Merritt Trace Elementary School

651 Dana Avenue

School District

San Jose Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:23
Type

public

School Map for San Jose 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 February 28, 2024

Trace has everything a parent can wish for, and more: numerous affordable on-site after-school programs, community-building events, and amazing enrichment programs like STEM Lego classes, chess club, and math club. Moreover, there are visual-performance art after-school programs like drama, choir, band, and orchestra that children can take for a small voluntary donation. My 8-year-old child is in orchestra and is learning how to play cello. They actually provide two instruments for each child: one for home and one for school. The principal is great and really cares about improving the school. We are very happy with our decision of sending our children to Trace.
Submitted by parent on January 05, 2024

We're absolutely loving Trace Elementary for our two kids! The new principal has turned the school around since she started at Trace in 2021. The teachers are top-notch and the admins really know how to tune into what kids need. What really blew us away is the parent-teacher organization – they’re super involved and set up all sorts of interesting activities for the kids. From the Lego club for fun to more brainy activities like the math and chess clubs, there's always a lot going on. Both of my kids attend the math club, which prepares the students for standardized logic and math tests; some students have even been nationally ranked in math competitions! Hats off to the teachers and everyone involved at Trace – you guys make this school a fantastic place for our kids to learn and grow!
Submitted by parent on October 18, 2023

Our kids have been going to this school for the past 6 years. We’ve had a good experience overall. The teachers are wonderful and we’ve enjoyed the community spirit at the school. We love the Spanish immersion program (which is why we chose this school). But the visual performing arts program is what sets this school apart. It’s the only one in the district and is truly amazing!
Submitted by parent on July 10, 2021

do not go to this school, my child was being bullied and whenever she tried to speak up she said they only told her to solve it herself. terrible at handling bullying.
Submitted by parent on December 11, 2020

Poor experience with the school, had to withdraw my kids. All values are substituted, school cater to a very specific community, very intolerant, non-inclusive. Bulling is OK, if not a norm.
Submitted by parent on May 07, 2019

Love the teachers. The administration is horrible. Bullies are tolerated and protected.
Submitted by parent on November 20, 2018

Excellent overall experience. The school is a rare gem and still has music, drama, bilingual, etc.
Submitted by parent on June 02, 2018

We've been pleasantly surprised at the quality of this school, which serves an underprivileged and challenging population, but has a lot of great assets in its teachers, leadership staff, visual and performing arts program, two-way bilingual immersion program, and dedicated PTO that helps pay for enrichment the school district can't. The low score is a result of the poverty we allow our children to live in, not school quality. Children with more support will thrive here where the focus is on social and emotional intelligence, not just academics.
Submitted by parent on September 26, 2017

The teachers and staff at Trace Elementary are all brilliant! I had 2 children attend this school, from Kinder through to 2nd and 4th grade. I love how the teachers are so invested and genuinely care about your child's development. It's so good that they have still managed to keep their drama, Mr Boston the drama teacher and Mrs Warburton the music teacher are fabulous!! We have moved to Arizona and were sad that we had to leave such a great school behind. That being said, I would highly recommend this school to anyone. It's a safe and loving environment, perfect for children to grow in.
Submitted by parent on May 21, 2017

This is our first year at Trace. We VERY happy with the music, art, drama and PE that is offered to the children. The staff is kind and hard working. My daughter's teacher is one of the most hard working, talented women I have encountered in a long time. My only complaint is the large class size. Even in the kindergarten classes they have 1 teacher to 30 student with no aide. That is simply too much for even the best teachers to be able to manage effectively.
Submitted by parent on February 26, 2016

