Washington Elementary School

801 Howard Avenue

School District

Burlingame Elementary
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

School Map for Burlingame Elementary 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 December 18, 2024

Absolutely regrets moving my child there, every single day u get emails asking for money, for donation. It’s non stop. Communication with that principal is 0. She’s bias, rude and does nothing to prevent bullying, unless she likes the kid or parentes because they donate. It’s just another stuck up school with ENTITLEMENT parents and staff. Can’t wait for the school year to finish and remove my kid.
Submitted by parent on December 12, 2024

Exceptional environment for children. There is also a robust parent community support network to plug into. High-quality teachers, facilities, and a great community.
Submitted by parent on October 08, 2024

Excellent school with young faculty, affluent/diverse community
Submitted by other on January 24, 2024

Teachers are super nice they also help and their secretary is super super nice!
Submitted by parent on June 19, 2023

My experience at this school is that the teachers are excellent and go above and beyond. The parent community is welcoming and organizes fun family events, and the students are pretty well behaved compared to similar aged kids at other schools we've attended. There is a lot of parent involvement and volunteering. Excellent opportunities for outside of the classroom learning experiences. Affordable onsite morning and aftercare. Our family is really happy at Washington Elm. Looking forward to 2023-2024 school year.
Submitted by parent on March 12, 2021

This school community is one in a million. Washington has an extremely active and inclusive parents, who have remained committed to supporting the school and each other through the pandemic and distance learning. Fun events like bingo nights, the annual Spaghetti Feed, and the Book Fair have gone virtual, and parent volunteers even helped to coordinate regular covid testing available at the school to keep us healthy and safe in the shift to hybrid learning.All of the teachers we’ve had at Washington have gone above and beyond to support my kids. They recognize individual needs and strengths and meet each student where they are. Principal Coleman is a super star creative problem solver, and the whole team is continually working to improve teaching and learning at the school.The school’s culture and approach is very positive and teaches kids the Wildcat Way... solving problems, making good decisions, showing respect, etc. Students are recognized for acts showing the Wildcat Way at every assembly and they all truly get excited for each other and celebrate.
Submitted by parent on February 06, 2020

We are very happy to see and experience such a strong community involvement and visible school leadership with a passion for students and teaching.
Submitted by parent on November 22, 2019

Washington is an excellent environment for learning and building friendships and community.
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2018

I send my child to private math instruction because there is no opportunity for acceleration at Washington (Swun Mathis a joke), even though we have pushed for this. We also invest heavily in reading at home because the classwork in language arts is designed for grade level without flexibility for achievers. I would not characterize books in the classroom as things I want my child reading, or things that will grow vocabulary. My biggest complaint is that the only ability to customize the experience seems to be for kids who are not at grade level, which makes parents like us feel that we (and the school) are failing our child.The parents and community are the reasons to love Washington. The school has a small cachement area, almost everyone walks and knows each other, no crazy carpool line, friendly faces everywhere, easy to get your neighhbor to walk your kid home in a pinch. PTA is super well funded, plenty of cash for field trips, ipads, playground equipment, etc. BCE covers art, music, etc - all of the bells and whistles are available. Parents step up on EVERYTHING and take on a lot, Dad’s Club is unique and puts on cookouts, a camp out, a Father-Daughter Dance... the non-academic aspects are fabulous.Hoping new leadership in Fall 2018 brings a breath of fresh air on the academics to help these students soar.
Submitted by parent on May 17, 2018

The parent Community is amazing and is one of the reasons why we stay.
Submitted by parent on March 16, 2015

I think the hype about Burlingame having top rated schools is a misnomer. I believe it's something that is generated to keep the home prices high. The education is average. The math is laughable even with the change to Swun Math from Everyday Math (which was even worse!) If your child is good at math there is absolutely no room to advance a grade. It takes my child literally 1 minute to do the math homework, yet he is not allowed to advance to something more challenging. I've been frustrated and discouraged by the lack of understanding from the teachers. The community at Washington is what makes this school special. The parent involvement is incredible Some of the staff is very caring and involved, but other teachers yell at the children in class regularly. The school has had iPads available for the children since the beginning of the year, but they weren't used in our classroom until the end of February! Last year the kids didn't get into the computer lab until the year was almost over. Not all the schools in the district are like this, some are better than others. If this is one of the best school districts around then I wonder what the supposedly lesser districts are like!
Submitted by parent on February 03, 2015

