Explorer Community School

7040 208th Avenue Northeast

School District

Lake Washington
Grade

1-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:22
Type

public

School Map for Lake Washington School District

GreatSchools Rating

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on November 19, 2024

I want to express my serious concerns about the school. This is my fifth year as a parent here, and I feel it is important to share the review with recent experiences:Academics: The academic standards are at a bare minimum. The school changed a teacher in the middle of the year, and the students were notified before the parents. The new principal has not attended any parent conferences, which is something that has never happened with any of the previous principals over the past four years. Curriculum night was either canceled or reduced to just a slideshow, and it was stated that parents had agreed to this change. However, I can confidently say that we did not agree to it. Instead of encouraging more volunteer involvement, no one is taking responsibility for teaching or supporting the students. One of the best teachers at the school has been replaced by a long-term substitute who is performing poorly. She has shown no intention to connect with either parents or students. One of the main reasons I chose Explorer over private school was because of the very good teachers, despite the non-refundable fees I paid to the private school.Volunteer Expectations: For parents who are working, the expectations are unrealistic. Parents are expected to take time off from work twice a week for a few hours, which many employers would not accommodate. Field trips have become less about learning and more like outings for the children. Despite repeated requests, there has been no follow-up with students about what they are learning before or after these trips.Steering Committee (aka Mom’s Club): Even more concerning is the lack of flexibility and accountability within the committee. When mistakes were made on their end, they were unwilling to make adjustments. There is a sense that the committee members view themselves as "owning" the school. One of the committee’s main priorities seems to be socializing, rather than focusing on the students’ growth or supporting the school’s academic goals.
Submitted by parent on November 15, 2024

It's our 4th year at this school and I'll try to be as balanced in my review as possible. The concept of a community school is that you're aware of the work that needs to be put in and we all come together to give the kids a good experience. But in recent years (and reviews below) you can see there's a growing dissatisfaction. Explorer continues to run on the reputation of the previous principal and previous steering committee. But none of these people are longer with the school. The biggest complaint parents have is putting in the hours of work without getting the respect of being considered a member of the community instead just a "parent volunteer". In the current scenario parents have no input into anything, they are just told about the heaps of volunteering needed. The current principal has a mousy presence and very little leadership. The steering committee is made of a PTA-like governance without the credentials or experience of making the type of decision that's needed for a school. Lacks professionalism and vision. It's a mom club. The only saving grace was the 3 teachers who embodied Explorer from which two are no longer there. They have been replaced by two teachers without adequate experience to run a class at a community school. Family camp and field trips are planned with a militant approach whereas the school is lacking the drive to do better as a school. When you have a PTA run a school, instead of administration, it starts to take on a bias and lacks educational planning. Ask most parents. The community school in Kirkland is doing a much better job. If you become a part of the school be aware of: $300/child contribution, participating in a committee is mandatory, chaperone field trips twice a year (4 hours each minimum), volunteer for the family camp groups, help classroom work (support/homework correction), run 2-4 lessons/year for 8-10 students depending on what grade your child is in, being asked to volunteer for every PTA event at Dickenson next door and a lot of logistical help at every corner you turn. I wish I changed to our homeschool early on. Now they have friends it wasn't possible. For parents looking for special education, there's zero funding (even less at a small school like Explorer). You are better off focusing on getting an IEP in place. It used to be great school, now Explorer is a falling star.
Submitted by parent on November 13, 2023

Explorer is best suited for parents with flexible or single working families. It helps kids with social/ behavioral needs, but this may affect others' learning needs being combined across grades. Parents MUST be available to volunteer a lot, especially in class times, chaperoning typically between 10AM- 3PM. If you can assist teachers with weekly administrative work, field trips, other educational activities, this is a very good place. Doing so also allows the additional interactions with teachers and paves the path for greater opportunities for their children. Not volunteering causes extra burden on the families that then have to fill in the gaps with these needs. This can be stressful for the teachers and parents. The balance of power in this school is very unique with some parents and teachers playing the dual role of running the learning environment.The school is good for kids who thrive in a small community. Is not very academic driven, especially for 4/5 grade students being combined with Grades 1,2,3 for many enrichments.Parents play a pivotal role to enrich the curriculum. Many of these parents are not educators & this can cause ups and down with curriculum & learning with no checks in place by teachers/ admin.Cons: Chaos can run high due to parents playing a core part of administration. The success of the leans unfairly on all parents' participating and leading the Experiential learning activities causing imbalances.
Submitted by parent on November 08, 2022

