Northwood Elementary School

28 Carson

School District

Irvine Unified
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:24
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 January 21, 2020

I was less than thrilled when Northwood turned out to be our neighborhood elementary school. I wanted my daughter at a level 10 school. How wrong I was! This school is a level 10 in my book. It all comes down to the teachers and other staff, and they are all 10s in my book.
Submitted by parent on September 05, 2019

Extremely terrible, principal is not very supportive and most teachers are very rude. The school is very filthy and smells very bad.
Submitted by parent on May 04, 2018

Stronger leadership in school spirit and encouragement in academic achievements shall emphasized more.
Submitted by parent on March 11, 2018

The teacher Is not really good experience for teaching ..??
Submitted by parent on December 02, 2017

Amazing teachers and staff, helped us a lot ...
Submitted by parent on November 22, 2017

Great experience with Northwood the teachers are very responsive when I have any questions or concerns.
Submitted by parent on October 04, 2017

Wonderful teachers and a great experience for my son.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2017

Great experience! We are new to Nortwhood and were welcomed immediately.
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2017

We are a new family to the states and we are beyond grateful to northwood elementry, our son loves to go to school everyday and has learn english in just a few months with the wonderful support received by the school staff. Thank you
Submitted by parent on July 01, 2014

Love this school...kids enjoy learning here and get motivations towards their goals. That's all we care as parents. In my opinion, if parents want the school to improve and have concerns. They should go directly to the principle and express their concerns with suggestions. By writing all the negative comments vaguely with the parties involved will never help in any situation.
Submitted by parent on June 30, 2014

We were in this school with the old principal and this year is my last year with the new principal. I applaused the changes to improve the school overall the new principal has put in. However, the young, new and inexperienced teachers we had last year and the year before (especially the lower grades) should be evaluated and retrained. Many of the parents I know who had kids in those grades felt some of the teachers played favoritism to students and over showering gifts to the teachers also is a big part parents experienced in this school. Not only I agree with them, I also felt the same experince especially with the couple young teachers in upper grades. These two were teaching the same grade level and barely had much classroom experience to teach our kids at this level. I believe they need to go through more teaching training, stop playing the games of favoritism and definitely quit being the apple-polishers to the principal. My thumbs up to the fifth, sixth grade veteran teachers who have been with the school all these years. They have and had been remained professionalism throughout their career all the years we were there and I am sure for the years to come too.
Submitted by parent on June 17, 2014

I love this school! They have great teachers and the staff is amazing. Dr Payne is a very good principal. I would highly recommend this school!!!
Submitted by parent on June 17, 2014

This was my childrens' first year at Northwood, as we moved to Irvine from Florida last year. It has truly been such a wonderful experience. Both of our kids' teachers were outstanding. There were plenty of volunteer opportunities and I have to disagree with the previous reviewer about the school not having fun family activities. While I can't speak to prior years, this year there have been several family nights out. We have attended most of the events and they've been really great. There have also been a number of family lunches during the school day. From our perspective, we are absolutely confident that our kids have received a fantastic education at Northwood this year. From the dedicated teachers to the school administration, we are very pleased with the care, attention and education our children have been receiving.
Submitted by parent on June 17, 2014

Excellent School! Excellent Staff! It is very sad to see the below reviews regarding Northwood Elementary because it sounds like these families did not find a way to be involved. I am not one of the "groupies" nor have I given gifts to the school other than the gift of my time but I have always been impressed with how inclusive the activities have been and how easy it is to get involved with what interests me. The PTA plans multiple fun activities throughout the year such as World Fair celebrating all of the different cultures, the end of year Carnival for everyone, the Back to School BBQ which is free to all of the families, the talent show where our kids can strut their stuff, etc. As with any school, there are teachers that fit better with my child's personality than others but we have had nothing but great experiences in all of the classes. We only have a couple more years before our youngest will graduate and we will certainly miss Northwood Elementary!
Submitted by parent on June 11, 2014

