Horizons Elementary School

1700 Forest Lake Drive

School District

Polk
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

public

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 18, 2025

Excellent school, my daughter loves it and is always happy to attend. They are concerned about keeping parents informed about their children's progress. The teachers are excellent.
Submitted by parent on December 10, 2024

This has to be the worse school in Polk County from the teachers to the administration.
Submitted by parent on October 02, 2024

I am writing to express my profound disappointment with the way my 6-year-old son, who has speech delays and hearing issues, was treated by the staff at this school. My son, who loves to play pretend, was acting as a magician and said, “my hand is gone” during class. Unfortunately, this innocent statement was misinterpreted by his teacher as a threat, and rather than understanding the situation, the teacher reported my son to the police. This was a terrifying and unnecessary escalation that could have been avoided with proper awareness and support.As a parent, I am deeply aware of the need for safety and vigilance in schools, especially in today’s world. However, how can we feel safe when schools like this one act out of fear and project that fear onto children? Instead of fostering a supportive environment, this school has demonstrated a complete lack of understanding and care for children with special needs.My son has documented hearing issues, and his doctors and teachers are fully aware of his challenges. Yet, despite this knowledge, the school has ignored his needs. When he needed help the most, rather than offering support, they called the police. What’s more disturbing is that the teacher who made this assumption, along with the involved staff, never apologized for the misunderstanding or the trauma they caused my son and our family. They have shown no remorse or care for the lasting emotional damage their actions have caused.As a result of this incident and the school’s consistent disregard for my son’s well-being, I have made the difficult decision to homeschool him. No parent should have to pull their child from school because they cannot trust the environment to be safe and supportive. This experience has left us with a deep sense of betrayal, and I urge other parents of children with special needs to be cautious when considering this school. A school should never work out of fear but should instead focus on understanding, inclusion, and nurturing every child.
Submitted by parent on August 05, 2024

Enrolled my two children here last year (2023-2024) into Kindergarten and 5th grade. I gave this school the benefit of the doubt despite the bad reviews, talk from other parents and even warnings from faculty that worked there. They proved themselves to be exactly what their reputation coincides. This school is basic as they come; no sports, no events, no concerts/shows, no book fairs, no science fairs, no field trips, no dances, no projects, no field days, etc. My children, along with many others, sat at their desks 8 hours a day on tablets or doing worksheets. Besides the lack of engagement between the school and the students, bullying between students and the faculty and students was evident on multiple occasions. Join the Horizon Elementary parents Facebook group for accurate reviews and read the trauma stories of what goes on in that school. After 4 months, I pulled my children out of there.
Submitted by parent on May 28, 2024

I had my oldest study there from 2nd to 6th grade and I absolutely loved everything about it, teachers are great, communication is great, safety is a priority… just love it, my youngest will be attending soon.
Submitted by other on April 18, 2023

It’s a super good school and i think it is under rated.
Submitted by parent on March 30, 2023

Honestly bro stay away this school straight sucks
Submitted by parent on November 16, 2022

After attending last year, I decided to enroll my daughter in a charter school nearby. I figured she’d have more activities, better environment and not that I had any problems at Horizons. To be honest, I figured it’d be a better opportunity for her.Today was her first day back at Horizons. She was so excited to go back, so happy this morning. When I picked her up she told me all about her day, she was so happy. It’s an excellent school.
Submitted by parent on April 22, 2022

Do not send your child to this school! There is little communication from teachers and its so unprofessional that the teacher speak badly about administration to the kids. I moved to Davenport and unfortunately due to timing could not apply to other schools. There is a lot of bullying in the school and kids are not held accountable for it. There have been many instances where teachers outright ignore kids that are being bullied. The curriculum is not challenging, at all. It’s just a sad sad school! Car line is ridiculous!!! You will have to wait at-least an 1 hour to pick up your kid, no extracurricular activities, no parent conferences, no “real” homework. It’s just awful! Period! I am so happy my child is going to another school next year!
Submitted by parent on November 10, 2021

EXCELLENT SCHOOL. My sons are very happy and love going to school
Submitted by parent on March 22, 2021

It seems Ike this school prioritize the education of white students. This is a big issue, there no reason white student ranks higher, then Hispanic, and blacks falls below everyone else. This tells me there’s racially inequality, and if everyone was being treated equally there won’t be such a big gap. Seems calculated and systematic.
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2019

One of the most awful schools in Polk County. The office staff is a hit or miss. The principal only cares about her looks not about real problems happening at her school. The car pick up is atrocious! It takes a really long time to get your child in the afternoon because of how poorly thought out the car line "plan" is. When given a suggestion, they shot it down because they've "been doing this for a few years now and it works." Davenport School of the Arts line is just as long but moves very fast! Longest I'm in that line is 15 minutes AT THE BACK. Here, I have to arrive atleast an hour before school released and then have another 20-30 minute wait. They never have your child out there waiting either! The car line in the morning is a little better except if the car line is empty they still make you drive all the way around! Makes no sense at all. This school is beyond ridiculous and I'm so happy to say this will be the final year my child has to be there. Worst experience I've had!
Submitted by other on March 23, 2018

Poor quality in leadership and follow through. Bullying more rampant than parents realize. One on one experience is very limited. Poor attitude towards parental concerns.
Submitted by parent on March 22, 2018

This school needs to be completely re-staff it's office personell. They are very rude and unhelpful. And when you have a problem, there is nobody there to help resolve the issue. The teachers are awesome and really do care for the students well-being. I love them. They go above and beyond to work with parents to ensure that the children have what they need to be successful. This school just needs to be managed better.
Submitted by parent on October 06, 2017

Sad!!!!! Had problems from kindergarten and each year it gets worse.
Submitted by parent on July 04, 2017

Amazing. I cannot imagine going to another school. We go here by choice.
Submitted by parent on December 30, 2016

The teachers work hard daily to ensure that the children are getting the best quality education. Communication is terrific between my child's teacher and I, as she uses remind.com. Communication at the school could use some improvement. Overall a safe, personable, productive place for my child to get the best education.
Submitted by parent on March 11, 2015

I HATE this school!!! We recently moved from Orlando where my kids went to an "A" school. School zoning was very important to me and I did my research before deciding to buy a house. Little did I know my kids would get stuck going to this terrible school. Apparently, the waiting lists are very long for the magnet and charters schools. Geesh...I wonder why. I have to admit my kids teachers are very nice but 2 out of 3 don't even know how to hold a conference. Some of their practices are very questionable. Horizon seems like it's too busy trying to get funding than anything else. They have very little communication and never require parent help which I find quite odd. I visit my kids for lunch often and I always witness teachers literally screaming at kids. The office staff is very rude and unprofessional. Coming from a different school I know for a fact this school is not teaching at a higher level which scares me cause it's a "D". Oh I'm sorry. They may blame that on poverty.
Submitted by parent on August 17, 2013

I was pretty impressed with the teachers here. I had a second grader and a kindergartner here for the second half of last year. I think communication from the school in general could be better, but communication from the teachers was great. They worked with me and my kids to help them learn and grow as individuals! I don't like how "secure" the campus is, I can't even walk my kids to class in the mornings. I understand the need for it, I just don't like it. All in all it's a good school, there isn't a big bullying problem and my kids are learning a lot and making good friends. This year I'll have a 3rd grader, a 1st grader and a new kindergartner, and I'm proud that they are attending Horizons Elementary!
Submitted by parent on August 04, 2013

This school sucks. Its the worst school I ever seen. I have to move to a different place just to find a good school for my son because this school are so unorganized the teachers are horrible.