Linwood E. Howe Elementary School

4100 Irving Place

School District

Culver City Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Culver City 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 January 27, 2025

Lin Howe is such a special elementary school. We've been a part of the Lin Howe community for 7 years - our oldest was there from Kinder to 5th and our youngest will be there for a couple more years. Lin Howe is truly a hidden gem and we could not be happier that it's where our children will receive their elementary school education. The Principal, Assistant Principal and administrative staff are truly the best. The teachers are all truly wonderful - really care about the students and are fabulous teachers. Our oldest was really prepared for middle school because of his Lin Howe education. The parent community is engaged and welcoming. There are many family events throughout the year and parents really roll up their sleeves to help in any way they can. I could not recommend Lin Howe more highly!
Submitted by parent on January 15, 2025

Lin Howe has a great community of educators and staff that know all the children's names and care deeply about the safety and development of every child. I could not recommend this school more for its efforts of inclusion and depth of care and education. There is also a great community feel and support from the parents and guardians at the school.
Submitted by parent on January 07, 2025

We have had the most wonderful experience at Lin Howe. Our son has been in the school for the past 5 years and has loved each year more than the last. The school feels very much like a neighborhood school with a close tight knit community. The teachers, staff and principals are incredibly engaging and go above and beyond. There are tons of opportunities for parents to be involved in the classrooms, on campus or on different PTA committees. They host lots of events throughout the year from movie nights to schools dances. Its a very nurturing and caring environment, I truly cant say enough great things about this gem of a school.
Submitted by parent on February 14, 2024

*just a note* - I can't directly comment on the "Special Education" of it because my child is not in that program. It's noting though, kids with disabilities are mixed in among kids without. I think it's a wonderful way for both types of kids to be around each other and teaches empathy, so I did give a full 5 starsMy child has been at Lin Howe starting at Pre-K (OCD program) and is now in Kindergarten, so please know that's where my perspective is. This is has been a wonderful school experience for us so far. The communication between the admin and my kid's teacher has been great, seeing how involved Principal Chebola is in the day to day has been impressive and my kid is thriving socially and academically. It's possible my review could change over time but for now, I'm very happy with this school.
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2023

The teacher can make the difference. We had the best experience in 4th grade with an educator that went above and beyond. This year we have a teacher who utilizes punishment systems such as recess reduction time for minor infractions like forgetting a progress report. While recess times in California are not mandated, pediatricians, social workers, and early childhood advocates all agree that punishments are not effective for learning and recess should never be used in this manner. It didn’t help that the principal did not seem concerned or even interested in addressing the practice and in fact defended the right of the teacher to do so. I also feel he does not advocate for the needs of the LGBTQ students when issues surrounding that were brought to his attention.It makes me sick as a parent and teacher for over 10 years that this kind of stuff goes on when there are a multitude of healthy alternative strategies.
Submitted by parent on December 06, 2022

My children have been at this school for over a year, and I could not be happier with the high level of instructions they are getting at school and the exemplary teachers! Very kind, thoughtful and talented staff. My kids are engaged, learning and growing, without being too pressured or overwhelmed by too much homework. Mr Chabola is a one in a million principal! He goes above and beyond for this school. They seem willing to listen to the parents concerns and make an effort to maintain a strong community. A shout out to the special Ed staff. I have observed interactions with teachers and special Ed students that show deep empathy and care for the students. Very impressive work. Great job Lin Howe!
Submitted by parent on December 07, 2018

This school, from the principal to the families, has exceeded our expectations. I think it is underrated, but probably because the students who are learning English aren't doing as well on tests as other students it is ranked lower than it seems like it should be.
Submitted by parent on October 29, 2017

The staff is neither experienced nor effective at helping kids with disabilities succeed educationally or integrate with the general population at school.
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2017

