If I could give this school a 0, I most definitely would. The Vice Principal, Kelly Lefiell & the Principal, Stephanie Romo, have not taken court documents that I have brought in seriously for my Family Matter. I have gotten Child Protective Services involved as well as Law Enforcement; even 911 to have my child interviewed for abuse by his Father. They told me they were contacting their attorney & I told them that I am self represented at this time. Pictures attached. read more

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I have four children in total at this school! All my children are very happy to attend Sycamore. I love that it's a small school so more staff have eyes on them. Teachers are great and my children feel supported. They offer many different programs such as clubs, GATE programs, sports and after school support! What works at Sycamore is their teachers and administration. In my position, positive working relationships are essential in the continuity of a young person's education. I can always count on the staff at Sycamore to act in a timely and professional manner. This year my children had some of the best teachers ( Mr. Mifflin, Ms. Baglien, Mrs. Campa, Mrs. Aguilar)! read more

Our family has been with Sycamore Academy for over 12 years now. My oldest went from 1st through 8th grade here, while my youngest began in 3rd and is now in 6th grade. One of the things I've always appreciated about this school is that even as it continues to grow, it still feels small and approachable. This type of environment makes it really easy for parents to be involved, which I truly believe plays such a HUGE role in your kid's school experience. When parents are present and engaged, you're not just supporting your kid, you're also staying in tune with what's really going on in the day to day. It helps you understand the school from the inside, NOT just from the outside looking in! The teachers, aides and staff here have always been awesome! They're supportive, empathetic and I truly feel they care about and are invested in these kids. The new principal has also done an amazing job. She was a teacher at the school for many years before being promoted to the principal role, so she really understands the values that make Sycamore special. She is a perfect mix of positivity, professionalism and a strong leadership. She is involved, approachable and always willing to help. I was both relieved and excited when I found out she was promoted into this position. Sycamore has been such an important part of our lives for many years. We will always be grateful and appreciate the care and support our kids (and us as parents) have received here. read more

We absolutely love this school. We moved our kids there during COVID (ONLY SCHOOL THAT STAYED OPEN IN PERSON!!!). Our girls love the friends they've made and adore their teacher. Academically they have improved leaps and bounds from where they were at in public school which is not just apparent in their grades but also shines through in their self-confidence and intellectual curiosity. Besides the teachers being great, the office staff are a cut above as well. The new principal Ms. R, must run a tight ship behind her friendly demeanor, and it shows. GREAT SCHOOL ALL AROUND AND HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! read more

My wife and I have had nothing but good things to say about sycamore academy. The teachers have been great with both of our students, and we feel like they have learned more at Sycamore than they would have learned at any other public school read more

im a student here and some of the staff here are mean to all the black kids in my class but the white kids get better stuff then the blacks and the teachers well some are nice but I had to help with the tk kids and the teacher was mean to the kids for some reason read more

Our experience with Sycamore Academy has by far surpassed any expectations that we had set. Not only is the classroom setting amazing, but the way that the staff treats the students is just above and beyond. The staff make it a point to get to know students and treat them with SO MUCH kindness and respect, as a parent you really cannot ask for more. Academically, I have watched my sons progress significantly this year and his confidence has soared. His teacher has been amazing with keeping contact with us and he just adores her. He's made new friends, he's excited to go to school everyday, and has had so many opportunities that he wouldn't have had at a public school. He has already created so many memories that will last a lifetime and we are so excited for his future here. We really cannot recommend this school enough! read more

For a school that advertises as all welcome they make.it hard for special needs to stay at the school.

We moved from Orange County about two years ago, and choosing the right school for our children was our top priority. Knowing that Lake Elsinore unfortunately has a reputation for struggling in education, we focused on researching public charter schools in the area. Our experience at Sycamore over the past two years has been exceptional. The small class sizes have been a huge asset, providing our kids with the personalized support they need. As a parent of two children with IEPs, I'm thrilled to see their progress. We're so happy with our decision to make Sycamore our school. Plus, having a K-8 school means I don't have to juggle multiple drop-offs, which is a huge bonus! read more

Love this school. We have been at this school for 5 years. My two daughters are in 4th and 1st grades. They have amazing teachers and the staff is on it. Proud to promote the school all the time. read more

I want to give a huge shout out to an amazing teacher, friend and essentially family at this point Mrs. Mallory Heartland!! She continues to go above and beyond for her students!! Thank you Mallory the Jasso's appreciate you greatly!!! read more

