Rio Vista Elementary School

13590 Havasu Road

School District

Apple Valley Unified
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:24
Type

public

School Map for Apple Valley Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on February 05, 2023

I’m so disappointed in Rio Vista. I’ve had my son enrolled at this school since kindergarten and he is now in second grade. Every year he is moved around to 2 different teachers because the classrooms are overpopulated with 2 grade level of kids. For example… First grade teacher has half a classroom with kindergartners and the other half is first graders. That also happened the beginning of his second grade year. Of course, no one communicates to let us parents know what’s going on, just “oh Johnny or Susie are going to Mrs. So and So’s class now, 3 weeks after school started.” There’s teachers here who don’t care if your child is progressing and then there are teachers who aren’t helping your child progress but will tell you that your child has fallen behind. How are we supposed to know if you don’t guide us or tell us as soon as you notice a problem. Why wait until the school year is almost over? The principal has a nonchalant attitude about everything and don’t ask for her to review camera footage if there was an issue on the playground, because she will most certainly tell you she won’t be doing it. I’m so disappointed in this school. My son has started to hate going to school and is only in second grade. He cries because he thinks his teacher doesn’t like him and says he feels dumb. My heart hurts for any other kids that feel like this and I will definitely be pulling my child from Rio Vista.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2022

My daughter is finishing up her second year at school here.. first year was Pre K, this year Kindergarten. We have had a overall great experience with the school, even though we haven't 100% agreed with some of the pandemic restrictions, and masks. Parking and dropoff/pickup can be difficult, however worth it. Beyond those disagreements, we still feel at peace with our kids attending Rio Vista. The teachers have been hands on and dedicated, and the administration has show care and consideration with any issues (large and small) we have talked through. As a local Realtor who purchased my own residence intentionally to be inside of Apple Valley School District/ Rio Vista/ Sitting Bull, I will continue to highly recommend Rio Vista Elementary to all my clients with children.
Submitted by other on January 25, 2022

The safety of the kids is not the top priority. The rocks are dangerous and have caused 2 injuries because of it. Police report filed. Still found large rocks every now and then. They said that was taken care of! How could a rock incident happen 2 times?! That is unacceptable. There has also been other incidents here involving the suspicion of a pocketknife. This school didn't really seem safe at all with those incidents happening like that. This is a mediocre school but the safety of the students has really gone downhill.
Submitted by parent on December 04, 2021

My child was not safe here. Within four years he was injured by another child (two different children, two different principals) throwing rocks. The first incident involved a bloody lip, the second time was an injury that involved two staples on the scalp. How could this happen two separate times? This is negligence on the part of Rio VIsta for lack of appropriate supervision and discipline. The first time this happened, the teachers (1st grade) were actually supposed to be watching the students run laps, yet somehow, a child was randomly throwing rocks and my son got injured. The culprit was never caught or disciplined. The second time this happened was on a lunch recess, and where were the proctors? The kid who threw the rocks was not even suspended or disciplined. Rio Vista has lax supervision and discipline. I had to call the campus police for a proper investigation because I was told nothing. An injury involving blood and staples is serious and unacceptable, especially if this happened once before. I also had to contact the district to investigate how children were getting ahold of large rocks that could be thrown and hurt other children. Only after that, did risk management walk the school grounds to look for the source of these rocks that kids at Rio Vista could randomly throw at others, without impunity and supervision. Even after they looked for large rocks, my son and I were still randomly finding large rocks around campus. There is a law that implies that when children are left at school, their safety is to be ensured "en loco parentis", so the school is in charge of their safety while they are on campus. Yet, these incidents occurred multiple times and their was a lack of adult supervision. When my son was enrolled, this school had a rating of nine, when he left it was a five.
Submitted by parent on November 23, 2019

0 is the one i want to give. I wrote this review because I want them to get better. There is no way that i can point out who so for the sake of other good teachers , sorry that I don't like this school and I write this review after my kid's out of that school because i do not want them to mean to my kid. Hope parents can know and think twice after seeing my review.
Submitted by parent on September 09, 2019

