Winterhaven School

3830 Southeast 14th Avenue

School District

Portland 1j
Grade

K-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:17
Type

public

School Map for Portland School District 1j

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 September 11, 2024

This has been an excellent school for my children and our family.
Submitted by parent on May 03, 2021

Winterhaven is an excellent school. The small community really allows for students and families to get to know each other very well. The teachers are amazing, especially the new teachers hired to replace ones who retired recently. My child really enjoys the opportunity to take art with the K-5 art teacher. The school does an amazing job with the limited resources PPS provides it.
Submitted by other on February 23, 2021

This school does not teach values of kindness and empathy. The school culture is toxic and bullying is rampant. What makes it worse is that the school principal and teachers justify mistreatment of certain children by falling into the same rules as the privileged parents who are responsible. The school touts itself as academically rigorous by "teaching to the top" which in and of itself is a ridiculous commentary on the poor teaching. The school lacks an understanding of teaching pedagogy that promote inspired learning and creativity. Rigorous math? My child was sent home with 100 problem worksheets --as if that's rigor! Save your child's love of learning and self esteem by avoiding this school. It is a bland, stressful, and highly toxic environment. This is particularly true for girls and it likely stems from the old bias about stereotypes about STEM and boys. Art? Forget it, the curriculum is far from integrated. Art? Untalented parents run the art program and kids end up doing cookie cutter and boring projects that stifle creativity. Winterhaven is an example of the worst of the worst. Today we need schools that are sensitive to differences and cultivate the strengths young children. The best schools ignite discovery and inspiration instill a love of learning and promote kindness. Winterhaven is toxic. This school "pulls out" certain kids for TAG testing and makes it known which kids are tested and which are not. You also have Queen Bee mom's and emasculated dads fostering a culture of exclusion, relational aggression, and prejudice--all the while touting how progressive they are! Compare the teachers and curriculum at Winterhaven to exemplary schools and it's startling. Winterhaven is all about uninspired rote learning."Rigor" is the excuse for bad teaching and old school drill and test. Parents fall into line, pressuring their kids to demonstrate their superiority--at the expense of the child's identity, social competence, and love of learning. This school earns a very low F.
Submitted by parent on December 05, 2020

The math program is ok but I don't recommend it for humanities or for taking care of kids' social/emotional needs. The English classes seem mostly about comprehension and not actually critical thinking and the science teacher is maybe better suited for highschool, he always seemed a little annoyed with my son and overall not suited for having the patience/understanding for that age group. My experience was not great. On the surface it seems really cute and close knit, but there's definitely some toxicity there. It's possible that it's the same problems you'd run into with any school but since it's so small they really stick out and are unavoidable.
Submitted by parent on July 20, 2018

My family spent over a decade at this school, and it was a very positive experience.
Submitted by other on January 19, 2015

To second another reviewer, this is not a comfortable place to kids whose families don't have the money to buy them gadgets, to on vacations, drive them to events, etc. It's great for the homogenous groups it serves, and it would be great if a more diverse group could access that kind of education. Winterhaven's not set up for that, though. Parents in our family tried it, and managed to go through and get out at the grades the kids entered in. That is it. Had a very unwelcoming reaction from other families, too, when it came to people that didn't fit in with the rest. Couldn't even have kids' friends and their friends' families from other schools to go events without everyone walking off feeling like we'd come in oozing pus. Not a good experience. Good riddance.
Submitted by other on January 08, 2015

As a completely satisfied student of WH, I couldn't be happier to be here now and to accept the future that Winterhaven will bring me to accomplish. I love the elective system and coming from a small school, I think that WH is a great fit for me socially. It challenges me academically to reach and exceed my limits.
Submitted by other on May 20, 2014

According to Winterhavens site, it is a math, technology and science school. That is NOT true. Sure, the math and science is advanced, but the technology? We do things like take pictures with cameras or make silent films, how, in any world, is that advanced technology? Oh and the computers? Yup, they're easily over 5 years old and you can't do ANYTHING on them without them freezing up or having to restart. Other than the lying about having advanced technology though, it's a pretty good school.
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2014

Winterhaven school is NOT a school for special needs children because they have very little support from the district. Neighborhood schools are much better equipped for children with special needs. However, for the children who are above average learners or who enjoy becoming life-long learners, Winterhaven is the BEST! The teachers at Winterhaven really care about their students!
Submitted by other on October 05, 2013

Reading all the comments make me laugh, so what if we have "special" kids? The "special" kids are actually some of the smartest and coolest kids. I haven't had a problem with money, we don't care if someone doesn't have as much money. I love my school because it is equal, everyone is viewed the same. Bullying is not a problem at this school AT ALL.