I want to give a very positive review to the three teachers that have helped my daughters grow tremendously through this last year. We thank you Ms. Wilson, Ms. Cleveland, and Ms. Baglien. You have been wonderful to my daughters and have thought them so much. We will never forget you and we appreciate all of your hard work. read more

My daughter goes to this school for two years now since she was a Kindergarten. We love this school very much. The school offers many meaningful events, small community, small class sizes and the staffs, mentors and especially the teachers are great! My daughter's teacher is amazing! She makes sure to give all her attention to focus and teach each of every student. This is the place where all students are welcome, cared for, grow and provided support for their success. We are lucky to be part of Sycamore! read more

We have ms Lundquist as our teacher and since she has been our sons teacher he has sky rocketed !!! I definitely recommend this school . They are absolutely amazing ! read more

This is my son's first year at Sycamore Academy and we are so happy he is here. The staff is friendly, the Mentors (teacher aids) are caring, and the teachers are wonderful! As a teacher myself, I expect a lot from a school, and Sycamore meets the standards that I look for. My son's teacher is just the right amount of academic and compassion combined. She is amazing! He loves going to school and I feel comfortable with him being at Sycamore Academy. I feel he is safe and cared for while not at home. He is academically supported and thriving because of it. I have been recommending Sycamore to everyone I know who is looking for a great school! read more

My nieces started at Sycamore back when it first opened and now my daughter attends TK here. It was great then and still is! I love that my daughter LOVES school. She always shares something new she learned, speaks so highly of her teacher, Ms. Anderson, and is thriving! I appreciate the consistent communication from her teacher every week and how she is greeted by name with a smile every morning, starting at drop-off. read more

My son is in kindergarten with Miss.Matheson and has just sky rocketed with this learning, she truly loves the kids and takes that extra time and effort to make sure they succeed! We love the staff, the community and all the extracurriculars they offer. We are so excited to continue our journey here for 1st grade and beyond! read more

This school was a very poor experience for our family, and we no longer attend here. My children were bullied, and we found the curriculum to be less than stellar in terms of meeting or exceeding their needs. The school itself is very small and offers little choice for students in terms of classes, clubs, sports, etc. We were also concerned about the state test scores and academic reputation of the school. I encourage all parents to review this before enrolling. I had a student there with an IEP, and found that the IEP teachers couldn't speak to my child's progress at the IEP meeting. Lastly, I found the administration to not be very present. If I entrust my children with you for school, I expect to see administrators at drop off, pick up, and for them to be accommodating to parents in terms of communication and authenticity. I found none of this at Sycamore. Parents beware. read more

As a past student who had attended this school for about 8 consecutive years, I feel I have the qualification to say that this school may just be one of the worst schools possible to send your child to. To start off I would like to confirm, more than half of the 4-5 star reviews come from staff members who are REQUIRED to leave a good review. I will be going and pointing out one by one each staff member and tell you the things they have done that truly unsettle me . This school is described as a welcoming space but not at all, first we have Karen, she is the main lunch lady who refuses to give your child food if she "suspects " they have a normal lunch, I'm sorry but the last time I checked her "suspecting " things was NOT in her job description, she will belittle your child and better yet yell at the children for forgetting a fork or a fruit , including the TK grade! Don't even get me STARTED on Kelly laffel or whatever her name is, she has not only attacked me and my friend multiple and I MEAN MULTIPLE times to the point where i feel sacred to go to school, she would constantly target me and my friend for our clothing but when somebody else wants to wear clothing 10x more inappropriate then ours, they let it slide. Kelly laffel will put on some big act with her obnoxiously squeaky voice with the parent and then her back and then practically bully your child. Although it may not be in their dress code I find it highly contradicting that she would yell and dress code girls and boys for wearing sandals or Birkenstocks while she WAS WEARING THEM. If you don't like certain topics being pushed on your child, I don't recommend letting their teacher be Rachel Baglien. She would constantly bring up LGBTQ+ topics and normalize them in a classroom setting. She also had SEVERAL tendencies of straight up bullying and humiliating your child just because she is a insecure women who clearly didn't get enough love growing up. The few teachers who actually deserve to be recognized and appreciates are completely underpaid and overlooked and treated with complete disregard. The principal would always pull my sweet teacher aside and verbally degrade and punish my teacher. The curriculum the students are given are well below what they should be capable of doing. The P.E teacher Katie Olson would physically yell in students faces , no joke in their face. She would scream at them for not knowing some stupid P.E game they put zero though into, it makes sense though, she used to be one the military or something. One time, she did that to me and no joke I could smell what she had for breakfast and I could feel her spit droplets rocketing onto my face.... So all in all you would be better off sending you child to a nursing home full of elders either amnesia to get a education and actually be a happy child. read more

