Pleasant Valley Elementary School

755 Sutro Avenue

School District

Novato Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:20
Type

public

School Map for Novato 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 August 18, 2024

Wonderful pocket school in a quiet quaint neighborhood tucked away from the busier parts of Novato. New principal is engaging, involved and creating a more inclusive school environment . I was told that’ PV School has highest interests for transfer students seeking to enroll. Which does drive the evaluations numbers of certain learner group down . In turn that then affects overall rating of the school-just something to keep in mind. Tons of parent involvement. Lots of fundraising to eliminate the gaps in funding. Overall better than most elementary schools .All schools have issues, but this school has minimalproblems , most of which’ don’t affect the students .
Submitted by parent on October 21, 2023

For such a wealthy county, I was extremely disappointed and sad at our time at PV. NUSD lacks appropriate resources that should be offered to our children. The current principal is quite inappropriate with how he dresses around young children which made many parents uncomfortable and left some kids confused. His communication was very poor once an issue around my child was brought to his attention. I felt ignored and not supported. We were told that in order for any child to get any help, they have to be two grade levels behind. Once asked to assess our child, the school failed to meet deadlines and are completely out of compliance regarding assessment timelines. Once a parent requests an assessment the school has 60 days to assess and hold a meeting. This process took over 6 months despite multiple emails requesting progress updates. They claim to be all about diversity but our experience seemed quite the opposite. The teachers have so many students and the classes are so full they don’t have time to really get to learn about your child as an individual. My child would come home crying most days and would never want to go to school. When I asked the teacher and the school to help, they only denied any issues and said there were no issues.
Submitted by parent on September 03, 2021

GreatSchools.org -- Would you take the time to address the poignant review from April 8, 2021? Seems like a legitimate post. Additionally, when do reviews start falling off the back end of the ratings score? Ratings and reviews from 2010 have their place...in the Archives.
Submitted by parent on April 08, 2021

Great Schools please do not combine Test Scores and Equity Awareness scores to calculate an overall score. Most cities in Marin County do not even have Equity Awareness scores at all .. and they are therefore not taken into account in their overall scores. It is difficult to compare schools accurately when the method of determining a score is not consistent, and is therefore misleading and unfortunately unfair. Pleasant Valley School District is at a disadvantage from most other schools in the county because of your inconsistent method. And this unfairness has ramifications far beyond just the school, it effects residential real estate values and commercial real estate values as well. PLEASE be consistent in developing your overall school scores. Thank you.
Submitted by parent on March 30, 2018

Excellent. Strong involvement by both the teachers and parents. Teachers really go the extra mile to ensure that students are actively engaged and excited about learning. They even bring in outside experts from our exceptional regional universities, museums and scientific research institutions to expose our children to new ideas and concepts that expand their understanding of the world around them. They also focus on teaching emotional intelligence - a key skill in our increasingly collaborative work environments. We still have a few years to go here but so far- I'm impressed!
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2017

PV is a wonderful school with a caring, experienced staff. For the most part, we feel lucky to be there. However, in recent years, it's become clear that NUSD does not provide enough resources for the school to deal with the many IEPs and individual needs of all students. No one seems to know why such a wealthy community has to rely so strongly on parents to fundraise and volunteer in the classroom to attempt to do what our taxes are meant to do.
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2017

The teachers are very good as well as the front office staff. However, it appears the school and district policies restrict school administration from being effective at times in handling problem children that do harm to students who are focused on learning. (See bullying review above).
Submitted by parent on November 07, 2016

We could not be happier with this school. It is gem and we feel lucky to have found it. My daughter's The 1st grade teacher is wonderful and I am so impressed with the PTA and overall parent/community involvement.
Submitted by parent on June 29, 2016

PV has top-notch teachers and a great supporting community of parents and volunteers. My children love this school and we couldn't be happier.
Submitted by parent on January 26, 2016

Pleasant Valley has a tremendous community of parents, volunteers and educators coming together to give students an engaging and enriching environment in which to teach students 21st Century skills.
Submitted by parent on November 10, 2014

Loved the school under Mrs. Brown's direction. Wonderful, friendly, thoughtful woman who made the school fun and a true community for the families. Saddened by the extreme change. In last two years school has gone from 435 or so student to over 525. Too many kids and teachers do not have support they should have. Sense of community is no longer there and things are changing negatively.
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2014

The most recent posting from May 9 holds no validity and is simply bizarre. The office staff is superbly organized and volunteers are welcome where needed. My children have attended for two years and receive excellent support and challenging academics. It is not perfect, no school is, but it is improving every year and under excellent principal direction.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2014

If you have lots of money and don't care how you or your child(ren) are treated, you will love this school. The front office staff are incredibly rude and snotty. I guess the education is ok, but both my girls hated this school! The parental volunteer jobs are only given to a few favored parents, usually the ones who spend the most money. Overall very unhappy with this school. Terrible atmosphere.
Submitted by parent on May 14, 2011

Great school! The cooperation between teachers, administration, PTA and parent volunteers makes what makes this school shine. Principal Terry Brown knows the first names of every one of the 410 students and she leads a team of hardworking teachers and staff who are student focused and teach not only the academics, but citizenship as well. Volunteers provide strong support in the classrooms, bringing small group (5 students) instruction which is differentiated to challenge students on all levels. Volunteers run school events and support the teaching staff in a variety of ways. The school has a dedicated PTA organization that fundraises in effective and fun ways to provide financial support for the classrooms and for enrichment programs.
Submitted by parent on April 17, 2011

Wonderful school! My child is now in 7th grade Middle school GATE. PV gave him a superior education. He has been a 4.0 since starting Sinaloa Middle. I owe this to the teachers who saw his potential and pushed him to work harder. He also has an amazing set of friends from Pleasant Valley. A great community school.
Submitted by parent on December 29, 2010

We were sadly disappointed in this school. Under the last principle, our student as well as several friends and families students were not a priority. Instead it was the relationship between the teachers and former principle. Fortunately she is no longer there. It is frightening that she is not in a high position in the school district. Makes me ponder the districts priorities. Hopefully Ms. Gavin will give Pleasant Valley what it deserves, great leadership and re-frame the way a handful of teachers look at things.
Submitted by parent on August 17, 2010

Very tight knit community! Teachers are enthusiastic and PTA has organized monthly community building activities to further enhance this.