Mark Twain Elementary School

9525 130th Avenue Northeast

School District

Lake Washington
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:15
Type

public

School Map for Lake Washington 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 December 16, 2024

We just moved to Kirkland and enrolled our kids to Twain Elementary in Grade 4 and Grade 2. The experience has been wonderful with plenty of support for our kids - and an active PTSA.
Submitted by parent on June 25, 2023

Our kid loves the school. He appreciates the helpfulness and encouragement from the teachers, which fosters engagement. He eagerly looking forward to returning to school for his 3rd grade.
Submitted by parent on September 26, 2022

I've had 3 kids go through this school. It's been an amazing experience. Highly recommend!
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2017

Horrible staff. The women at pick up/drop off were very agressive today, both and independently from each other. I don't know if both were having a bad day or thats normal for the school. We are new to the school.
Submitted by parent on July 16, 2017

My son just ended kindergarten and he loved the school. The teachers and the office staff, were great!
Submitted by parent on October 17, 2016

My daughter attended this school for 3 years before we enrolled in a private school. At Twain, she was in large, chaotic classrooms with seemingly overwhelmed teachers. She was not challenged nor did she receive any individual teacher attention. Mark Twain is a very mediocre school and my only regret is that I didn't pull her out sooner!
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2015

This school has lax rules. Kids are running wild in this school. There are fights on the playground and nothing is ever done about it. My son always tell the recess teacher and she never help him. My son teacher I never hear from. I do not know what the events are at school. My son get picked on all the time. He does not ever like to go to school. We hope we can go to different school when they change the boundary.
Submitted by parent on May 20, 2015

We moved from another Kirkland school to here and love this school. The principal is caring and teachers we had so far are professional. With the rezone, hope it'll even get better in coming years since size will reduce. Strong PTSA.
Submitted by parent on May 14, 2015

I have sent four kids through Twain. My youngest is still there. I have seen drastic changes in the way this school operates in the last couple of years. There is poor communication, the secretaries are grouchy, my kid gets bullied repeatedly and the principal brushes it off. It used to be a great school. The teachers we love have left or are leaving. With the recent boundary changes we are slated to go to a new school. I would assume any of the neighboring schools are better than this one.
Submitted by parent on April 07, 2015

Excellent school in an excellent school district. The teachers are professional and current on the best educational practices, as well as supportive of both my advanced learner and my child who needs a little extra help.
Submitted by parent on February 08, 2013

Could do better. Not a great school for a child with special needs. Will be taking my child elsewhere.
Submitted by parent on September 24, 2012

I really like this school! The kids always come first here. The staff does everything that is possible to help kids who have difficulties at school. My son struggels with his academics due to many factors such as ADD, being bilingual and having a unilateral hearing loss. They give him so much support there, I couldn't ask for more.
Submitted by parent on March 30, 2012

Pulled my child out of school because of bulling and lack of assistants when my child needs help. He has fallen behind and its so sad that I have to home school now to get him back up to grade level.
Submitted by parent on March 18, 2012

I agreed that MS. Runyon Is a wonderful teacher and the staff Barb at the office is kind and helpful. But I also found that school needed to pay more attention to the "line up" situation. My little girl was often being pushed around by the boys from same classroom because these boys were always playing in line. She said that she told some one in the school about it and nothing has been done. Also, we moved here in Jan. and the girls from the same class kept turning her away and refused to play with her.
Submitted by parent on February 27, 2012

So bad I pulled my son out of the school. He was beat up everyday came home crying and covered in bruises. The teachers and principle did nothing to protect him.
Submitted by parent on October 30, 2011

Mark Twain has been an excellent place for my son. He is now in 1st grade after a fabulous Kindergarten experience. He had Mrs. Luiten for his all day Kindergarten & she is incredible! She is dedicated to her students & to giving them a great start to their school career. My son tends to excel in his school work & this year his 1st grade teacher, Miss Runyon is working hard to keep him challenged & doing a great job. The office is very helpful, the principal is friendly & open to feedback. I'd hate for one bad review to ruin this school's reputation, it really is a great place to put your kids!
Submitted by parent on April 15, 2011

I was very disappointed by our experience at this school. The curriculum is geared entirely toward passing standardized tests, which the children do. Unfortunately, they are not equipped to deal with children who demonstrate creativity: For example, the only art program is one run by parents, and often there is no parent for a given classroom. Same with the drama program. The classes are noisy and chaotic, yet when a child is unable to pay attention in the chaos, they have negative labels put on them as though they are the problem.