Patsy Sommer Elementary School

16200 Avery Ranch Boulevard

School District

Round Rock Independent
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:17
Type

public

School Map for Round Rock Independent 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 April 09, 2024

This was by far the worst school that my child has went to. We move around a lot, looking for good schools, but this one let me down. The school has crowding issues, as it is overpopulated. There is a lot of cussing here, and the teachers don't even care about it. Finally, we had to transfer to Elsa England, as this was terrible
Submitted by other on April 06, 2024

This is an amazing school that I attended for all 6 years. One of the best elementary schools in Round Rock ISD.
Submitted by parent on April 13, 2022

Great school with wonderful staff. Glad both of my kids attended Patsy sommer.
Submitted by parent on September 30, 2019

I feel blessed that my daughter attends Patsy Sommer Elem. I am grateful for the efforts by the teachers, the administrators and the parents. I believe Patsy Sommer really does work hard to teach our kids how to treat each other and also to respect the time of the teachers. Again, I feel blessed that we have the opportunity to be a part of a community where she can receive the highest level of education.
Submitted by parent on July 02, 2019

Miserable. Couldn’t wait to leave and sooooo glad we did!
Submitted by parent on September 13, 2018

Miserable. So very relieved to be gone!
Submitted by other on June 18, 2016

We love Patsy Sommer! The school is overcrowded, but it's a great show of how awesome the school is. The principal always responds to every email and the staff is very dedicated and is constantly updating curriculum. There are so many fun and creative things for the students. Fifth graders have an egg drop contest and flugtag, the choir has amazing musical productions every year. We love it here!
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2016

The school consistently hires in-experienced teachers at the lower class levels where good teachers are extremely important. The school district and principal seem to be well aware that the surrounding area is fairly well educated and the students will get good standardized test scores even if the school does not teach anything (same old story - aiming for high test scores instead of teaching) Teachers have no idea what the child is doing during recess time to get an idea of the child's social skills. The teacher turnover rate seems to be very high too. End of the year teacher requests because of learning shortcomings are ignored too. I know this review will probably ding my house price but my Childs education is more important to me than my house price. Also, there is hardly any emphasis given to math at K level. The report cards seem to be bogus and try to show bad grades in the beginning of the school year and then improving over time to show "the school improved your child". One good thing about the school is that they take parental concerns seriously and does not ignore them. But it seems they only do this to make the parents feel good. Edit: After my kid has spent 6 years at this school, I can say with confidence that this school does not deserve a ranking of more than 7. More like 6.5. The principal only seems to listen to the PTA. And the PTA is just a social club for the local ladies.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2016

This school has changed for the worst since the previous principal left. The new principal Mr. Varljen is useless and very unprofessional. She doesn't care about the social/emotional development of the children, they are mostly concerned about their ratings at the state level. If you are fine with academics and don't care about the school environment, you found the perfect school.Another bad thing it's discrimination, if your kid don't have the most impressive grades, perfect behavior and of corse if you are not a PTA member $$ your family won't be treated equally.Advice: If you are looking to buy a very expensive house just for your kids to attend this school think twice before you do that. You will find better schools across the street.
Submitted by parent on December 08, 2015

Came to this school with high expectation based on school ratings but it is an Average school. It really depends on your kids teacher at this school. Not all teachers are good and we are unlucky to have one such bad teacher. Most are asian kids attending extra math and academic classes outside school and fair well and the school gets good rating because of that.
Submitted by parent on June 26, 2015

My star rating didn't post so I am adding it here. Would give more stars if possible!!--Sommer parent from previous post 6/26/15
Submitted by other on June 07, 2015

Our daughter just completed 1st grade at Sommer. We cannot say enough wonderful things about her teacher Mrs. Satterwhite!! She always responded to our emails & questions in a timely manner and offered plenty of ideas & helpful suggestions whenever our daughter needed extra practice in a particular subject. Very proactive, prepared, FUN, enthusiastic, always encouraging, & clearly very organized. But perhaps the most impressive quality we observed in Mrs. Satterwhite was her ability to connect with our daughter & instill a genuine excitement for learning. She pours her heart into those children every day and we feel so blessed to have had her this year for first grade.
Submitted by parent on April 29, 2015

