumming workshop and field trips to cool places like museums and nature conservatories. The 5th Graders go on an overnight trip to Eagle Bluff which my daughter has been excited about since kindergarten. The media center uses iMacs that seem about 3 years old on average. The teachers are, for the most part, friendly and competent but sadly for you dear reader the very best, Mrs. Kohanek, retired the year after my kid had her. I'm sure you'll find your own favorite however. As for any special help your child might need, Ms. Kelly is very nice and has helped my daughter as best as she can but, we just now are only beginning to understand how the dyslexic brain "sees" and what a dyslexic student needs to thrive and, for my kid, and I feel confident in saying, any other kid, it's not Kenwood. But, to be fair, it's not any American public school that I know of. The social side of Kenwood is kind of brutal. Ironically, I mentioned in my first posting about a lady who said Kenwood was "clique-y". I didn't see it with Kindergarten. The kids didn't care who lived where or had what. The parents were all just meeting one another. It was wonderful. But by 1st Grade the lines were drawn. If you live in Kenwood, you are top tier as far as social status goes, and most of those parents are running the volunteer show--PTA., yearbook, Newsletter, helping with school plays, etc. If you're rich but live elsewhere, you're 2nd tier--of course being good looking helps too but not necessary. And the only color that matters at Kenwood is the color green. They are very "liberal". If you live outside Kenwood and aren't flaunting wealth- 2 bad. Those kids are at the bottom. You can try to volunteer, like I did, but I didn't get far. I never got replies to inquiries on times of meetings etc. Whenever I would email an exciting thing that my kid was doing (she acts in a troupe that brings awareness to homelessness) that they might want to mention in the school newsletter, I wouldn't get a reply much less get it run. A confidence boost like that would help my kid a lot. But who knows, maybe you'll get warmer neighborhood parents. I hope so.

Easy to walk to from the north loop neighborhood. I went here to vote, and it was a great…read moreexperience. The line was short, and the people running the show made for a smooth experience. Hopefully they keep this a polling place!

My daughter was bullied there for over two years.. I've been in the principals office with the…read moreprincipal and secondary principal (he's a joke I might add) at least 8 times in the last year.. I finally pulled my daughter from the school after she was beat up by 4 girls in the bathroom.. the secondary principal was not so much concerned with us after I said I was pulling her from the school NOTHING at all was done to the girls bullying her EVER!! They were right back in school the day after it happened! With no punishment at all.. and when I emailed the secondary principal asking why nothing was done he said it was none of my concern because I pulled my daughter from the school... unreal. My daughter has thrived so much sense leaving this hell school she was In hell every day at this school. We've talked to teachers, other staff, both principals the only one who seemed to care was the Secretary.. if anyone wants to say I'm making anything up or this isn't what happened I'll gladly share the emailed between me and the secondary principal and the video of these girls and my daughter in the bathroom (yes it was recorded)

Yinghua has proven that they truly care for students, staff, and more. After having my kiddos there…read morefor a couple years I noticed a huge growth in language and development. We're grateful for the strong foundation this school provides in language, character, and academics. It's a wonderful choice for families looking for a high-quality immersion education and a nurturing environment.

We absolutely love this school! Our daughter started kindergarten this year and it has been going…read moregreat! She can already sing songs, write and understand many things in mandarin! All the staff members and teachers are passionate about their students. There is also a very good community friendship with the other parents. I could go on and on but instead I will just say that if you are interested then give this place a tour and see how you like it

This year our older child has a math teacher who is new to Breck. She makes lots of mistakes in her…read moreclasses and in her handouts to students. According to my child, students feel confused in her classes. We have been talking about this from time to time. Yesterday my child showed me how her teacher failed to write down the domain of a function correctly in the exam prep material she provided...

Weird to rate a school on here. But the food I've had there is great and it's a fantastic school.read more