POOR Leadership and poor transparency. Fails to work with parents and creates an advisaral approach to conflict when they should be working with parents. Principal thinks it's her way or highway. She claims to fight for parent choice but refuses to sit down with parents and have a constructive conversation or address real grievances. There are some good staff but many have left due to poor leadership. Enrollment numbers have dropped mid year due to many problems that are handled poorly. Spoke to many parents that left and felt they were unheard by leadership. Sad because this school used to be better. Stephanie: NOT Misinformation, Here is the response from Principal. She refused to meet with me today. She said I could wait in the lobby all day and she wouldn't meet with me. This is not how School Administrators should be behaving. I am okay with discipline. I am not okay with SELECTIVE discipline. I am not okay when there is a way to facilitate seeing video evidence (as other schools do) without violating the law but the Principal will not make the effort to by blurring out the minors. I am not okay with schools not being held accountable for their legal requirements. THE EDUCATION CODE requires this information as handed out by your staff that said just sign it. This issue was either not important enough for the Principal to make time to meet with us today OR the Principal wants to power trip and control when she is willing to meet with parents. Either way, that is POOR LEADERSHIP, and it's not doing what's best for the child. The drop in enrollment numbers speak volumes. Until there is a change in leadership, parents beware. We are NOT the only family to have problems. See all the 1 star reviews over the years about Barbara Hale. Everyone of those critiques is accurate. I have never met the lady in the past 2 yrs at the school. She is selectively present. I have never seen her at award ceremonies or special events. But she sets the culture and refuses to accept responsibility for the school failures. A GOOD leader is willing to re-exam issues and accept criticism. A GOOD leader is approachable and is willing to be accountable when there are failures. read more

Sycamore Academy - This email is the first communication I have ever had with the Principal in 2 yrs. Meeting not offered till next week. - Elementary Schools Near Me - Murrieta, California

Relaxed, calm, and loving environment for the kids. Staff and teachers are also very friendly and helpful.

So far this school has been great. Both my boys love it and are doing well socially and academically. I love that they involve parents in so many aspects of the school. The teachers there really take the time to work with all the kids at their level. read more

My daughter has been here 2 years and we love all the things this school has to offer. From snack shack to dances and field trips, they give my child an adventure all on top of a wonderful learning experience! Her teacher Mrs. Wilson is so patient and has a real way to get all of the kids to engage and learn! My husband and I love all of the opportunities to be involved and volunteer for multiple events at the school, we love being able to engage in our daughter's learning experience. read more

A nice alternative to traditional schools. A small School so everyone knows your child. They value parent involvement. read more

Great school! My daughters love it. They Love their teachers and all the staff is very attentive and great with the kids. They always have really cool events during and after school to keep the kids excited about school and parents involved. Highly recommend applying to get your kids in here if you are looking. read more

I've been struggling to even come up with the right words to describe how AWFUL this school is... so, if you like zero involvement in your kids school, this is for you! If you like non credentialed teachers teaching your kid, perfect this is the place! If you like false diagnoses placed upon your kid by said teachers, here ya go! If you like begging and pleading for any kind of communication from any staff and still not getting any, bingo! Don't want your kid to be allowed to go to the bathroom? Send them here! I urge everyone to stay far away! There are far more situations I could touch on 2 years of hell and we couldn't get out fast enough. Spare yourself and your children from this nightmare of a school. Oh and half of these 5 star reviews are left by staff some don't even have kids that attend. they just want to cover up all the terrible ones. Take the good ones lightly... read more

What a great school. My son had a wonderful experience. His teachers were very attentive. My son excelled in Math and we feel he is ready now for High school. The attention my son received gave him confidence to go forward. Thank you Sycamore Academy. read more

Fabulous teachers and staff! Absolutely wonderful and exceptional students!! I've never met such a welcoming group at any school! Can't wait to meet them all again! read more