I wish there was a lower rating. A horrible school to say the very least. My child is in PPCD (Special education for 3-5 years old). The principle is useless and will sit in IEPs to take notes and never ads any value. The teachers are not trained and they never push the children to get to where they can. Speech team is horrible. I have no idea how this program is still active. Someone from RRISD needs to take some action and make real changes. IEP coordinator at the school should be fired. If you are a parent who is assessing this school for a child with special needs, my advise to you is to run away from this school. We will not keep our son here next year for sure. Well that s what they do, they push you to home school your child. Horrible horrible horrible
Submitted by parent on November 26, 2014

Patsy Sommer is an Awesome school. The parents are super engaged with the school and kids... The whole school seems like a very large but close knit family. Most teachers are good and have stayed with the school for a while, which is a great thing given the fact that several new schools have come-up and good teachers are in great demand... The 5th grade teachers do a great job of preparing kids for the Middle school... I was apprehensive how my kid would fare in the middle school, but with the prep work in elementary (thanks to the teachers), middle school has been a cakewalk for us so far. I would highly recommend this school...
Submitted by parent on September 22, 2014

I have loved every teacher that my children have had at Patsy Sommer, and Mr. Pratz did a great job. Since he left and Ms Varljen took over it has gone down hill. We have lost several teachers each year because they are not fond of her either. She always has an excuse, and nothing is ever her "fault" . The ratings will go down soon, because all she cares about are the students who are way ahead. I have both kind of students, and she has been a nightmare for the one who struggles a bit. People are talking about petitioning to get rid of her, and I will be the first to sign.
Submitted by parent on August 26, 2014

Have been very disappointed with this school and its principal. She says she has an open door, but does not listen to any of our concerns about our child. She doesn't care about any requests that are made and will do things her way regardless what is best for the child.
Submitted by parent on August 04, 2014

I personally do not agree with any of these comments. Great staff quite caring and attentive from the moment you walk in to volunteering in class plenty. I had a kinder in Mrs. Kuhn's class and a fifth grader in Mrs. Ruiz class. This school has amazing teachers who have taught my kids a tough curriculum with patience and understanding. The principal addressed an issue with a temporary substitute teacher with great attention and urgency of the matter at hand. She showed exemplary leadership and open communication. As parents, we want someone who cares about the children as much as we do as parents and Sommer has reflected that academically in 2013-2014. Great work! We did not find that in schools in Fairfax County that had reputation for being great schools but lacked in curriculum, teachers being enthusiastic and staff who seemed not to care about kids who got sick or parents who took time from their jobs to volunteer when they could.
Submitted by parent on July 21, 2014

The school is great, the principal however....... I hope some things change and they bring back the community ed after school programs, my sons really missed them. My daughter will be going in to kinder and there are not any after school activities for kinder without the community ed.
Submitted by parent on May 27, 2014

This school is awesome. My daughter is in Ms. Shreiner's class and it has been such a blessing. I was worried about her slow eating habits, but she thrived in her class academically and eating too. Ms. Shreiner stretched herself and put in a lunch award scheme that worked out really well. There is a lot of positive reinforcement and I see it is a very strong academic and extra-activity oriented school. Extremely impressed.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2014

Coming from a Montessori we knew our kindergartner was ahead of her peers in academics but maybe slacking in her social skills. This school offered us a perfect balance of academics as well as social fun for our daughter. So much so that within one month of joining this school we got admission in another very renowned academically driven school but we stayed with Patsy Sommer. Ms Dyer is very caring, fun and methodical - she has different levels of teaching within the same class. We love her!! The other teachers and staff are also very helpful and both the principal and Vice principal are very approachable and helpful too