I'm leaving the area because of this school. It's now a Title I school, and although there's more money as a result, you'd never know it. Everything is horrible about this school. It's tiny and was never meant to support 1000+ kids. The kids go on 1 field trip per year. Most parents can't go. No PTA, limited parent volunteers. The events put on by the boosters are just... poor. No school talent show. No school music program. No sports, no anything. This school may have been good in the past. No longer.
Submitted by parent on February 09, 2016

Very dedicated staff!! There are alot of parent volunteers at this school too which most are helping in a positive way. I noticed some of them though can bring in lots of drama, probably like the person below who left negative feedback about this school. Fortunately, many of those drama parents have left, so yay for Rio Vista!!
Submitted by other on November 24, 2014

I was a parent there. We left that area because of that school. It is the worst school any of my children attend. If you love your children you will check out EVERYTHING about Rio Vista. It is not a school that cares about the welfare and safety of children.
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2014

i love Rio Vista and it's a great for you and they have great teachers and they help my student out with math and now she loves math.
Submitted by parent on April 22, 2014

Love this school! Teachers are very competent and provide wonderful direction for students. My kids have received a great education.
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2014

I wrote a review on 11/19/2013 saying how much I really wished all 3 of my boys were back at Rio! Happy to say, they're going back! Seriously parents, if you're thinking of taking your children to any other school in this HD, please, take it from me, I strongly suggest you don't. For parents looking for a great school, and by that, I don't just mean academically, a school with awesome teachers, a wonderful principal, friendly staff, involved parents, and terrific kids, Rio Vista is your school! Rio Vista is by far the greatest school in the HD!
Submitted by parent on November 14, 2013

Rio Vista is the best school in the desert by far! To the parent complaining about kinder homework, I believe my children's success in kinder was not from homework, but from review of sight words from flash cards, which were given to us by the teacher,as well as reading nightly with them. We counted everywhere and sang their shape songs with them, which they learned in school. We also worked together on their theme projects, which were assigned by the kinder teachers and put into a beautiful memory book, also by the kinder teachers.The teachers at Rio do an amazing job! We as parents need to support them by making sure we're working as hard at home with our children as they do with them at school.
Submitted by parent on November 11, 2013

And btw, I strongly believe that the kinder teachers can step it up a notch. By this time they should all ready know how to read. That is something I expect coming out of kinder. Homework also shoul be assigned even though if it's just tracing it teaches the kids structure. I remember complaining in my children's previous school for giving them a 30 page packet for the week but know I see how my daughters excelled because of it. I'm nervous and feel like my son is being cheated because of the fact that they don't give the kinder kids hw!
Submitted by parent on October 18, 2013

I LOVE this school. I don't agree at all with the other review about bullying at Rio vista. All 3 of my children attend school here, and I volunteer 3 days a week, so I am on campus ALL of the time. The kids, teachers, and principal are wonderful! There are a couple of teachers that should retire because they are clearly burnt out, but you will get that at any school. Overall, this is an amazing school and I'm happy to be a part of it!
Submitted by parent on September 26, 2013

Our child just started Kindergarden and we have all had a wonderful experience! Our child is so eager to go to school, he loves his teacher and is doing much better than we expected. We are very happy with the interaction we have had with the teachers we have met. We are grateful for our experience.
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2013

We had a horrible experience at this school and in dealing with the Apple Valley Unified School District. My child was bullied for 18 months straght and not one staff member seemed to notice or care. In addition to this, my daughter was physically pushed by the proctor who still remains employed at the school to this day. If you care for your children, you will place them at another school within a different school district.
Submitted by parent on April 25, 2012

Since I have sent my 3 children to Rio Vista the wake up every morning eagerly want to go to school. Their attitudes when they get home are uplifting and have so much to say about their classmates and what they have learned that day. The encouragement from the priciple and teachers is a wonderful approach to pushing the children to succeed. 5 Stars from me ...Way to go Rio Vista Elementary school.