Valencia Elementary School

25661 Paseo De Valencia

School District

Saddleback Valley Unified
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:26
Type

public

School Map for Saddleback Valley 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 December 11, 2024

This school has the best teachers, safe and friendly environment.
Submitted by parent on September 15, 2023

All my 4 kids went here including my husband's family...Love this elementary.No complaints... teachers are always willing to work with kids...All mine were diferent in learning.Thank you teachers.
Submitted by parent on July 17, 2021

We have been super happy with this school! It is not huge and overwhelming like many public schools. Almost all the teachers are outstanding and have amazing heart and dedication. There is a great community of parents who have chosen to help the school (PTA) and have done a great job providing additional support to the school for many years. While the grounds of the school are relatively old, the school has done a good job of still providing our kids the resources they need to succeed.
Submitted by parent on May 27, 2021

Overall we have loved our experience with Valencia Elementary. The teachers and staff are experienced, many have been in the district for decades. This can be both a positive and a negative. Having been at schools with less experienced teachers, I take this as a positive. The school itself is older, but the classrooms and grounds are clean and well maintained. There is a real sense of community here and a general vibe of respect. The PTA is involved and provides lots of support, which is great. I would say that teachers we've interacted with have been caring, sometimes the interactions and feedback can be lacking, but with COVID, the staff has tried different ways of keeping in touch. The district has also been great, we feel very lucky to be at a school and district that have been thoughtful and safe about the kids being in school. Since October 2020, we’ve been able to have some in person learning, masked, social distanced, hand washing, and since March full in person learning, with confidence of safety. The staff and teachers have been amazing through this whole experience and have shown their dedication and care to the fullest.
Submitted by parent on January 16, 2021

I have found that the teachers and administrators are caring and supportive of the students. They put a lot of personal time into educating their students through different hands on methods. Valencia has a small school feel with a lot of great families. I’m thankful to be apart of it!
Submitted by parent on February 14, 2020

Poor experience from K-6. Its very sad and indicative of this schools ineffective leadership.
Submitted by parent on August 29, 2019

Overall had a poor experience at this school. If could do it over again would have chosen another school. Regretfully.
Submitted by parent on May 03, 2019

Terrible, lazy teachers who don't want to face reality.
Submitted by parent on March 26, 2019

This school doesn’t care for its students and almost everyone here treats each other terribly, especially teachers and other adults. One time two boys had a fight and threw scissors at each other and the teacher just rolled her eyes at them. There are so many cliques it’s almost unfathomable. Students are taught a few grade levels slower than other local elementary schools. Recently, three boys got in a fistfight here. All of the students despise the “enrichment activities” and halfheartedly participate while complaining and don’t learn anything. Kids who go to this school, from my firsthand experience, grow to have bad grades and be bullies in middle and high school. Let this be a warning to anyone considering this school.
Submitted by parent on January 18, 2018

Awesome! Gate magnet everyone wants to go here because of the awesome events/PTA!
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2017

Valencia provides an excellent education for my children, who have attended this school from K through 6th grade. The nurturing learning environment has allowed them to really thrive academically, emotionally, and socially. Their teachers have been very knowledgeable, caring, open in communicating with parents (I hear responses to emails within 24 hours), and expect a reasonable level of parental involvement. In my opinion, one of the best improvements at this school within the past few years has been the marked increase of projects-based learning in each of my children's grades, which reinforces the skills they have learned through practical application, stimulates student creativity and imagination, and sharpens their collaboration and presentation skills. Their critical thinking abilities and personal confidence levels have improved too. They have learned so much about teamwork, which they'll need in the real world workplace. And the students have developed a lot of mutual respect for each other's talents and abilities along the way. My children have also enjoyed the science and art classes, on-site library, on-site gardening, field trips, learning/using technology, and more.
Submitted by parent on March 15, 2017

Being an active member of the PTA at this school I can say that I've seen all the different sides of how this school is run. There is always room for improvement but overall I'm very happy with our experience at the school. My child started in Kindergarten and has completely taken off due to the fabulous teachers she has had the last few years. She loves school and learning and has the opportunity to do many different programs such as STEM, after school choir, drama and more. It took a little time to get to know the front office staff but now that we are acquainted they are extremely helpful and kind whenever we see them. The Principal works hard and wants the best for the students and I am impressed with is commitment. One thing I would like to see is more collaboration between the PTA, teachers, and administration to ensure all needs are being met and all programs are effective. I would also like to see the administration or PTA bring more serious after school language programs to the school as well.
Submitted by parent on March 08, 2017

This school is an absolute gem. I feel my son is getting a quality education there and is treated as an individual. All the staff, not just the teachers, have rallied to support him. With a positive environment and great extra programs for STEM, the arts, and personal development, we couldn't ask for more.
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2017

