College Park Elementary School

3700 Chaparral Avenue

School District

Irvine Unified
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

School Map for Irvine 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 May 02, 2024

We love everything about College Park Elementary! Both our kids are currently enrolled and have loved going to school since day one!The staff is amazing and the infrastructure is modern and fully stacked. Do not let the outdated outside of the building fool you…. The inside has been fully renovated and has everything you can hope for. I would highly recommend this school to any new parents looking to enroll their little ones :)
Submitted by parent on December 05, 2023

I saw these negative reviews and that compelled me to write one as well. This school is fantastic in my experience. My child is currently in 1st grade, so I can only speak to two grades. The teachers genuinely care, they are worth their weight in gold. They engage with the parents and it's a two way relationship, you can't just drop them off and expect to not put in any effort to ensure your child grows. I certainly didn't know what to really teach my child other than buying respective grade workbooks, but the programs have evolved where the child will bring the workbooks home to work with the parents. Considering that everyone has so much going on in their lives, it does provide a nice system to assist our child in developing. I really thought it was a great idea to have what they call the high riser program, where a child in the upper grades is something of a big brother/sister to a child in the younger grades. I can see it made a positive impact on my child and you can see the older kids hanging with the younger kids. Nothing like this happened at all when I was younger and probably most of the current adults as well. I've had nothing but great things to say about College Park.
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2023

My family did not have a good experience at College Park Elementary. Many of the staff do not appear to be properly trained and the culture of the school does not support students' mental health and emotional well-being. The use antiquated systems for motivating and supporting the students and show no desire to change/update their programs to be more effective.
Submitted by parent on October 20, 2018

Amazing I love their techniques and interesting interactions with all the children.
Submitted by parent on February 07, 2018

A rude front office staff and principal. They set the tone for the school year, unfortunately in a terrible way. We've heard countless complaints from other parents about many difficult and rude encounters with the front office staff in the last few years.
Submitted by parent on August 30, 2016

My son started in Kindergarten at this school. After coming from a private school for the past few years, I wasn't sure how challenging the academic environment would be. Fortunately, this school has exceeded my expectations. The teachers here are wonderful in providing differentiated instruction based on the skill level of each child. They are also effective in utilizing technology and on-line resources to further enhance student learning. Communication between teachers and parents is key and we have had a positive experience with each of our son's teachers through the years.The teachers at this school truly care about the well-being of the children which is what every parent wants in their child's school. We feel very grateful to have our son at College Park.
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2014

This school used to be so wonderful. The previous principal was amazing with my children. He was so caring and understanding. The principal who came two years ago is the complete opposite. I don't know why she feels it necessary to target some students and do everything in her power to belittle and demean them. I believe she wants those students out of the school. She has done this to one of my children. It seems that she is only focused on test scores. She seems to also micromanage everything. She won't let the kids run when they are outside, and she makes them kneel on the ground when the bell rings. Who hired this person??? The other issue is the front office staff. They are extremely rude and argumentative. It's ridiculous. On a completely different note, the teachers are fabulous. I really appreciate their communication, passion for teaching, and compassion for the students. The teachers are great, but the principal needs to go.
Submitted by other on May 08, 2014

In addition to regular/mainstream classes, this school has specialized classes for students learning english. They do not have classes for Mandarin immersion, nor do they teach foreign languages.
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2014

Wonderful teachers. Front desk staff can definitely use some training for respectful interaction with parents and being helpful.
Submitted by other on January 08, 2014

I am in the 6th grade at this school. All the teachers are great, but the school's new principal who came 2 years ago basically changed everything the school offered. In awards we got pencils instead of little dog tags with the award name on it. On birthdays, we got more pencils. She even stopped people from bringing in treats for birthdays. If we did something wrong but little, we would have to have a full length conversation with her, not getting benched, recess detention outside. Otherwise this school is excellent. The curriculum is just right, the supervisors are sometimes alright, the homework isn't too much, the works of a great school. How should I know? I've been going there since kindergarten
Submitted by parent on December 13, 2013

This school is great and my son is loving the Mandarin immersion program. My only complaint is the horrible front office staff. They have messed up nearly every interaction I have ever had with them and seem fairly unhelpful in general.
Submitted by parent on June 06, 2011

This school is AMAZING. The teachers are friendly and creative. Too bad the secretaries are so mean. "Fake nice" doesn't count as helpful, welcoming, or friendly.