Cheremoya Avenue Elementary School

6017 Franklin Avenue

School District

Los Angeles Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:23
Type

public

School Map for Los Angeles 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 January 30, 2024

This school is a gem. Nestled in the base of the Hollywood Hills, it finds & celebrates childhood diversity from both the Beachwood Canyon & Hollywood Proper communities. With one classroom per grade between UTK-5th, & only 164 students, the children have the rare opportunity to grow up with a core group of peers thru several grade levels. Every teacher on campus knows every student on campus, which means your child is consistently surrounded by well educated, compassionate, & influential mentors that they trust. The new Principal (S. Lucas) is a beacon of effectively kind but firm administration, while the alumni Assistant Principal (L. Boiadjian) is the backbone of a happily structured staff. Meanwhile, the tight knit parent base is actively welcomed, in not only the day to day workings of campus, but event planning, fundraising, & community engagement.While the extra curricular options are less than a private school has to offer, Cheremoya is everything I never thought I could find in a public LAUSD school. I've supplemented my son's sports & music elsewhere, never once regretting the choice to give this beautiful little school a chance.With the 2024 designation of an official "Community School" & the annual 250k supplement that comes with it, I'm excited to see just how much more this school can become to all the fortunate children who's parents take the leap of faith.
Submitted by parent on April 19, 2023

Don't judge a book by it's cover (like I did!)We have lived in Beachwood Canyon for about 10 years and I will be honest, I never even considered Cheremoya to be an option for our son. Coming out of Covid with a 5 year old that needed to start school was stressful and the school that I thought we were for sure going to send him to I ended up hating when we actually went for the tour. We toured Cheremoya while hoping to get a call from a school we were waitlisted on and I am so glad that we did. I immediately fell in love with this beautiful little school and that fact that it only had 175 kids was huge for me because I didn't have to worry about my little guy getting lost in a huge school. My son is about to complete his first year at Cheremoya and he has loved every second of it. He is excelling academically, socially and emotionally. He loves his teacher, has made great friends, and wakes up excited everyday to go to school. I know there is no such thing as a perfect school, but for my child Cheremoya has been wonderful. Does it have everything that I want? No. It's small school with a small budget and that means that it doesn't have every program that I would like to see but I get that. In those areas we supplement on our own and it works fine for us. Overall we are extremely happy at Cheremoya and so glad I didn't let my initial impression of public schools/LAUSD stop me from touring this little gem of a school.
Submitted by parent on May 28, 2020

My son attended Cheremoya from k-5th and I could not be happier with our decision to send him to this wonderful, diverse community school. Sure it has it's issues as every school does, primarily being that because it is diverse it is hard to rally all the parents behind certain causes because culturally there are different expectations of involvement. And yes there is a smaller group of parents in the foundation doing the lion's share of working to bring in awesome programs like coding and art and PE and gardening and after school programs and additional support and technology... however I can only imagine how amazing this (already great) little school would be if the parents in Beachwood Canyon had the courage and conviction to get behind the school. The actual structure is great with high ceilings and huge windows and space! Originally I had our son enrolled in charter school having heard or thought this school wasn't great, and at the last minute I decided to check it out. I cannot imagine how much more stressful my life would have been had I not made the leap. As it is we had a 2 minute commute so we got more time together, I had at least 5 parents I could call to pick up my child if I was running late from a work meeting, we have friends/play dates in the neighborhood, he wasn’t going to school in a glorified shipping container on a black top and we really felt like we were part of a community. My son scored high on all of the standardized tests and was accepted to all of the GAT / Magnet middle schools as well as the private middle schools so all of my fears about falling behind or having limited options for middle school were completely unfounded. Instead, I got to spend more time with him, we built community (sure it could be bigger if more BEACHWOOD PARENTS JUST SENT THEIR KIDS HERE ALREADY!!), experienced true diversity, and I have a son who absolutely loves learning, is a great communicator and is heading into an awesome middle school. Thank you Cheremoya and all the parents who made our time here so special. I really hope more community members have the courage to make the leap as well and bring it up to the “WONDERLAND” or “IVANHOE” status. The power is yours. It’s a great neighborhood elementary school. Don’t be afraid of the ratings, just go check it out.
Submitted by parent on November 21, 2019

I noticed a couple of negative reviews here and feel compelled to weigh in. Not every school is a perfect fit for every student and family, there's no doubt about that. We can only each speak to our own experiences, and for our family our children's time at Cheremoya has been great. As students they are happy to go to school everyday, they are challenged and have opportunities to participate in after school enrichments. As parents we have great relationships with their teachers and the school staff and love the neighborhood feel and diversity. Each to their own I guess.
Submitted by parent on October 30, 2019