Extremely well qualified teachers, exciting extra curricular programs like choir, theatre, variety show, and various after school enrichment classes.
Submitted by parent on May 12, 2015

My son was sent to the principals office, for telling his teacher that writing 2 reports at the same time was a waste of time. The Principal called me at work, and said that he had that little monster in his office again. I came by, and told this principal, that writing 2 reports at the same time IS a waste of time, and that he needs to apologize for calling my son a monster. He refused to apologize , and said that my son is not welcome back at school, until he writes a 100 word letter to each and every child in his classroom, apologizing for depriving them of an education, with his sarcastic remarks. I told him he was taking things just a bit too far. He told me that he now knows where my son gets his ATTITUDE PROBLEM from. I pulled my son from that school. Any time a parent disagrees with a teacher or principal, their child is immediately suspected of having mental problems. This is an insult, and this type of labeling needs to stop. This school is hell on earth. I would NOT advise anyone to send your child here !
Submitted by parent on October 26, 2013

My son has been at this school for two years...Kindergarten and currently 1st grade. He has thrived here. I'm not sure if we have just been lucky but the two teachers that he has had thus far have been phenomenal. I would love if the class was smaller than 32 kids but I'm grateful that every day there is a morning parent who volunteers and every afternoon there is a parent volunteer. That is 10 different parents who volunteer weekly. This makes a huge difference in the education that they are all receiving. Budget cuts are what they are so those who can pitch in, should and do! If we could just teach the parents how lead by example and see that every moment is a learning opportunity and every conflict is a time to teach skills in managing life's stressors...the kids could take this into the classroom with them. The kids who do no value nor respect anyone or anything take up so much of the time in class that could be used for learning.
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2013

Valencia Elementary is the best choice of the failing California school system. Yes, they have some tired teachers that are teaching just to get to their pensions but there are some great teachers there also. I would have chose something else for my daughter but I did not have the funds for private school. We did the best with what the school had to offer but I would never say that is a top educational experience.
Submitted by parent on October 26, 2012

If your idea of a great education is based largely on the sparkle and lure of this school's high API scores, then take some time to ask yourself what a "great education" entails for your child. I was very disappointed to see that my child does tons of worksheets each day, all involving very little critical thinking, group discussion, or related project work. Most of the students just copy the teacher's answers from the board. They get drilled on the same facts ad nauseum. Why? The higher the school's API scores, the more federal money they can get. While everyone wants a bigger piece of the pie, there comes a point where the ends just does not justify the means. This incessant worksheet factory revs up in September and crushes classroom time that could otherwise be spent nurturing young, creative, and fertile minds; addressing special learning needs; and conducting cooperative learning. The principal needs to step up and create a better balance to foster true learning and let the students shine in their individual ways. Well-meaning and kind parents help at the school, but are sometimes rudely disrespected by the staff and administration. This school needs an education bailout.
Submitted by parent on June 28, 2012

My son just completed his first year of kindergarten and I have been really pleased with the quality of their instruction and the caring attitude of his teachers. He entered as a typical kindergarten student and came out reading (loving/devouring) books at a third grade level. Math, science, social studies, interpersonal skills...all very solid. What they taught exceeded the "standards" and challenged the students without overwhelming them. They used strategies to address different learning styles. Personal attention was given as needed. His teacher said that besides the academic work, she wanted to ensure that students exit kindergarten LOVING school. She certainly accomplished that with my son, because the morning after kindergarten ended, he asked me, "So, can I start first grade today?" *All excited, jumping in his seat.* I was so disappointed to tell him, "No honey, you have to wait two months until the summer is over." Yes, there are a few cliquey parents, but there are other very nice ones as well. The teachers, principal, and parents come together to create an academically strong - yet loving and fun - atmosphere for the kids. Five stars - keep up the great work!
Submitted by parent on February 11, 2012

My child is in kindergarten at this school and loves it. The kindergarten students have a separate science teacher/lab space and a garden in the playground. The teachers seem to be very engaged and caring and hold high expectations of their students. The incoming kindergarten students take an assessment test and are screened for knowledge of sight words, spelling, and math concepts such as sorting and patterns. Parent teacher conferences happen early on, within the first two monts of school. One caution to incoming parents is to be aware of the school's divisive mommy culture, which is apparent on the K level. There is a stark division by income at this school - which translates unfortunately into an exclusion by moms of other moms if they do not drive the right kind of car to pick up their kids or do not live in the right neighborhood, etc. Cliquey moms have play dates and parties for their kids only, to the detriment of the excluded kids (they don't bond as quickly with their classmates) and literally turn a cold shoulder to moms who try to approach them even to say hello. That might seem tangential to an education review, but it is relevant to the school experience here.