Brookside Elementary School

17447 37th Avenue Northeast

School District

Shoreline
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Shoreline 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 April 18, 2022

Brookside is a great school with caring teachers and a strong focus on social/emotional health as well as academics. I love that they are trying to help these children develop calming skills and harness their natural emotions for good. The PTA is very active and the school provides a lot of community-building opportunities, many of which are free.
Submitted by parent on June 16, 2021

Brookside is an amazing school with a hard working staff who truly cares. Reading some of the more recent reviews are disheartening. I am not discounting their experience, but I have seen the staff rise to every challenge with heart and dedication.
Submitted by parent on May 25, 2019

Love the PTA and a number of parents doing the right thing. Unfortunately there are many people with misbehaving kids that are not being managed and as such the environment is not as good as it could be. Leadership (or lack thereof) is to blame 100%.
Submitted by parent on April 25, 2019

Great experience. A rock star PTA. Tons of extra curricular options that includes some free options.
Submitted by parent on April 10, 2018

Our experience in 2nd grade has been that teachers are not giving care and thought to individual students. It may be that they are overwhelmed with a lot of behavior and other issues, but it really seems like there's a lot of administrative tasks being put before individual learning/growth of students. There is also a decided lack of regular communication home to parents which ultimately hurts teachers and what they're trying to do at school. It seems like there's a lot of focus placed on those kids who are already excelling rather than those who need extra help. The school will do the bare minimum necessary to make sure it has covered its bases for children falling behind but ultimately throw up their hands and say "they can't do anything" to help. It's too bad.
Submitted by parent on May 25, 2017

The leadership has negatively affected an otherwise great school. The teachers seem overworked and the school counselor definitely has more than she can handle.
Submitted by parent on August 16, 2015

This WAS a great school with the previous principal, but unfortunately since the new one in the last year, the change has been very severe. The change in culture has reverberated through the staff, students, families and community. Before, through my child's eyes, the children were caring, compassionate, would help eachother out when they got hurt. Now, they are mean, competitive, bullies and put eachother down (playing sports and in class). The teachers seem taxed by the new system and leery to even send their students to the principals office anymore because he's so backed up with issues. He is not a warm, caring principal whom all the kids adore, as I hear exists in many other schools and used to exist here. What's true is true, and it seems that we didn't realize how good we had it 'til it's gone. We are looking into another school and quickly. It's going downhill and this principal does not seem to get it. Too bad.
Submitted by parent on April 18, 2015

The teachers work directly with the parents. They work hard. I see cars in the parking lot every night. It is a public school, so if you have a problem with the curriculum or lack of STEM (like the 2 reviews that are from the same parent)...go to the state. It amazes me how parents complain like this is a private school with unlimited resources. Volunteer like I do and you will see how hard the teachers and staff work. There are close to 30 kids in my daughter's class. With one teacher. Got any complaints and you can bring that up with the state. I don't know one person who is capable of teaching that many kids besides these awesome educators.
Submitted by parent on April 07, 2015

This is an average small town school, simply put. It does feel safe and the teachers seem to know most every student, which is nice. But the technology is sorely lacking. STEM education does not exist here. The implementation of subject matter is mundane and not presented in a novel way. More project based learning would be great improvement. Worksheets and busy work are pushed quite a bit. It's also curious that teacher preference is given to students who have parents overly involved in their education. I've never seen a school where teachers and the office/support staff are allowed to be facebook friends with parents. Rave reviews were given but sadly we find this school to just be average with a great deal of nepotism sprinkled in.
Submitted by parent on December 08, 2014

Excellent staff, program offerings (including after-school opportunities), and a safe environment. We specifically live in the boundaries of Brookside Elementary to send our children here. Our kids actually look forward to going to school each day and we are impressed with how quickly our oldest learned to read and understand math...a direct result of the teachers she's had. There will always be some nay-sayers in the comments, but they'll be unhappy anywhere. If you're a normal, relatively involved parent who doesn't make excuses and gives a lower rating because of it...like not knowing where to park (which is very easy, by the way), complaining about snow on the ground, or complaining about students using paper (gasp!)...this is a great school to send your child to.
Submitted by parent on October 07, 2014

