Horizon Elementary School

5905 Northwest 100th Street

School District

Johnston Community
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:15
Type

public

School Map for Johnston Community 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 June 27, 2018

My son has had a great experience and I'm looking forward to my daughter being in kindergarten next year. All the teaches are great. Many opportunities to get involved!
Submitted by parent on August 18, 2017

We arrived last year. Our experience has been great. The principal Mrs. Cornwell is exceptional. My child is on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum. We have had many bumps in the road. At every turn Mrs. Cornwell handle several situations pleasantly professional and surprisingly quick. She is more visible in the halls, then any principal I have ever seen. My child's teacher truly loved her job.
Submitted by parent on September 17, 2016

As of Sept. 2016- The teachers at this school are excellent. The school has a lot of resources and my kids are happy there. I have not noticed overcrowding issues, personally, but some of these reviews are older. That said, some things have changed recently (I think related to the new principal) that have left me feeling very disengaged as a parent. This is the only elementary school in the district that did not have a Back to School night. There was no meeting for kindergarten parents other than registration last January. Frankly, I could not pick my kids' teachers out of a line up I have had so little contact with them. Events, like PTO meetings, don't get posted on the district calendar. I hope it changes, but I am disappointed, as I was told this was one of the best elementary schools around. Parental engagement makes or breaks a school.
Submitted by parent on April 07, 2015

One child gone from the school...the other one leaving at the end of this year. The school has been an absolute disaster for my kids' self esteem. There is way too much focus on keeping kids quiet, seated in "body basics" (whatever the heck that is) and on task and uniform in their behaviors and not nearly enough focus on individual students and their individual learning styles -- and making sure kids feel safe and are actually getting anything out of school. My kids have never been able to tell me what they have actually learned at this school. They can tell me who earned what and who has "pinned down" on the behavior charts, who passed what state testing and who has to bring home the extra work because they failed the such and such testing and are now in some remedial program and when the police have been in the building (which is frequently, by the way -- and let us not forget for a second that this is an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL). This is not learning.
Submitted by parent on March 09, 2015

This school is only good based on test results. I will be taking my child out at the end of the school year. The PBIS system is a joke. My child's self esteem has suffered since coming to Horizon. We have not had a good experience at this school. I know other parents who have open enrolled there children out of the district for various problems with this school.
Submitted by parent on January 07, 2014

This school wants to be great. There are great teachers and staff here that really get to know the kids and are trying against insurmountable odds to make it a great place. Unfortunately, with severe overcrowding, this is, indeed, an impossible task. There are many great ideas that the school is trying hard to put into practice, but they seem to be struggling with. The new PBIS is a great idea on paper and if it was implemented consistently throughout the building, it would probably be effective at improving behaviors. Unfortunately, there are so many strict rules and procedures per district policy that contradict the very language of PBIS that I don't think it is applicable in this school. I don't necessarily blame the staff here. I blame the ridiculous amount of people crammed into this one building. I imagine they feel there is no other way to keep control over that many kids. As far as academics, yes, they are competitive. Test scores reflect the high academic standards. Until they deal with the overcrowding in a meaningful way -- that does not involve the district shuffling a handful of kids or teachers here or there -- I do not know how they can really improve.
Submitted by parent on November 06, 2013

We absolutely love Horizon Elementary School and the staff have been wonderful to my child.
Submitted by parent on May 10, 2013

Horizon Elementary is a perfect picture of everything that is wrong in public schooling today. Greatschools.org gives it a 10 based solely on the ITBS scores of the students at the school. The reason that the ITBS scores are so high is because the tests are the sole focus of everything that goes on at Horizon. Student needs are secondary to high scores. There is no time for hands on learning, interesting projects or in depth study. If you have any kind of concern, the teachers and administration will just tell you what you want to hear so that you will stop bothering them. Classes are huge and the teaching is uninspired to say the least. The main focus at Horizon is keeping everyone quiet and "on task" at all times, not actually learning. Students are consistently bribed with worthless treats and tokens so they can sit through to tedious test-based lessons. If you are interested in raising a robot that cannot think for themselves then Horizon is the place for you. If you want your kids to do real learning, look elsewhere. After three years here we won't be coming back.
Submitted by parent on November 17, 2011

This school rocks. The teachers are awesome, they understand the needs of the students, are vigilant about recognizing kids be additionally enriched and that can be enrolled in extended learning. The ELP program is excellent throughout the school district with ample support from the Friends of Johnston ELP.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2011

Award winning National Blue Ribbon School. It is one of the best schools in iowa.
Submitted by parent on February 09, 2011

This school is seriously overcrowded. The classes have 26-30 students. There is no time for individualized learning. The inexperienced teachers are pushed to teach to the test and shun any form of out of the box creativity. Fancy buildings and all the latest bells and whistles have become a focus for the administration.
Submitted by parent on February 09, 2011

Great school! I have three children at with different educational needs and Horizon does an excellent job identifying students with unmet educational needs in order to provide programming that fills that gap.