Barnes Elementary School

13730 Southwest Walker Road

School District

Beaverton 48j
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Beaverton School District 48j

GreatSchools Rating

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 23, 2024

My daughter is in Kindergarten and is being bullied and harassed by a boy in her class. I transferred to this school less than 2 months ago becuase she wanted to learn Spanish. In 2 months time she has been punched, shoved, had her hair pulled and now been CHOKED by this kid. I'm LIVID. I've met with the school principal and the teacher at the same time. I've had an hour long phone conversation with the principal. The school is absolutely enabling this kid and his bad behavior. At 5 pm today I received an email that my daughter was absent today. My daughter was in school today. This kid pulled her hair today. The principal loves to boast about the great job he's doing and how his "approach" is so successful. Not so successful when kids in your care are repeatedly getting hurt. Principal is just as responsible as the child at this point for neglecting to take action or remove the other child so he stops targeting my daughter. If you want your child to be bullied and punched, learning words like "f you", flipped off and CHOKED send your baby here. Removing my daughter from this school immediately due to safety concerns. They don't even know who's in attendance? Unreal.
Submitted by other on November 22, 2017

Honestly, I don't even know what to say about this school. Every person I've talked to, including my parents, said that this school is terrible. Now that I'm in middle school, I honestly have no opinion. But, my sister, who's in 5th grade, and has been going to this school since Kindergarten, said that she basically hates the school; this school's way of dealing with bullying is considerably questionable. My other sister, who went to this school from Kindergarten to the beginning of 3rd grade, and who has a learning disability, had to move to a better school that could actually teach her. In conclusion, this school just needs to build it's kindness and respect. I wish I could give pointers, but I honestly can't. All I can say is good luck to all future generations that enter this school; you'll need it.
Submitted by parent on September 21, 2017

The teachers and staff at this school had it out for my son, whom has special needs. They dealt with his behavioral problems with discipline, telling me they had to treat him as they do with every other kid. All kids aren't the same, especially if they have special needs. The principle said she needed to send a message to the other children via my son. He was shafted and now hates school due to the way he was treated.
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2014

We have been at Barnes for 6 yrs in the English classes. My kids are thriving. Barnes has INCREDIBLE teachers and staff, they care and work hard with what they've got (ie. budget cuts/large classrooms). The thing to ask yourself if you want to send your kids to Barnes is, are you comfortable with different races, socio-economic backgrounds, and exposing your children to diversity? Barnes is full of diversity (Spanish, Somalian, Russian,...). All school meetings are 100% bilingual (Spanish). There is a strong two way immersion program (Spanish). There is a large percentage of low income working class families. The school district works hard to make educations at the different elementary schools equal but know that expensive extracurricular activities do not happen without additional fundraising by the parent board (ie. outdoor school).
Submitted by parent on May 17, 2014

I have had my kid's in Barnes since my daughter started kindergarten and now is in 3rd grade. My son is in 1st grade this year has been nothing but a problem because my son is a special need's child. I would not recommend this school for anything, especially if you have a special need's child. The principle is all about the Hispanic children which is not right, ever child is important not matter what race they are.
Submitted by parent on March 13, 2014

Both of my children are in the Two Way Immersion (TWI) program, both started in kindergarten and are currently in 1st and 2nd grade. We speak English at home and I am very impressed at the amount of Spanish that they are learning. I feel that it is a very positive thing to learn a second language at such an early age. For the most part I have been impressed and pleased with the teachers and staff and what they accomplish despite the minimal parental support. I am an active volunteer at Barnes and there seems to be a small core group of us considering the size of the school, that said, it is easy to understand why the teachers and staff are so welcoming and appreciative of volunteers. Overall I am very happy with our experience at Barnes.
Submitted by parent on March 31, 2013

Our oldest is in the TWI program and finally enjoys going to school. The staff has been excellent, very involved and hands on. There are some after school options but could be more. Our youngest will be starting the TWI in the fall and can't wait. This school is a much better fit than the last school attended.
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2012

Both of my children are attending Barnes and I couldn't ask for a better school. The teachers, staff and principle are outstanding. Given all of the budget cuts they have had to endure they are still able to deliver quality education by the best means possible. The parent involvement has increased since my oldest first started attending, but I wish it was more.
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2011

Unless your child is lucky enough to enter in Kindergarten and be accepted to the two way immersion program the education is at a very low level. In my child's case most of the classrom was at least 80 % hispanic speakers made it hard for a english speaking child to make friends and learn at the level my child should have been at. The class was seperated into hispanic and english speaking children. My child had to leave class and go to another class for reading and vocabulary. This made it hard for me as a parent to have to navigate through two teachers and very intimidating to express differences of opinion. As for parent nights everything in spanish and then parts explained in english. As far as the first day of school, welcome to ...well could not tell you it was all in spanish and fend for yourself if you didnt know any spanish. Lunch starts around 9:50am and it is like a military op. My childs teachers both years has had to pack up the classroom and say good bye. The classroom starts dissapearing two weeks before school even ends. As for the Teachers they all care but due to the overcrowding everything is in a rush.. I wish english was something to be proud of!
Submitted by parent on May 31, 2011

I was disappointed at how this school handled my son's behavior problems and special ed needs. The part-time school psychologist was useless, the principal kept handling problem as disciplinary instead of providing the special ed services he needed -- she seemed clueless. I did like the teacher and other staff there, but not a good place if your child needs extra help. I really wanted to stay local in our home school but learned the hard way that other elementary schools in Beaverton offer a much better choice -- my son is now much happier in another Beaverton school.
Submitted by parent on April 01, 2011

Principal and most of the staff are trying their best. Some teachers are wonderful, but some Spanish Immersion teachers undermine and dismiss native English speakers, regardless of other talents kids have. My son has learned quite a bit of Spanish over the years, but his self-confidence as a learner is at zero.