Came from a school which was instilling STEM education.. building robots, 3d printing, massive art & drama & music program & immensely technology driven, and VERY little paper use. Melding the old with the new is what is important and what kids need today. I am not entirely sure this school is doing this as my child comes home with tons of paperwork & dated materials. It's the beginning of the year, and I'm waiting to see how things evolve. So far, my child is adapting. Sadly, there are several little cliques. To be expected I suppose. The parents seem nice enough and you can tell there's tons of involvement from many parents. Front Admins: So far they are good, but there are some you can tell some have become stale. I've got great hopes for the new Principal. He has energy to tackle this school & it's issues and I'm hoping, with that, he can bring in some new ideas of how to achieve those goals, especially surrounding how to prepare our kids for their Core Curr. testing. As I said, it's early in the year, so only 3 stars given. I will check back in within a few months to let you know how it's going. Fingers-crossed it'll be 4 stars or more.
Submitted by parent on June 22, 2014

This school had saved my son who has ADHD. He had transferred from another school in shoreline wa and had not progressed as well as at Brookside. Teachers are caring and take the time with each child. They have a special program that all schools need to see and have in their schools. Not just them! The school system has failed my son till Brookside. Thank you Brookside keep up the good work with the special needs program!
Submitted by parent on July 21, 2013

I think Brookside is an excellent school. My Child has enjoyed every year with each teacher. The music and PE teachers are fantastic. All the teachers are deeply invested in educating the kids. The safety squad could use a little more supervision due to the student officers not always making the best decisions. I do agree that the kids whose parents can volunteer and are involved in the PTA appear to get special treatment, What can you do...that's life.
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2013

The students are engaged, motivated and happy. Teachers communicate well with the students and parents. Parent participation is very high in class rooms and activities.
Submitted by parent on May 28, 2013

Brookside has some good teachers, a stellar librarian and P.E teacher and a decent PTA community. The incompetent principal and school district are what muddy the waters. I'm not impressed
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2013

Nice school, nice teachers. Minimal bullying, quite a bit of parent involvement (moms & dads, including those that work), the librarian & PE teacher are great. The negatives: 1. The bus drivers are aggressive & block the fire lane daily (safety hazard). 2. The parking lots/walkways are not cleared of ice/snow in the winter. This caused injuries to several students, plus a car accident in the drop-off lane. 3. There is a clear preference shown to parents who are part of the PTA. 4. Pick-up for kindergarten 1/2 day program is confusing. We were told to pick them up in front of the school where all of the "visitor" spots are. That is also where the buses & school admin park (in the "15 minute" spots). There are no parking spots left for parents to use. So we either have to arrive 20 minutes early & sit with the buses blocking us in or arrive late & park behind the buses in the fire lane or park down the street. Now they have signs up saying "no cars allowed when buses present". 5. Afternoon pick-up is crazy. Parents aren't allowed to turn directly into the pick-up lane - we have to drive down the dead-end road, turn around in a privately owned driveway of one of the school neighbors.
Submitted by parent on March 27, 2013

My son was bullied at his old school and we moved to LFP to seek a better district and elementary school. Wow, are we glad we did. We love Brookside. My son's made several friends and bullying is not part of the culture at all. Brookside is such a wholesome school, it's the kind of place you send your kids to because you have a dream of them being innocent and learning and doing sweet fun educational things until they're ready for the more complex world. I love that they raise salmon from eggs and then release them into the wild, raise caterpillars into butterflies, etc., science is big there -- not to mention all of the music classes that are part of the curriculum. And the extracurricular offerings are out of this world. I mean, they offer Arabic class. I have two kids there and it's been an outstanding experience. My kids were ESL and a bit behind when they entered, but Brookside helped them get up to snuff in just a year.
Submitted by parent on March 15, 2013

We've had three kids go through this school; one k-4, the other 3-4, and the third is finishing K. The teachers we've had have all been TOP NOTCH...can't imagine getting better folks, private or public. Mr. Rogers, the library, and Matt Alford, PE teacher, are also amazing. There is reasonable economic and racial diversity - I would guess it mirrors or is more diverse than the neighborhoods which draw to it. This is something we like and is one reason we're not at Evergreen or Kings. The older kids have now moved to Kellogg (middle school) and to the Hi-Cap district program at Brookside, but they both miss Brookside and visit their old teacher regularly when they're picking up baby brother at Kindergarten.