Parent community is wonderful. Every great thing is parent-driven. Every day PE and heavy emphasis on art, theatre and dance from strong, local, corporate support - kids love it all. If you choose to enroll your child here, be prepared to volunteer in and out of the classroom, and to donate money. Ethnic, racial and income diversity is great. Wonderful environment for secular families. Average learners or disabled students thrive here. After 2 years, we are moving to a district with stronger academics and framework of challenging high-achieving students.
Submitted by parent on February 13, 2017

We feel very fortunate to be part of this wonderful school. We started our child in K this year and are so happy with our choice. I moved here a few years ago and was told that Farragut was the "only" school to consider in Culver City, but I didn't like the extreme helicopter-parent vibe there nor its lack of racial or economic diversity (even though my family is white). Lin Howe is much more down to earth, with a focus on educating the whole child and fostering a sense of community. The K teachers are caring, close-knit, and work together as a team. They give the students choice time for playing in the afternoons -- so important for young kids to make friends and have fun at school and not have it be all about academics and learning at such a young age! And I love that they get recess and PE *every single day* to let their bodies run and move and get strong. The academics are rigorous for this age but the teachers are very supportive of different learning styles and are good at making suggestions on different ways to reinforce reading and math concepts at home. The after-school Cornucopia program has tons of interesting classes and activities for the kids at a relatively low cost. High level of parent involvement. Tons of all-school activities and family fun nights. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2017

This school has exceeded my expectations for for TK student last year and K this year. Everyone is so nice and the parent involvement is out of this world!
Submitted by parent on June 02, 2016

This school is just phenomenal! Our experience with the dedicated teachers, staff and principal, as well as the super engaged parent community has just been incredible. We are so lucky to go here.
Submitted by parent on May 08, 2016

We moved to Culver City 2 years ago. We left what we thought was an exceptional school in Scottsdale, AZ. We worked with a local realtor who told us the only school we should consider was Farragut. We heard this from several people. We decided to look at several schools here. We decided to go with Linwood E Howe based on our tour experience at the school. This school, and more importantly, the Principal, teachers and parent community all make this a wonderful place for our daughter. The teachers care and communicate daily. Our daughter experienced a challenging situation when we first started. The teachers and Principal worked with us to have the kids resolve this issue together. . They are all close friends now and I believe they all learned how to resolve conflict together. The parents are very involved. The class sizes are 20-21 kids per class...even in higher grades. In Arizona we had 30 plus kids per class. Very diverse student body. Our daughter thrives at school and wants to go to school. Very experienced and talented teachers. PTA and Boosters are very active and fund Aides for all classrooms, art, science, Spanish program before school three times week, assemblies, amazing field trips and 5th graders even go to 3 day overnight Science camp. Free family fun nights so everyone can participate, movie night, fall festival, gingerbread house night where each family gets a free gingerbread house kit, magician night, talent show and so much more. We feel so fortunate to be part of this amazing school. We even delayed our move to Hawaii this summer so our daughter can attend this school for 5th grade. Please stop a parent or teacher if you visit this school as we did. This is what sold us on this school when we visited. School was just awarded the Gold Ribbon Schools designation....only school in Culver City to achieve this. We met with committee when they visited as did so many other parents and it is so nice to see this little school in the heart of downtown Culver City be recognized for everything the school does for our kids.
Submitted by parent on November 18, 2015

My daughter has been at Lin Howe for the past 3 years. We've been pleasantly surprised by how nurturing and involved the teachers and parents are. There is a strong sense of community which better enables our children to be well-rounded human beings. It's elementary school... expecting the education to get your kid into an Ivy League is ridiculous [response to the bad review]. At this age group, teaching our children to be decent people is more important than anything else.
Submitted by parent on August 22, 2014

