White Rock Elementary School

9229 Chiswell Road

School District

Richardson Independent
Grade

PK, K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Richardson 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 June 29, 2024

Great school with engaged teachers and staff.
Submitted by parent on November 02, 2023

WRE is an aesthetically pleasing school that continues to squeak by on it’s past excellent reputation. Dig deeper you will find average (at best) academics, teachers that openly cater to students of the Principals favorite parents, problematic administrative leadership, and the most attention seeking and atrocious parent community. Parents here make the day-to-day volunteering and donating miserable and the overall parental school experience insufferable for the silent majority. Academically - when you look at the testing data and control for economic status, parent education, and race - there is nothing at all to differentiate this school from any other public school in the district or the state. Do not move to the neighborhood for WRE, as so many do (self included), you’ll find yourself disappointed and considering private school.
Submitted by other on April 24, 2023

AMAAAAAAAAAAAAZIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG SCHOOL!!!!!!! They made learning so super fun. It was so sad when I had to graduate great school
Submitted by parent on August 11, 2021

We love WRE. I wish it were more diverse and smaller, but these are the only drawbacks of the school to me. The principal is amazing and really cares about the school and the children there. They have quality teachers, there is a lot of parent involvement, and I love that I can walk with my kids to school every morning. The school is the center of our neighborhood and we love seeing friends at the playground on the weekends. The building lets in a lot of natural light, which is very important for productivity/happiness and creates a wonderful learning environment.
Submitted by parent on November 12, 2019

So far it has been excellent. The leadership and teachers do a good job of communicating with parents.
Submitted by parent on January 07, 2019

WRE was a great experience for both my children.
Submitted by parent on December 07, 2017

The school is large but it does not feel large. The kids all get to know each other and care for each other. The teachers are very good and care for the kids. The neighborhood feel is wonderful. It is a throwback to a small town neighborhood school. Academics are very good and the kids are well prepared for middle school. This is a very good school.
Submitted by parent on October 11, 2017

Prepare for your child to be ostracized, overlooked, lost in the shuffle, and generally left out. Everyone seems to ignore terrible behavior from the "cool kids," and bullying runs rampant. You just have to have the right parents and nobody cares. If you don't find your way into one of the parent cliques (How much do you LOVE youth sports? Did you go to Baylor?), you won't fit in at WRE. Like to party? The PTA auction is for you, as are basically all of the Dad's Club events, as are all parties sold at the auction. Want activities for your child? Good luck. The school had ZERO extracurricular activities until the 2016-17 school year, and still has almost none, and the ones it has are limited availability. It's shocking that a school with such a great reputation does so little for its kids. Have a child with a learning disability? Save the effort and go private, RISD doesn't care. Pros: Lots of parental involvement. High income parents mean kids who are prepared for school and do well on standardized tests. Parents of kids with learning disabilities largely go private due to lack of support and this keeps the test scores up. Cons: Because it used to be a good school, and because test scores are high, people keep coming, and coming, and coming. The school is already too big but they're expanding the school by about 1/3 to hold well over 1000 kids. Advice if you want to go to an RISD school: Get into Moss Haven before it gets huge and becomes WRE 2.0, or go to Lake Highlands or Merriman Park, which have more diverse populations.
Submitted by parent on June 30, 2014

Pros: Lovely neighborhood feel, strong community spirit and support. There are many volunteers involved with the school. Many families walk to/from school. Staff greets everyone as they arrive each morning. Teachers are superb, they care deeply for the children. Cons: Class sizes are large. Cafeteria is small, so lunch starts early (10:45am) and it is short (15-20 min) before kids are ushered away to the Walk and Talk program to make room for the next group of kids. School is currently undergoing construction to build much needed new classrooms and enlarge the gym. New technology is being added as well. Overall, I highly recommend this school! Also, median home cost is inaccurate. The majority of homes in this neighborhood sell for $400k and higher. There are a couple of apartment complexes that feed into this school as well. The school is made up of majority well-educated, professional families where education is top priority for their children. However, families are also down-to-earth and the neighborhood has a "small town" feel. White Rock Elementary is the heart of the neighborhood, sports practices, carnivals, community events, parties are all held here.
Submitted by parent on March 05, 2013

One word to describe the tone of the school and the administration : Dismissive! And if you don't fit into thier box forget about this school ...it's not for thinking parents or children!