Robert E. Willett Elementary School

1207 Sycamore Lane

School District

Davis Joint Unified
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

School Map for Davis Joint 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 February 08, 2024

This is an incredible school! It truly celebrates diversity (my kids are friends with kids from all over the world thanks to the university's international program), staff are friendly and dedicated, students are supportive and kind! It is exactly the right amount of rigor coupled with an eye to social emotional learning.We have a dedicated art and music program, excellent reading and resource specialists, incredible inclusion, and a fabulous credentialed librarian who also coached robotics.It is exactly the sort of school you'd hope for in a progressive, university town.
Submitted by teacher on September 02, 2023

The school staff here have a long way to go when it comes to implementing and understanding MTSS, RTI, and UDL. It is a very challenging place to work as a specialist. The site admin has poor communication .
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2022

Fabulous school with lots of staff involvement and so many wonderful extracurricular activities for students! There is a lot of focus on making learning relevant and engaging!
Submitted by parent on July 23, 2019

Both of our children have thrived at Willett. While scores are not the be all and end all of a school in this case the scores show the dedication the teachers, paraprofessionals and staff commitment to student growth, development and academics.
Submitted by parent on January 28, 2019

This school has it all, starting with it’s location next to a large park, two therapy dogs on campus (plus Willett cat), office staff that is on top of things, AIM program, numerous after school activities including Robotics and my favorite-mindfulness training that is integrated into classroom teachings. Keep it up Willett!!
Submitted by parent on July 10, 2017

I am a bit shocked by the poor reviews listed below. Both of my children have attended Willett. Our family has been there for almost eight years. The principal knows every kid by name and is a warm, kind and strong leader. The teachers, especially the 6th grade cohort, are amazing. They've begun incorporating a growth mindset approach to their teaching and curriculum. As far as the community is concerned, you are going to have good years and bad years at any school--but that mirrors life. Some teachers will be a good fit, others won't. Just like bosses and colleagues. When my kids need additional help with friendships, academics or student/teacher relationship management, I have found the administration to be highly responsive to working towards a fair solution. I would definitely recommend this school and community.
Submitted by parent on June 10, 2016

No idea how this Willett got this rating. It was a wasted year for my child, with lots of regrets. There is a very poor classroom management by 6th grade teachers, very little concern with empowering the children and respecting each childs personality (test scores, homework scores are not enough), your child cannot be shy, is expected to fit with their parameters. Not a lot of focus on teaching and making each child grow.
Submitted by parent on August 27, 2015

Beware of this rating, I'm not sure how Willett achieved it. Coupled with a chaotic learning environment, the lack of care and follow-up with behavioral dynamics in the classroom made for a wasted year of education. Davis schools are heavily impacted and the deputy superintendent was unable to move our kids to our home neighborhood school, so we had to move away to find a better learning environment for them. After my wife and I made this decision, we learned that many other families have had to make a similar choice. My kids are now in a school in Marin that is orders of magnitude better in academic quality and fosters a safe learning environment from the outset. Do not expect a rating of 9 or 10 in Davis to compare well with similarly rated schools in other parts of the state. I was sadly disappointed.
Submitted by parent on August 29, 2013

My wife and I were nervous when we read the review about difficulty moving into the school. The good news, is that it seems to be an isolated experience - ours is wonderful! Both our children entered school (1st and 4th grades) and it took no time for them to find their groove amongst the students. They were laughing and playing in mere days and both teachers were very warm and inviting. The community is also highly social and supportive with many folks clearly becoming fast friends with us after a few short days. We can't report on academics yet - we're only a few days into school at this writing - but socially, we've both felt very welcomed by the other parents and its supporting the strength of our decision to move to Davis (from SF) as well as to choose Willett as our children's educational provider. BIG thumbs us from us!
Submitted by other on July 29, 2013

Willett is a great school with amazing teachers and a great learning atmosphere. Discipline is perfectly exercised and the learning process is fast and wonderful
Submitted by other on January 03, 2012

This was a great school to go to. I attended from kindergarten all through sixth grade and all of my best memories come from the hallways at this school. I began kindergarten as a child who did not know a word of english and this school has helped me grow in more ways than I can imagine. Fourth grade was by far my favorite in terms of my teacher amd academics. However, sixth grade was bad in terms of my teacher. She was mean, did not know how to treat sixth graders and all my friends in the other sixth grade classes were so grateful they did not have her. Once she told me that if I laughed the way I did in junior high, I wouldn't have any friends. What kind of teacher tells that to their student who's already anxious enough of moving up to a new school? Despite having her as a teacher, I loved sixth grade because of the kids that were in my class who I still talk to. Overall, Willett iswonderful, with it's unique gardening programs which I also loved. One bad teacher couldn't rain on my parade!
Submitted by parent on September 18, 2011

This is probably one of the worst schools for a new student to transfer into. My daughter had a horrible experience at this school for the one year she was there. Not only were the students not accepting of a new student, but the teacher s as well. The teacher s actually seemed to play favorites with the kids that had been at the school for years. My daughter did not feel welcome at all. Now that she is at a different school I am finding out that she did not learn anything in her math class and is now a year behind. I think the math class was absolutely the worst. I would never recommend anyone send their child to this school.
Submitted by other on June 09, 2011

the science teachers were so nice! and really friendly they all were always calm and listened to what you said they are some of the best teachers in the school by far!
Submitted by parent on June 01, 2011

My child was in this school from 2006-2008 and although overall I found it an amazing and wonderful school there is a teacher who uses humiliation as a tool for second graders. Even after several years to gain some perspective I find that I am still horrified that she is teaching. This woman seems to hate boys and if you have a child in a class that has suddenly become unhappy I suggest you look into the incidents carefully. She is damaging to children and should not be teaching school.
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2010

This school is a wonderful school. When my child attended, gardening was a favorite subject and the kids learned amazing things!I do have to mention that one of the teachers of the second grade really seems to hate boys and should not be teaching. Many of you who have children at this school know who I am talking about. Thankfully, my child did not have to be in that teachers class room. I felt horrible for the ones who were. Come on principal do something about this! It can really be damaging.