Springhill Elementary School

3301 Springhill Road

School District

Lafayette Elementary
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:17
Type

public

School Map for Lafayette Elementary 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 October 06, 2022

Full of passionate teachers who truly care about their students, and are almost always willing to help. Our kids love it and we couldn't be happier.
Submitted by parent on May 01, 2022

This is a beautiful school with caring teachers and attentive staff. They managed the pandemic as best as they could and avoided major outbreaks. They started in person learning as fast as they were allowed. Multiple teachers have won district teacher if the year awards. We are extremely happy and many parents around town proudly put their Scorpion bumper stickers on their cars.
Submitted by parent on April 11, 2022

Great school, nice teacher. My kids enjoy going to school everyday!
Submitted by parent on July 06, 2021

There is a reason this school is an 8 when all other schools in Lafayette are 9 and 10. The leadership is terrible and takes no accountability for anything. A racially charged issue was chalked up to “kids being kids” and a response that literally said “well we are focused on kindness” and that should be the foundation of everything we do. Other reviewers have mentioned no bullying of special education students which is amazing... but please note brown children are being bullied and it doesn’t seem to be a big deal. Teachers have mostly been great but again, the leadership has a lot of work to do and it is not a good place for children of color at this time.
Submitted by parent on April 12, 2021

Springhill is a great, small school. There are about three classes in each grade and several special education classrooms. The teachers are superb. The parents are very actively involved in the classrooms and in providing extracurricular opportunities.I think the Great Schools rating misses the mark. Springhill is the districts special ed hub. The traditional learners visit and buddy with special Ed students. Special Ed students spend part of their day in the traditional classrooms. Kids learn to be kind and accepting of others differences. There is no bullying of the special ed kids. This makes a GREAT school for all kids! The academic progress score is affected by this student body composition and really needs to be reviewed by great schools. Springhill is as good as the other schools in the district - Burton Valley, Happy Valley, and Lafayette Elementary. The only distinguishing characteristic of Springhill is its status as the special Ed hub. Again, this is a GREAT school!
Submitted by parent on March 14, 2021

Springhill PROUD! During this trying time the teachers, parents and staff have all worked together with the children's best interest in mind! My children have loved all their Springhill teachers!
Submitted by parent on December 03, 2020

My children love their Springhill teachers. During distance learning their teachers have exceed our expectations and we confident our children won’t be behind and can’t wait to be back on campus!
Submitted by parent on October 16, 2020

Springhill is a wonderful little school. My daughter’s teachers are fantastic and have gone above and beyond. They have exceeded most parents expectations with the distance learning. It is a strong community with dedicated teachers and parents. I love the kindness campaign that was started in our community by a mother at our school. My daughters love their teachers and are Springhill Proud.
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2015

Springhill is definitely on the mend! After a rough few years with the principal who replaced Bruce Wodhams, the school atmosphere is peaceful once again. The interim, Mr. G., was just what we needed! And everyone is so excited about the new principal who was recently hired to start next year. She used to work at the school and will bring great experience and enthusiasm. She also has a special ed background and that will be beneficial since this is the special ed hub for the district. Lots of families of children with special needs move to our district to attend Springhill.
Submitted by parent on April 16, 2015

This is a beautiful school with some great teachers. The new principal is wonderful and a breath of fresh air after the last principal. The office manager is so kind and sweet with the students and parents. This school is a hub for special education students, and the services are top notch. This is a school who is slowly healing after a stint with a very polarizing, negative principal. Hopefully this trend will continue. My kids are getting a great education and feel safe and supported at Springhill.
Submitted by parent on February 19, 2015

Sprinhill is a wonderful school! The campus is spacious with plenty of space for the kids to play and explore. The teachers have been dedicated not only to teaching the academics but to the wellbeing of the kids too. I love all of the art, science, music and PE enrichment provided. Last, but not least, the parent community is involved and friendly. All in all, we have had a great experience at Springhill.
Submitted by parent on August 20, 2014

After three years of painful flux, the Principal has departed Springhill. The interim Principal will be Mr G - the district psychologist. He used to be the school psychologist at Springhill prior to his district position, so he knows the school, families and staff. This is a great step in the right direction for the school. Let's hope the new principal is a thoughtful choice. This is a committed group of parents and volunteers.
Submitted by parent on July 04, 2014

