James E Randolph Elementary School

5303 Flewellen Oaks Lane

School District

Katy Independent
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
Type

public

School Map for Katy 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 March 02, 2023

Have 2 kids going to this elementary school and we love it. The teachers and administration make great efforts to engage positively with all children. There are many good teachers and also a GT program for students who are especially motivated and exceptional. We love this school and teachers and think its a very good school. I can imagine in this day and age, the staff has to tread a very fine line given how much pressure they get from variety of angles (parents, senior admin, politics etc) but over all they do an exceptional job. Many teachers and staff reside in the neighborhood and take interest in making sure students have an all around positive experience.
Submitted by parent on October 01, 2022

Awful experience here, so glad we moved to nearby Campbell Elementary. Bullying is allowed to go unchecked. A student threatened one of my kids and the head principal called to let us know. A few weeks later, the came child attacked another one of my children, unprovoked, hitting him several times and putting him in a headlock. I went to the school for a meeting about the second incident and, when I also brought up the first incident, they said they had no record of that happening even though the principal had personally called me. If you value your child’s safety, I would consider alternatives to this school because the admin is clearly focused on rankings and not kids.We also had a very poor experience with the special education department who routinely dropped the ball on important issues.
Submitted by parent on March 05, 2021

My sons joined JRE in the 1st and 5th grade in 2019. I was pleasantly surprised with overall friendly environment at the school. The classrooms in the 1st grade reminded me so much of Montessori school setting (We arrived from the highly acclaimed School of the Woods!). 5th grade classroom was more traditional. Both grades give students opportunities for overall class, small group and individual work. Teachers allow kids to be kids and, thus, the amount of homework is very limited. Limited homework comes home as a review and usually a week is given to complete before the due date. The teachers and the stuff are very supportive and proactive. We got all assistance we could get for my child with learning disabilities. The teachers are truly out there to help your child the best they can/ allowed by the district. At the beginning of each year the teachers get to meet and learn about a child so later thay can give the best advice/ observation possible if help needed. Email communication is the easiest though the teachers are always willing to meet in person/ via zoom call for a conference. It is our second year of in person learning at JRE and we have not experienced any bullying at school or on the bus. They actively discuss bullying in the class and the ways to prevent, step in to help others and report. Every now and then my youngest mentions that there is so and so who misbehaves in the class but it seems to be handled by the teachers and administration. When my oldest was in the 5th grade, he was welcomed by the kids and made friends with a few boys on the very first day. Teachers promote social engagement. I would say "No child left alone on the bench during recess!" PTA is super active!!! Honestly, it is nice actually to have very active parents who are willing to volunteer their personal time for the good of our kids at school. The principal seems to be very nice. She welcomed the new kids and parents for a special breakfast with her. It was lovely to introduce ourselves in person and chat casually during breakfast before school day starts. My kids surely felt special for such a welcome from the principal herself! Overall, I think JRE is a good school with opportunities for the kids to thrive and learn. It is not perfect but I give it 5 stars because of all the hard work I saw and willingness to find solutions by the school representatives (especially during the times of COVID-19 pandemic)!
Submitted by parent on July 24, 2018

This is a wonderful school. This administration deals with some tough things (parents who all work and don't care about their kids at all, bullies given everything in life they want, etc.) and I highly respect what they try to teach the kids despite this being all around them. Katy ISD cares a ton about the STAAR test and standardized testing, therefore the schools put a lot of emphasis on it as well. That being said, we've had teachers tell our kids it's just a simple test and it doesn't define them and to move on. These teachers don't like these tests anymore than we do, but that's the district not the school. Every teacher we've had has been kind and loving towards our kids. They openly engage with the parents and are easy to access via email (which is so much easier than playing phone tag with a teacher who can't access a phone all day). The people we've dealt with in SPED have been wonderful. The administration has been quick to deal with any issues we've had with bullying (which there have been several, the school is great but the neighborhood has several mean, entitled kids). Overall I think this is a wonderful school with a very active and engaged PTA, the kids have everything at their disposal (iPads galore, all the latest technologies, educational apps at home that the school provides and pays for logins), and it's in a safe area. The only negatives to this school are not about the school, but the area and district. Katy ISD is very competitive, puts a ton on emphasis on standardized tests (which I do understand since the State of Texas attaches their funding to these scores), the neighborhoods around this school and nearby are fairly affluent and the children are very entitled. I would come back to this school again if we ever moved, but would strongly consider a different district that doesn't focus so much on standardized testing and attendance.
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2018

I would never go back if they still had the leadership it does today. This school is rated way too high. I miss the Fulshear / Katy area, but this was the school was the worse thing about the area. My kid would come home and tell me about how other children would be mean to her and she would not know how to retaliate. We told her to tell the teacher, but said the teachers would never do anything. This school has their kids switch classes starting in 2nd grade. This is ridiculous, training children the ways of Middle School or High School too early. This school is focused on State Standardized testing, and will ask that your child is retained until he/she is ready to take the test. 3 years in a row we consistently has 2-3 hours of homework that was not review but more new material we had to teach our child.