TLDR: This is a GREAT school, for non-dual working parents, or parents with flexible work hours. For kids needing extra social or behavioral support, this is a safe & kind school. The amount of volunteering needed at this school is INSANE! Experiential learning is the biggest positive for this school. You get as much as you give back, by means of volunteering. If you can rally behind the teachers with weekly clerical work, once/ week at home corrections for Math, Friday choices commitments and chaperoning at least 2 times a year ( whole day commitment) this is a wonderful environment.The positives with the school: If your child needs extra social- emotional support and you do not mind being a teacher’s aide- this is a great environment. Many opportunities for dedicated parents to support with added curriculum enhancements such as Friday Choice, Field Trips, class parties, socials. The Passport club syllabus was great, but over the years, very watered down, and not really teaching much to the kids with the most load on PARENTS to prepare slideware for teachers to present. Art Smart is wonderful, with many dedicated moms going over and beyond sharing their knowledge and time. The biggest value add of ECS is the experiential learning via Field Trips and social events/ bonding outside school with events and meetups the social committee helps put-together ( much appreciated!). The higher grade 4/5 room is great with the Teacher providing additional support for 4/5 kids that may be advanced for their level. Negatives: In-class volunteering is mandatory, and they typically happen at very inconvenient hours such between 10:45- 2 PM and not clustered around pick up OR drop offs. The teachers lay a lot of expectations on some parents that have the time/ effort, or live close to go over and beyond, and there have also been some open prejudices against some parents that are unable to go volunteer in class. The bathroom’s infrastructure is subpar, not consistently cleaned, pathway to using the restroom is open to weather elements & unsupervised. Summary: Join if you want a "community environment", kids need extra emotional support & as parents you can volunteer during your workday, multiple times a month for various activities, this is a wonderful, close knit school. The learning at this school is built upon ALL parents volunteering & curriculum is developed keeping that in mind.
Submitted by other on May 22, 2021

Great school, amazing teachers, innovative learning approach. Explorer doesn't tend to focus on teaching its students the normal "memorize this thing because it will be on a test" like every other school I have attended. The school instead focuses on teaching things that will actually be useful. Advanced math? it won't be on the test for another 5 years, but sure. Latin and Greek routes? No way that's on your star learning test, but it will be useful for foreign language, later on, let's through it in there. Introduction to business skills? No way that's on the PSAT, but it definitely going to teach the students about money management, lets do a marketplace.In addition, explore tends to have a large number of students with smart, techy, parents, meaning that the kids there are also incredibly smart. I can still remember the uproar when the textbook told all the second graders that you couldn't do division this way "because numbers can't go below zero", because at that point they had a good understanding of negative numbers, exponents, pemdos, powers, etc. If you have an advanced child, this is where you want them. There's also 2-3 times more field trips, Friday activities where parents come in to teach student things they would never otherwise learn about (more on that next) and an amazing school-camp type thing at the end of the year.Now the bad. Part of the way Explorer achieves this advanced teaching approach is by receiving an extraordinary amount of help from parents. That math knowledge wasn't in a textbook, it was taught by a parent, and ex-Johns Hopkins professor, after the multi-digit multiplication (or whatever we were learning that day) was done. This is both good and bad. Nowhere else can your kid learn pig dissection or 3d-printing from an actual vet or engineer respectively, but it also is a requirement of the school that parents need to put in those hours to help teach that type of stuff (which is dubiously legal for a public school to do, but that's beside the point). Be ready to put a huge amount of time in. The last thing isn't an issue with Explorer, but with LWSD. When i attended there they actively blocked special ed kids from taking standardized tests. I can't remember if they considered me special ed because of my emotional or reading disability, but either way, I never took a standardized test over the 3 years I attended. So if you have a special-ed kid, make sure that your child gets what they're entitled to.
Submitted by parent on November 01, 2013

If you are looking for a school with a non-competitive atmosphere where you can get involved and devote your time, effort and energy. Then this is it! It's actually required to volunteer, but it is what makes our school great! Our teachers are amazing too, of course, and this community really works together (parents, teachers, students, administrator) to give the students an enriching education full of experiences that are fun, character-building and preparatory.