This school needs improvement in a lot of areas. The administration talks about building community but it is all lip service. They don't take steps to bring anyone together. There is also a large turn-over of families who leave the school. The parent-led group, The Cheremoya Foundation, works hard to get programs and extras in the school but they are a small group that has little support from the majority of the families at the school.
Submitted by parent on October 29, 2019

Run don't walk away from this school. Community is a word they like to use but there is none. Most of the families just drop their kids off and don't donate money, don't volunteer time so it's the same families doing everything and most of those families left.
Submitted by parent on March 01, 2019

We have a 4th grader with Ms. Mintz and a TKer with Ms. Carlton. We can not be more happy and thankful. The teachers are so attentive and always challenge our girls to do better at school. The little one is reading so well already, thank you Ms. Carlton. The 4th grader can't stop raving about Ms. Mintz and how happy she is in Cheremoya (we moved from Gardner Street).
Submitted by parent on December 13, 2018

My kid made their positive. The parent group does a tremendous amount of work by keeping the school in check with good programs.
Submitted by parent on November 07, 2018

I came to Cheremoya on a permit and am happy everyday that I did. The small size gives a great community feel, the parents are friendly and involved. Most importantly, my daughter loves it here and is doing VERY well with her academics. I feel she is being set up for success in the future!
Submitted by parent on September 12, 2018

Wonderful school, that cares about the students
Submitted by other on May 10, 2016

I love our neighborhood school. 7 years ago when we purchased our home I attended an open house. I was reluctant to send my first child toCheremoya at the time. Currently my youngest child is enrolled in 1st grade. Her teacher Ms Diaz is one of the most remarkable teachers I have ever met. Thanks to Justin who founded the Cheremoya Foundation and our wonderful Princible Mr Salva I our school is defiantly on its way to becoming a 10.
Submitted by parent on April 03, 2016

This is a wonderful school, with a wonderful hardworking foundation. The foundation goes out of its way to not only aesthetically improve the school, but it also helps to provide yoga instruction, a gardening program and other "extras" for the students. The parents who say the "non-white" families are not heard or feel welcome are the ones who do not help the school through donations of both time and money. The more involved you are in every area, including contributions, the more your voice is heard. Morning drop off for example. You want your voice heard? Show up - not in your pajamas and slippers - and help open car doors and say good morning to the wonderful children.
Submitted by parent on January 25, 2016

My son has gone here for a whole two weeks and we both hate this school already. His teacher is unbelievably disorganized and every time I've pointed out things she has neglected to send home she turns it around on my son. What she didn't realize is my son had pocket dialed me at one point and I heard him asking for a document he'd been missing for a week and she told him to go away and stop bothering her. He's a second grader who was asking for something she was marking him down on. I listened to him start crying and walk back to his desk. That afternoon she asked me to come in to talk with her and the entire time she berated my seven year old saying he doesn't listen, he's been hiding his spelling homework (even though he's earned 100% on every piece of homework he's had and he was asking for the spelling homework when he accidentally called me) and more. She had a disgusting attitude that no one should have to put up with, especially a young student. If she had no problem behaving this way in front of a parent, it scares me to think of how she treats her students by herself. This school has earned each and every bad review and it's pretty pathetic that someone in the administration gets online and tries to raise their stats with shameless self promotion. You want a better score? Then do better by your students. My son is on five waiting lists for other schools, hopefully we can get him out of here by next school year.
Submitted by parent on September 12, 2015

I won't be surprised by a five star experience at the end of the year but I'm giving four stars ONLY to be honest since we are new. I just really wanted to put a fresh review up on this site. I usually wouldn't rate on Great Schools because I think it's important for parents to think for themselves; however, I think Cheremoya deserves a new perspective to be voiced in a public forum. If you are interested in this school you should come see it. We are a new family to Cheremoya and I will say the changes being made are exciting. The Cheremoya Foundation has put care into restoring the building with historic integrity in mind and those projects are really looking great. The outdoor classroom project, Wildlands along with the garden are truly inspiring and well maintained which is important. There are diligent parent volunteers keeping everything alive. I also have to say I love my TK teacher's constructivist method of teaching. The other teachers that I've been exposed to are fantastic veteran teachers from both LAUSD and charter backgrounds. This school is coming into its own and I feel fortunate to have come at the right time. The school is naturally ethnically and socio-economically diverse due to its location. It seems none of the Kinder and first grade classes are heavy on any ethnic group. I know the newish Principal, Mr. Salva takes time to make sure the classes are balanced academically. At assembly it looks really diverse. Just as a side note, Principal Salva leaves the best vioce messages BTW. I like hearing about what's going on and reminded by phone along with email. There is still room for improvement because the school is on its way up. I remember when Franklin was at this point five years ago. With parent involvement from the different volunteer groups I think Cheremoya has what it takes to be uniquely outstanding.
Submitted by other on November 04, 2014