Great experience so far! When we switched my son to this school, we switched midyear. On his second day, the staff throughout the campus were greeting him by name and making sure he felt welcome. He just completed his second year here. His teachers have been wonderful! I get lots of feedback on his graded work and via Google Docs. It's great to know where his strengths and weaknesses are so I can be involved in his education. They also update us regularly via Remind to let us know what's goin on in class and share pictures of experiments and such. Great school! read more

We have 2 boys in Sycamore. Our oldest has been at Sycamore for 4 years, and our youngest just finished kindergarten. The school and the teachers have been fantastic over the years. Kids are tough, and ours are no exception. The teachers have been very accommodating, the school is very clean, and the other families help create a great community to be a part of. read more

We have been at Sycamore since 2019 and love it! It's a smaller school and we love that the staff knows all the kids by name. They put on great events and it feels like a family. read more

As a former teacher at Sycamore Academy, I can attest to these reviews. Teachers are horribly underpaid and overworked with zero appreciation for the amount of time given or personal funds donated to make classes fun. Any teacher at this school LOVES children and education, but are misguided when hired on that they will have the freedom to teach, and are beaten down when attempting to make it better. The curriculum is poor quality, which explains the horrible test scores. When teachers spend their own funds to use better options, they are reprimanded and villainized. Report cards are misleading as grades are inflated by the system despite the many requests to change by the teaching staff. There are 23 teachers at this school, over 30 have left or dismissed over the last four years, and 4 administrators. No union can fix this school. Personally, I poured my heart and soul into this school for four years; my exit was heartbreaking but necessary. I feel for those interns and first year teachers who have taken the place of quality, credentialed, experienced teachers. Don't take my word for it - ask anyone who has left, the PTSD is real. I can only hope that families that remain will get involved and engage in their children's education to support them in their academic path - they are going to need it. read more

Sycamore Academy's curriculum and philosophy is just what I was looking for. They prioritize not just educational standards, but whole-child learning with showcases, presentation skills, and STEAM learning. I was thrilled to find they include music, artists spotlights and technique, and Rosetta Stone for second language-learning! They have after school clubs covering just about any interest, sports, and cultural clubs to learn about cultures and countries. We just participated in the science fair here, progressed to county, and had a great learning experience with the help of Sycamore mentors. The staff are diverse, helpful, and dedicated. The smaller campus for TK-8 makes it intimate and comfortable. For our experience from K-5th grade, we have absolutely loved Sycamore Academy. ​​​ read more

Terrible school, if you have a child with any sort of medical condition DON'T TAKE THEM HERE the school does not provide any time for catching up on work and relies on the children doing there work while at home sick. The teachers are very rude and often make children cry over simple mistakes. This school doesn't pay the teachers well also forces the older kids to take off their shoes and empty their backpacks to check for any drugs even though it was only one students problem. Take note that the principal runs the school how she wants to and fires the teachers who make learning fun for the children. A couple of the teachers have attitude problems or don't talk to the parents at all, most teachers just send work home and expect the parents to have a extra 4-5 hours a day to work on the Childs work which you would assume could be done at school. The children's grades have dropped a lot with their new teachers and i'm shocked this school is even still open. read more

Excellent School! We love Sycamore Academy! The teachers and staff are well educated! Their school nurse is compassionate and caring! Always making sure each student is cared for. My kiddos are challenged and have a fun learning experience! read more

This school used to be amazing, but this school year has proven just how bad it has gotten. Barbara Hale, the principal, runs this school any way she wants. Half of the teachers and one of the admins quit a few months into the school year. Ms. Hale allows bullying, vaping in the bathrooms, students to be physically assaulted, moldy food to be served, and countless other issues to run rampant at her school. Filing a complaint with "the board" is pointless because she's the executive director of the board and all complaints go to her. Such a shame that something that was once so amazing has turned into something so awful. read more

