Brightwood Elementary School

1701 Brightwood Street

School District

Alhambra Unified
Grade

K-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:22
Type

public

School Map for Alhambra 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 October 24, 2024

Do not recommend this school. Don't put your kid here. Kids aren't nice and are bullies. And also kids don't learn much.
Submitted by parent on August 02, 2024

Principal is not the best. Teachers are not invested or even enthusiastic about teaching. They are there to collect a check. There is no sense of diversity and principal makes sure that it stays that way. She will deny all incoming internal transfers. Give no reason what so ever as to why she’s denying. It’s not a good school it’s just an old reputation it had that has lingered around.
Submitted by parent on March 12, 2024

The teachers don't teach good subjects and my kid barely learns anything. Switch schools asap.
Submitted by other on August 03, 2023

This school is absolutely ridiculous first of all for safety they ban everything that they think is not “safe” I graduated from this school about 5 years ago they banned tag, because so many kids were getting injured by running, they banned water bottle flipping which was a trend back when I was here you couldn’t do anything. This school created serious anxiety and self esteem problems for me the students here were horrendous I was bullied for not being smart and not having straight A’s I had my own problems and I was blamed for not being smart and being like everyone else in the school, then kids would bully others because of their appearance, I once reported someone for bullying and they told me that they’d look into it later on and nothing was done which was completely unfair they’re always talking about reporting anything to others when they need help but nothing was done so I felt completely hopeless, next is the teachers who will also shame you for not being smart they will only love and praise the kids with straight A’s, one of the 8th grade teachers who still teaches there literally had a breakdown because we were the worst students that she’s ever had and guilt tripped us. I literally dreaded this school I would fake illnesses just so my mom wouldn’t send me to school because the same cycle of my classmates was hard to deal with but on top of that was the teachers who would bring their own problems to school and took it all out on their students. This school assigns too much homework and expects everyone to be smart please if you send your student here please please check up on them make sure they are doing okay.
Submitted by parent on July 06, 2022

Brightwood is a great school! The best school in the Alhambra school district. The parents & teachers are involved in the students academic achievements. The students take pride in doing great work in school.
Submitted by parent on May 12, 2022

Brightwood is a wonderful school. The staffs and curriculums are designed to help students to achieve there best. My kids are doing very well at this school along with their peers. The curriculums involves a lot of classwork and homework and patents involvements. As a parent that grew up in the 80's that still believes in hard work, challenges and discipline, Brightwood staffs also believes in the same values.This school is not for your kids to breeze through. Teachers don't grade on curves and don't give out participation trophies. You may think of Brightwood as an Ivy League public school. It is not for the average students.
Submitted by other on March 03, 2022

The school itself is fine until you get to 8th grade. In 8th grade, if you screw up or even do the SLIGHTEST thing wrong, the teachers will automatically shame you and put you down. A certain 8th grade teacher, who is still teaching there to this day is absolutely horrible at being a teacher. In front of the class, __ would be all friendly unless he hated you. If __ hated you, and talked to you one on one if you did something wrong, __ would shame you and put you down.
Submitted by parent on July 28, 2021

mixed feelings. 3 stars, because my son did have good times, nice friends and a few good teachers. He attended Brightwood... kinder-8th grade. I wished the teachers were fair to all students, not just students who are straight A's. My son who is an adult know, talks about how he was bullied by teachers for not "being smart", it makes me sad, that i was not aware of what was happening. My youngest will begin kinder this year... I will make sure my son doesn't go through what my oldest went through. I hope the amount of homework has subsided, it was ridiculous.
Submitted by other on February 27, 2020

Grades k-7 were good, not grade 8
Submitted by parent on April 26, 2018

We are very grateful to be a part of the Brightwood community. The staff and teachers really care about the students and there is high parental involvement. Students are from both low and high socio-economic backgrounds but they all get along and there is no pretentiousness or intolerance. A majority of kids are well behaved and are there to learn and build friendships. Just recently, the school started offering afterschool enrichment classes, including Robotics and Speech & Debate, which many students and families are excited about.
Submitted by parent on May 30, 2017

It gives too much hw which although helps students with higher learning, it creates a stressful and unhealthy unbalance at home. Most teachers are effective and connect with their students. The different racial groups tend to stick to eachother which is unfortunate. However, the exposure to different cultures is always beneficial.
Submitted by parent on August 30, 2015

This school does not have a solid music, sports, or foreign language programs. The Gifted and Talented program is totally misleading and deceiving. Asian parents are terrified that the new Common Core has been forced upon their children and does not work! The Alhambra Unified School District is one of the mediocre districts in California. Considering California ranks #45 in the nation, the Alhambra Unified School District does not compare to San Jose, Irvine, San Marino, and even Walnut school districts.There are so many Minimum Days and Teacher Work Days where it's impossible to gain any momentum. There is no consistency.The Alhambra Education Fund raises only $350,000 a year as compared to Palos Verdes at $2.0 million and San Marino at $2.0 million. Yes, at Brightwood they ask for school supplies and have fund raisers. Public school education is no longer free.You have no other alternatives because you are not wealthy or in the upper middle class. Therefore, you must send your child or children to this day care center.
Submitted by other on April 28, 2014

My teachers are just good. No fair, especially in the upper grades, but they get the materials in our brains.
Submitted by parent on October 18, 2013

The school is unbelievable, teacher are extremely involved in the students. The faculties is also unbelievable, I was almost about to move the area but I don't think I will find a school like this anywhere else. My daughter is in second grade and she love this school.