If i can give this school 0 stars I would. The undereducated teachers YELL at children to sit down, take a knee and STOP TALKING during end of recess. I am horrified to have heard this and witnessed it myself. If i could fire the teachers that I have seen personally yell at children like they are dogs I would. I have been tempted to record this, post it online so that other parents may see this. How do these adults feel better about themselves yelling at children not to talk??? Thats what children do, you rude demons. The principle seems to be oblivious to all of this or chooses to be just as cruel to the children. If this does not stop I will personally start recording and posting online the way the children are being yelled at and mistreated by staff. Think about this parents is this the type of person you would want as your nanny???
Submitted by parent on February 02, 2015

Washington is an amazing school--from great teachers to huge community involvement to wonderful extra curricular enrichment offerings. Washington produces avid learners, great readers and responsible citizens. From the father/daughter dance to the science fair to the great art program to band to just everyday classes, I feel my kids are getting the best education around!
Submitted by parent on April 11, 2013

Washington Elementary school is an outstanding school for our child. The Principal responds to incidents with results. The Teachers/Staff listen to the needs of the Students and partner with Parents to achieve the greatest education for each child's learning capability. The Parents are dedicated to the success of not only their child but, the whole school to better the community. The Burlingame community is one of the most outstanding communities in the Bay Area. Rich in culture, children/families from over 20+ countries, Washington Elementary is supported by an outstanding Superintendent and Burlingame School District. The business community of Burlingame takes a responsibility in the education of Burlingame youth and Burlingame sports. I am proud to be living in the Burlingame/Hillsborough community for over 20 years.
Submitted by parent on November 30, 2012

Our child is getting a good education here and loves the school and her teachers but I wonder if she could do better elsewhere. The administration is terrible at communication with divorced families. They claim their system only allows them to send info to 1 parent so notices and results about advanced testing, tardiness, etc. only get sent to 1 home. It would be very nice if the parents could share the info but the sad reality of divorce is that it's rarely amicable, and the information is used as a weapon.The school is clueless, even after conversations with the principal. The calendar on the website has not been updated yet this year and the school directory came home to parents in late Nov! Until last week we weren't even on the e-mail list so we had no clue about school events and happenings. This is a great community and if it weren't for the parents working so hard at fund raising, volunteering and oversight I shudder think what the experience here would be. There also seems to be a lot of rule setting based on the behavior of a few bad kids, why does everyone have to suffer, can't you discipline the offenders instead of treating the entire student body as a whole?
Submitted by parent on September 28, 2012

Washington is a fantastic school with an amazing community. We have had exceptionally strong teachers who really care about the children. The principal is great too, very involved, knows all the kids by name. There is lots of parent involvement, a one of a kind dads' club and best of all my kids are happy and learning.
Submitted by parent on August 26, 2012

This is an ok school but because of the area, most are very stuck up. My child was in this school for two years and had a decent if best educational experience. The teaching staff is hands off unless its about something your kid has done wrong-very little mention if the child has done something right. The teachers really only care about state test scores and teach around that. I think they all (including most parents) think this a hillsborough school which it clearly isn't. After school care is very good and pricing is good. Overall, its better than most san mateo schools but keep your eye on you child's progress.
Submitted by parent on July 17, 2011

Washington Elementary has a great principal and strong community. The teachers are very experienced. My four children have all had a positive experience at Washington.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2010

Extremely weak leadership. The school is saved by the great works of the parents.
Submitted by parent on March 06, 2010

Washinton is a great school. There is a great community feel here. Good teachers, a pretty nice group of kids, and some very involed parents make Washington a very special place. If your lucky enough to live in this area, dont send your kids to private. Let them go to school with the great kids that live right next to them.