The overall academic quality of Springhill Elementary School has declined over the past four years as evidenced by decreasing standardized test scores in comparison to other local Lamorinda public schools. Our class sizes have increased significantly over this time and student need has grown without an adjustment in campus resources. Many children in need are under served. The current principal has successfully reduced parental involvement during school hours as well as field trips in some grades. School problems are minimized or not communicated to parents. Quality, experienced teachers and staff are leaving and the school community morale has declined. The committed community of parents are more hesitant and less willing to get involved because of the principal's philosophical differences, lack of leadership and collaboration, and investment in quality education.
Submitted by parent on June 30, 2014

We have two children at Springhill, one entering 1st grade, and the other entering 3rd grade. We've found the teachers to be very professional and engaged. We receive regular communication from the teachers and administrators with respect to goings on at the school - programs, special days, calendar, etc. There's quite a bit of parent involved, both on the organizational front, as well as volunteering for events, and helping the teachers. The school is clean, and the facilities are well maintained. There is a before/after care center adjacent to the school propery, which many of the children attend (ourselves included from next year). The setting of the school is picturesque, as it backs up to the Briones State Park - the kids can see the cows grazing on the other side of the fence. There's also a large garden area at the back of the property. On the downside, the homework is somewhat hit or miss - there seams to be less emphasis on homework at this school than we're accostomed to, having recently moved to the area from out of state. Overall, we're pleased with the school, and our kids feel safe/happy there.
Submitted by parent on April 10, 2014

We have been at this school for the past 2 years and love it. My kids are getting a balanced education and preparing to be bett r citizens, not just robots who can take tests but can navigate through the world based on their experiences at school.
Submitted by parent on March 26, 2014

The mantra here in Lafayette is " Lafayette schools are the best in the State and the Nation". They are NOT. At all. All you have to do is look at the Standardized test scores and school rankings. Maybe people just assume if they pay outrageous prices for homes that the schools must be great in the area. A bad and erroneous assumption.
Submitted by parent on March 02, 2014

School test scores reflect high socioeconomic demographic, not quality of school (and are lower than other schools in area). Current principal is unhelpful and not well-liked by either parents or teachers. School is special ed hub for district but doesn't have necessary resources to serve the numbers of students who are referred here, and if you have a kid with a milder learning disability they are unlikely to be well-served, nor are gifted students. Some excellent teachers, but also some fairly awful and mediocre teachers who should be removed. Current principal is trying to cut back on field trips and opportunities for parent volunteers in school, aside from fundraising.
Submitted by parent on February 19, 2014

You will find that people from the Lafayette area think Lafayette schools are great. If you move here from other parts of the country you may find like I did that Springhill is good but definitely not great. You only need to look at the Standards test scores to see that Springhill is not up to par with other schools in the area. Also Springhill was rated a 10 on this website and recently dropped to a 9. It does not appear that this school is striving for academic excellence. Because of Proposition 13 that was passed decades ago the property taxes just aren't enough to fund all that the schools need. Every parent is asked for money at the beginning of the year and there are fundraisers throughout the year to help pay for things that should be standard in a school. Thankfully they do have a lot of parents willing to volunteer. Also my child has had excellent teachers. That is probably the only reason we are still there.
Submitted by parent on February 11, 2014

Be aware that if you are moving here from back East, these schools will likely be very mediocre compared to what you are probably used to. I have found this to be true in speaking with many parents from out of state. Parents are asked for frequent donations, bus service is several hundred dollars extra, differentiation basically doesn't exist (but LOTS OF LIP SERVICE DOES!!!!!) if your child is well above average, and for my son who was set to start speech back east, he was considered "normal" in this district. The lack of money really shows in the school systems here. We gave up after we were encouraged to work on math at home, and after the teacher was just really horrible in general. Like I was told before moving here, "California schools are California good."
Submitted by parent on September 16, 2013

My scoring is relative to other comparable schools in Moraga, Orinda, and Lafayette. I have four kids two of which just completed 6 years at Springhill and two of which are still there. Positives -Some very good, motivated, inspiring and experienced teachers -A great community of parents -Art and music program funded by LPIE -New science specialist former 2nd grade teacher - very good! Negatives -Star test scores are consistently lower than all comparable public elementary schools in surrounding area. -Too many poor/medicore teachers. In 5 years my daughter has had 2 bad teachers. That's one too many. Hard to get rid of b/c of tenure. -Principal lacks leadership and vision. Not inspiring, an administrator, doesn't command respect of teachers or parents, and has failed to communicate and execute on vision for school. -Principal's new teacher selection has had mixed results over last 3 years. A couple good ones but a few bad one's as well. Lafayette should be able to attract the best every time! -Almost all teachers give lip service to differentiation -Lack of consistency and collaboration between teachers within same grade and between grades -Lacks strong academic focus.