My child finished k at Lin Howe last year. It was my child s first year at the school, and we all had a great experience. She learned a lot, had a wonderful teacher, and made some really nice friends among her classmates. It s our neighborhood school, and I was so glad she could walk to school, especially since she seemed to meet friends along the way quite frequently each week. Part of what I enjoyed a great deal was the community. The other parents were very warm, friendly, open, and not dismissive of parents who weren t able to volunteer during school hours. The teachers were very nice, and it seems like a well-run institution though of course much bigger than our preschool (so that was a little bit of an adjustment for me). We also had a good experience with the supplemental lessons as well as the great morning care / aftercare program offered by the Office of Child Development. Not a "holding tank" at all - the teachers worked out all kind of activities for the kids throughout the year.
Submitted by parent on July 30, 2014

Linwood Howe and all of the schools in Culver City have an excellent reputation--but, perhaps that set my expectations too high. The focus at Lin Howe seems more on the appearance of education rather than a holistic education that develops the strengths of individual students. This manifested itself in multiple ways. First, the principal always referred to herself by her title "Dr." which seemed somewhat off-putting. Her demeanor only underlined this. As a parent, I felt as if nothing I said or thought about my child's education mattered because I was not the expert. The teachers who pursued advanced degrees *during* the school year were praised. How can you successfully educate the individual students in your classroom when you're busy obtaining your own education? Finally, the emphasis on conforming to state standards seemed to come at the expense of working with the various learning styles and strengths of each student. Perhaps that is just what I should expect in the public school, but it was disappointing to experience at such a well-regarded school.
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2014

I love this school. The teachers are nurturing and really work with the children to ensure they are thriving in the classroom. I had my reservations about the current principal when she started as the former principal was excellent. Needless to say, this principal has been great as well, she is not as warm and nurturing as the former, but she is responsive to our concerns. Parent involvement is HUGE here. The PTA and boosters are very active and do a great job at fundraising.
Submitted by parent on April 01, 2014

The dedicated teachers and active families who volunteer and raise money for the school are the reasons why LinHowe has been a good experience for us. We have not been impressed with the current principal and her leadership. She has been on the job for over a year so one expects her to experience a learning curve. However, she is not on site a lot of times maybe because of ongoing training. She is pleasant enough but not warm and approachable. Without being specific to a couple of situations we encountered with her, she is very good at citing policy and not really trying to address a parent s concern. So while she has responded to our particular situation, her response and actions seem more reactionary to justify herself rather than fix the problem. My impression on her administrative and leadership skills leads me to believe that being principal of an elementary school is not her long-term plans. It s unfortunate, because she has a great opportunity to collaborate with the parents, and inspire and motivate her staff with true leadership. LinHowe will continue to be a good school because of the teachers and parents' support but it could be so much better with a good principal.
Submitted by parent on March 19, 2013

Linwood Howe is a great neighborhood school, but not average. First thing that springs to mind is COMMUNITY. This school has a tight knit community of families, who not only care about the school and the education their kids are receiving, but they care for each other s kids. We watch out for each other. On any given day, you can see most of the neighborhood kids and parents walking or biking to school together. To sum it up in only a paragraph is hard. The teachers at our school are phenomenal. Our programs include, art outreach, edible garden and nutrition, Green Team, Math Olympiads, the list goes on. The parents and staff at our school go beyond what's required to make sure our kids are supported in the classroom and after school through the programs offered at our school. It's truly a unique and special community here at Linwood Howe.
Submitted by parent on March 12, 2013

This school has been remarkable for both my children. It's only our first year, but so far we are beyond impressed. The individualized attention that each of my children receives is almost indescribable. Especially my older child who needs some help in the classroom. His teacher communicates with us constantly about his progress and makes us feel like he's her only student. I know for a fact that this is not at the expense of the other students because every parent in my class says the same thing. My other child needs no help in the classroom but in fact needs more challenge. Her teacher rises to the occasion. The school is in no way perfect and I'd love to change a few things. But for being a neighborhood public school, we almost feel like our kids are getting a private school education. And it's full of really great families who are genuine, involved, down to earth and caring. The diversity is impressive too - not just ethnic and socioeconomic but international - a really pleasant bonus.