THIS SCHOOL IS AWFUL!!! I moved from another elementary school in the area and I am so sorry! THIS SCHOOL IS ALL WORK AND NO FUN!! Recess and lunch are the minimum minutes. Other schools are longer. To many rules. No grade level plays, no winter performances, no class fun! Boring award assemblies 3 times a year with lower grades getting made up awards (best book report) and upper grades it's all about grades! If you have all A's and 1 C you get NOTHING! But if you have all B's you get an award. C's are BAD!! My son is so stressed out and he is 10 years old! It's elementary school. Why are grades even a factor? Many teachers and the principal would be better working at the middle school level. PTA has no spirit. Only activities are what they call Family Night Out with dinner at a fast food restaurant where money goes back to school. Fine but there is NOTHING else FUN. My other school had so much fun! No award assemblies but grade level plays 2x a year, winter performance, other class performances, fun activities at the school. They were during the school day and all us parents were around helping. It was both a great education and fun. You will not find that here at all.
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2014

I moved into Irvine because I heard about the good education and initially I was so excited enrolling my children in Northwood Elementary school. Latter I figured out that this was not true for everyone. My children and I were unwelcome to the school. Most of the upper grade teachers are mean and disrespectful. They don't treat students fairly, and discourage parents to volunteer. They have a very big problem with yelling and abusing children. There are things you should consider when enrolling your child in Northwood, for example; are you able to constantly provide gifts for staff, or donate money to the school. If not then, you and your child are NOT welcome or wanted at this school. You should also consider your ethnicity, because this is great factor at how you are treated at this school. Bullying is also a major problem that the school fails to recognize.
Submitted by parent on May 05, 2014

I read the list of the 2014 Blue Ribbon schools and was NOT surprised to see that Northwood did not make the list. Dr. Payne is thoughtful, forward thinking leader, but there is much to be desired from the staff, parents, and students. My child's teacher is sarcastic with her class and barely acknowledges me when I volunteer in class. The parents are very cliquey and really do overgift. Even first year teachers will have a student teacher, so the kids really don't understand the material. The master teacher then has to reteach the lesson. The children are from both an older, affluent neighborhood in Irvine and low income housing. This combination helps form a schism in the school. Most Northwood students are spoiled, often curse and are just plain rude and entitled. The parking and pick up procedure is torturous at best. Most follow the rules, but the ones who don't really make it difficult for everyone else. I have moved my children to Stonegate and am very happy. It is much better than Northwood.
Submitted by parent on April 07, 2014

My child is in 5th grade this year and probably has the worst teacher in the entire school. This teacher is new and used to be super nice when she was an aid. Her whole attitude has completely changed since she has become a teacher(permanent position) and is so overwhelmed by all the work she has to do. The principal is good and cares for the students, but I think he needs to pay more attention to who he is hiring and should not allow the teachers to yell and scream at the students.
Submitted by parent on July 08, 2013

My child has been attending attending Northwood since Kindergarten and now in the 6th grade. From my experience, there has always been great parent/teacher partnership. The principal is very attentive. It is true the upper grade teachers do not require the volunteers that the lower grades do, but I don't think it is because they are intentionally trying to distance themselves from parents. Overall, my child's experience throughout has been a very positive one.
Submitted by parent on December 19, 2012

I agree with the review from Aug 15,2011. Now 1 1/2 years later same story regarding excessive gift-giving parents and some overly involved parents that make it difficult for others to volunteer. Education system is good. My first child attended with the previous principal and now 2nd child with Dr.Payne. Big difference and better change. My only negative here is the parents volunteers has to be fair. By gift giving parents taking over the power and getting less chance for others to take part. If one parent is a room parent for once class for one child, give the chance to others for other classes instead of the same parent for both of his/her children classroom mom. I have been in the PTA before and last year and this year the main PTA members needs to be changed. We had great PTAs for last so many years.