Please do not bring your child to this school. Most of the positive reviews are from several years ago OR from her literal family members or even past students with horrible spelling and grammar which is indicative of the academics at Sycamore. Barbara Hale, the "director" is more like a dictator. She does not provide acceptable curriculum to her staff and teachers that has caused students to be so incredibly low. Literally there is NO real language arts program! She will cuss and belittle her employees and students. She will then will not discipline students that behave horridly, like spit in teacher's faces, show private parts, flip off staff and students or even fist fight. But will then turn around and punish a good student for an accident or protecting themselves. She is unapproachable and makes her staff cry. She plays favorites and awards people she likes and does not support the teachers in anyway. The teachers that remain are brainwashed or too afraid to go anywhere else. When they do decide to leave amicably they are dismissed immediately and never thought of again. It's her way or the highway. Don't be fooled by the good advertising and nice looking campus. It is an inadequate and deplorable place to take your children. You will be better off going to Donald Graham or Cole Canyon. And if they are offering you a position to work there, keep looking! You will regret ever being a part of this school and Barbara Hale! Please head my warning. read more

I can't say enough good things about this school! The entire faculty is amazing! My daughter was attending another school and it was awful. There was an issue everyday! My daughter was unable to stay focused and on task because the kids at the other school were so unruly and the teachers and faculty did nothing about it. The teachers were also just there for a check and waiting to retire so they didn't care anymore. My daughter was behind and struggling. We made the switch to sycamore and now she is thriving! She went from being behind, to being ahead in almost every subject. Infact, she just received her first academic award! Her teacher (Mrs. Aguilar) is amazing! We love her so much! She goes above and beyond! There's also so many different after school programs at this school that help kids in areas they're struggling with! That was not offered at the other school. Sycamore really cares about their students and their education. I am so happy that my daughter has so many more years left at sycamore! I know she's being well taken care of everyday when she's there and that makes my mama heart so happy :-) read more

This school is horrible. Teachers are payed to treat students unfair, yell at them, take away time that they need, and much other things that I'll get into later on. I've never ever seen a school this horrible. The "5 star" reviews on this school must be from parents that don't see what's going on inside of the school. I am a former student at this school, and I'm here to tell you it's horrible. First, if you want your child to have a good education I don't recommend going here. It's behind on all education. Im I'm 7th grade learning 6th grade stuff. The P.E isn't actual P.E, you basically just get 30 minutes of play time. If you want your child to keep your their phones on them then that's no going to be possible. If you get caught with you phone in your pocket. It gets taken up to the front office and you have to turn it in everyday for however long they want you to. The staff is horrible, they might look nice when you first meet them but they are actually horrible, the people in the front office hate they're job, they do stuff half- and if you call up there for a issue or something of that sort, they talk horrible about you. There's so much cussing and hating on parents going on in that front office you wouldn't believe it. Students get treated really unfair. The special Ed kids get treated way more better, which is totally understandable but, They're so quick to say that we are all equal but the moment They do something bad they love to cover it up, but if I do something bad I go up to the office and get yelled at by 5 people. The principal/ Director is horrible, like I said in the beginning She pays her staff to treat the kids horrible. There's a teacher in 7th grade that is absolutely horrible. Chris Mifflin, he screams at his students for little things could get a easy "stop". But instead he decides to scream to at his student. There is so much other problems with this school that I can't even get into. I wish I could give this school 0 stars. I don't recommend this school for your child. Please just send them somewhere else please. read more

The more involved we got with the school, the more we were mistreated. You would think it would be the opposite, but not here. My wife dedicated hours upon hours volunteering in my daughter's class, the teacher was grateful to have her in the room, and everything seemed great. A year later, the teacher was fired for unrelated reasons, which happens all the time here, and the school basically ostracized us when we asked for a little more help for one of my children. Barbara Hale, in particular, was absolutely awful. She's the director, but she's also on the board, and since she ostensibly answers to no one, she gets away with running the school into the ground. Their enrollment is down, people are leaving all the time, and their test scores are down, yet Barbara concerns herself with fighting against teachers who want to unionize and involving herself in petty disagreements between staff. You'd have a tough time finding a more incompetent administrator because I don't believe one exists. The teachers are underpaid and underqualified because no one who's any good at teaching would work under such a monster, especially with no union protection and a despicably low salary. Furthermore, my daughter was actually punished when we reported that she was being bullied by another student. I honestly couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. Barbara insisted that there was more to the story, yet she never shared that information with us. We still don't know the other side because there probably isn't another side to the story, otherwise, why didn't they tell us? Makes no sense, right? It didn't make sense to me either. Barbara has no business working with other human beings in general, but especially not kids. It's bad. Trust me. The test scores are bad, the reviews are bad, and the school enrollment is shrinking. What more evidence do you need that this is a bad school? Avoid this place at all cost. read more