Portola Springs Elementary

12100 Portola Springs

School District

Irvine Unified
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:19
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 July 13, 2024

The principal and front desk are very unresponsive. They will not return even initial calls and will be extremely annoyed when you keep calling.
Submitted by parent on February 07, 2024

My children’s teachers have all been amazing. There are a Variety of family engagements and afterschool activities. The least liked part of this school is a couple of the front office staff. The receptionist is one of the most unfriendly and rudest person I have ever encountered. Other than that, this is a decent school.
Submitted by parent on November 13, 2023

Both of my kids are the alumni of this school and my eldest is in a great college now. We moved here from north Cal when my kids first enrolled in this school and the transition was smooth and they got the support they needed from the staff. Their experience was nothing but good from this school. School provides high academic skills and the tools that they need. All the staffs were very supportive and the school has a very safe environment.
Submitted by parent on November 01, 2023

My two kids attended this school and they are thriving. The teachers are very attentive, it’s safe and nurturing environment. My kids loved it and I loved it as a parent.
Submitted by parent on September 15, 2023

The quality of the education here is excellent. Teachers care, and are engaged with the students. Lots of after school activities as well!
Submitted by parent on June 03, 2022

Great elementary, all the staff is amazing, my kids are so happy to attend this school. We love our teachers! The PTA works really hard to give to the students amazing things.The communications is really good, the medical department has been handle every situation as good as they can. Thanks Portola Springs!!!
Submitted by other on April 25, 2022

Many teachers are great and very helpful, however the student body and anti-bullying programs is what is negative about this school. The administrative staff do almost nothing to help the students when faced with difficulty with peers, and tis often leads to bullying. Especially in upper grade classes, the students can be horrible to each other.
Submitted by parent on March 01, 2022

School does an awful job of dealing with bulling and discrimination Leadership is very inexperienced and have zero skills on how to deal with elementary kidsInstead of resolving bullying incidents, focus is on passing blame and finding fault with child.Proactive measures to overcome bullying and discrimination are lacking.
Submitted by parent on September 13, 2018

My kids like going to school here. However last year they loved going to school here. The teachers they have this year do not compare to who they had last year (in terms of how my kids perceive their teaching and classroom experiences). The after school pick up process is chaotic. The morning drop of process for kindergarten children is also a hassle. There is no parking, and the drop off line is not suitable for every kid. There should also be guaranteed before and after school care for kindergarten children, as they go to school 3 hours per day at different times of the day. If you are a working parent, this makes the day extremely difficult.
Submitted by parent on August 23, 2018

Poor, I had a great experience with Mr.Shackleford and made long term move to the area and drive 2 hours to work just for the school. Alas, it was all for nothing Mr. Shackleford was the end all be all for good experiences. Most other teachers are new and inadequate.
Submitted by parent on May 05, 2018

Poor. Bad leadership, and teachers are not well trained to deal with different kids and teaching styles
Submitted by parent on January 14, 2018

As one parent rated the school before, this school is new with lack of effective leadership, some pretty unorganized teachers, and the office people are rude and insufficient. The school psychologist, I don't even now how she has been hired for her position. I was in office when one parent was asking to drop her child's school material and Gina and the other lady sitting in front were very rude to her. For all those who thinks IUSD has good schools, I would say, from outside yes, but when you get into schools and your children start going to schools you would know what is going on and may not like it.
Submitted by parent on July 24, 2017

Excellent experience for my older son. He is doing well and has learned a great deal. His teachers care and do a great job.
Submitted by parent on May 23, 2017

This is a new school with a steep leaving curve from educators that has not dealt with high demands from parents. They often will take short cuts or even worst dismiss important issues. Principle is green and still learning. Teachers are a mix bag with a few good ones and the rest that will need to adapt in handling a highly competitive environment.
Submitted by parent on July 14, 2016

Portola Springs Elementary is a beautiful campus with state of the art equipment and supplies to shape the young minds lucky enough to attend this school. On top of that, it is staffed with amazing teachers.I'm sad to see Principal Phillips have a bad review. Every time I am in the front office, everybody is so nice and helpful including Ms. Phillips. In a campus with over 700 kids, they even know my children by first name. I think this is huge and means the kids matter to them.It means everything to a parent that their children are in a safe and nurturing environment and I feel they are at Portola Springs Elementary.
Submitted by parent on April 18, 2016

Portola Springs is quite an amazing elementary school. The high tech newly built campus is probably unrivaled compared to other local schools at this time. The computer lab, science lab, library, and facilities are all great and beautiful. Kids all seem very nice, no bullying issues that we know of. Many of the parents are professionals and friendly. Not too many of those annoying, aggressive crazy parents. We have 2 kids here and have had great luck with excellent teachers. We started at Stonegate and enjoyed it, but the teachers were good, not great that we experienced in K through 2nd. There are some other highly regarded teachers at Stonegate that we did not get. Stonegate's positive atmosphere was stellar, started by Principal Muchusky and seems to continue. Principal Heather Phillips at Portola is awesome as well. Emphasizing character, good deeds. Scores are high at both schools probably due to demographics more than anything else. There are a lot of Doctor, dentist kids here, majority Asian, highly motivated, in Kumon, etc... but not a lot of Tiger moms that we have witnessed. I guess that may all seem relative. GATE program is mixed with other kids starting in 4th grade, but they do some separated reading classes earier for advanced readers. No AAPAS here but they need to start one somewhere in this area soon due to Irvine building boom around Great Park. Parking and pickup is better here than other schools I've seen but still kinda bad. Overall, very happy. I hope this review helps parents considering this school.
Submitted by other on March 07, 2016

Heather Phillips (principal) to name a few can be outright rude and not helpful. It can be frustrating when the ones you hope will help be an advocate for your child are the ones who are tearing down their self-esteem.