I am an officer in a local HA, and I recently attended a school-wide assembly and tour to get a better sense of the school, so that I may report about it to my neighborhood. What struck me the most was the sense of family and organization that exists at every level. It reminded my of my days as a preschool parent, where each class worked together for their teachers and students, exchanged information, and created play-dates and friendships for both parents and students alike. The school is actually quite small -- only 305 students, and parents are encouraged to volunteer in the classroom, garden, arts, and a variety of other programs that run each week. My days as an elementary parent are behind me unfortunately -- but I couldn't be more encouraged for local families with young ones to attend their local school.
Submitted by parent on October 18, 2014

I find the 1 star review not be inaccurate. I am white, so is my daughter in Kindergarten. She is not in the class mentioned below. As far as I can see, the kindergarten classes have NOT been split according to race. I haven't seen the other Kinder class, but in my daughter's there are other white students along with hispanic and asian. I can't speak to the school's conflict resolution solutions (or lack thereof) because we haven't had a problem yet. I will say, this is my first experience with my child going to school, and it has been an adjustment. I've been to one Foundation meeting, and it was a little intimidating, but that's because I'm not used to its rhythm, and I am new to the school. From what I've seen so far I am happy with Cheremoya. I worry a little at the fast pace they're teaching kindergarteners, but I think I am just out of touch with what is "normal" for schools now.
Submitted by parent on October 01, 2014

To the anonymous parents that wish to level libelous statements in this forum about this school, it's faculty, administration and volunteers both well-off and otherwise: Who is the real bully here? Do you have a grievance you can back with evidence? There are numerous sources to air that grievance officially. Bullies seem to relish tearing down the efforts of good people who care about building up our institutions - people who volunteer time, sweat, and yes MONEY to get things done. Anonymous, paranoid rants in a public forum do nothing to help your cause or to correct your perceived injustice - but you have succeeded in angering at least one parent who feels your allegations are completely unjust and without merit - while defaming an entire community and shaming yourself in the process.
Submitted by parent on September 07, 2014

If your are not white and don't have money to bring to the Cheremoya foundation then you do not meet the criteria to be on the principal' favorites list. Yes if you are white with money your voice will be heard and you concerns will be taken care seriously ,if not then "NO" "Sorry but.." Is the answer you will be hearing for any issue you have.we parents of non white origins don't feel welcomed in this school ( especially the non wealthy one of us) . The white kids whose parents are members of the foundation are separated in a one KG class with a 1st grade "Asian" teacher. One class with only white kids, their room is the only one that is newly painted and with computers , and all families come from the foundation as a coincidence. I am so moving from this school. Nothing is taking seriously bullying, teachers performance, kids performance none of that!! What is really important is the foundation . If you are poor and prefer to volunteer in your kid class your application will never be processed.
Submitted by other on June 25, 2014

Hi... We do not yet send our child to Cheremoya (she's not old enough) but we are very open to the idea. And we hope that other parents send their children as well.. If we all do it then it can be great. Take the plunge! What we dont really like is that many of the "reviews" here are not reviews.. but more like press releases... posted by those who are in charge of grass roots organizations to support the school. It comes off as self serving. And when talking about the school, try to use more realistic adjectives.... words like "INCREDIBLE" and "AMAZING" just seem overinflated... you're selling too hard. it's a decent school that's getting better and one day will be really good. Undersell it... that way people will be pleasantly surprised. Oversell it and people cant help but be disappointed.
Submitted by parent on April 29, 2014

Cheremoya Ave. Elementary School is one of the greatest schools in the area. I have personally recommended friends and family to take the kids to this school. One of the most important is the teaching staff that are the great in its place they know how to teach well to bring a none English speaker to become a gifted and top of the class student with all if his/her academics in a short time. Office staff member are also very nice and helpful with any questions. Above all they have the greatest Principle. Both my kids have attended to this school from preschool to 6th grade.