Our experience in the past five years has been been improving every year. The recent change of Principal has been a significant step in the right direction as she is committed, engaged, personable, and truly community oriented.Pros:Academically, while we wish the school does more, but honestly, the foundation skills are being taught to the majority of the students, and it is a safe environment for learning, provided by caring staff and faculty. With few exceptions, the teaching staff is energetic, engaging, and well qualified to lead these kids through primary school.As a Visual Performing Arts Magnet school, the teaching of the arts by a Music, an Art and a Drama teacher who are all FULL TIME faculty, give these kids an amazing experience all while learning so much. This is of course, in addition to the regular curriculum which has only been improving over time. The Two-Way Billingual Immersion program is another plus! The program has allowed Native English speakers and non-Speakers to inter-mesh, learn together and help each other out, helping both groups grow in language ability as well as cultural awarness.Community oriented events- The school aong with its active PTO have continued to put on events that welcome the entire school community to partake, including Drama performances, Fund-raisers, and carnival-like festivals. These events allow everyone in the community to join in on the fun and feel engaged to be part of this school's community.In 2015-2016 a new Principal has come into the school and she is vibrant, and dedicated to making this school even better. She is approachable and personable and has been willing to make changes to things in order to make things better and keep more of the community engaged.Cons:As with many schools, the more advanced students are left with few options to get even farther ahead as over half of the school is not up to standard. If it were not for the Billingual program and Arts programs, I suspect the number of students performing below average would be much greater since many would leave for other schools.Conclusion- May not be for everyone, but our family loves Trace as we stay active and engaged in the school community for the sake of our kids and have met some great friends too.
Submitted by parent on December 08, 2015

We love the TWBI program and the arts the school has to offer. The reason I'm not giving the school 5 stars is really the school district's fault: The classes should all have a permanent teaching aide given the class sizes.
Submitted by parent on November 19, 2015

MIss principal, Mrs. Rocha, despite what some may say she was a nice woman.New principal is quite rude.
Submitted by parent on November 18, 2015

Trace is a very good school. It has a lot of programs that the children can get into, also the arts program is great! Teachers are caring and very involved. The parent help and participation is inspiring and am happy to be a part of.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2015

As a parent who has had three children in this school under different principals I can say that the current administration is severely lacking in any kind of administrative, social, and/or problem solving skills of any kind. The principal Mrs. Rocha is very rude, defensive, and does not have the skills to run a school this size. As a fellow Hispanic it is quite embarrassing. Mr. Lee is beyond horrible and doesn't even remember circumstances that happened the day before. I have had very negative interactions with this administration and they are dismissive of parent's concerns. On a positive note the PTO is great, the parents that are involved are a good support to each other as well as the teachers. Most of the teachers at Trace are dedicated and do try their best under below average circumstances. I am definitely considering moving my child to a different school.
Submitted by parent on August 18, 2014

Have been fairly happy with the school. Class sizes are ridiculous. 30 of any grade per teacher is a recipe for failure. I have no idea why the ratio on this site is listed at 18 per teacher. Spelling and grammar mistakes are common and seem to be completely overlooked by staff. Definitely have to figure out what teachers are good. Principal is not well received by parents and her staff which has resulted in favorite teachers ditching Trace for other schools.
Submitted by parent on August 13, 2014

The year is 2014. The school is great if you are a Spanish speaker. This is not really a Rose Garden / Shasta Hanchett neighborhood school. High percentages of the students either comes from the Luther Burbank areas or are bused from downtown San Jose area. The Principal's lack of fluency in the English language has limit her involvements and participations with the school activities. She is more comfortable and thus immersed herself with the Spanish speaking community. The current year also saw some significant changes in the upper grade. The 5th. grade teachers decided to change the curricula such that the students no longer has a home room. They will be asked to move from classroom to classroom for different subjects. This was done for the sole purposed of alleviating the inconvenience on each teacher to prepare materials for the entire 5 subjects. This way each teacher has only to prepare 2 to 3 subjects only, placing the inconvenience on the students who have to go from classroom to classroom in order to take the different subjects.
Submitted by parent on June 08, 2014

What a disappointment this school has been. The principal would sweep any important issues under the rug, saying they are not a concern of the Trace Families, when they very well were. They was very little communication, and their weekly phone calls consistently hung up on me. When there was paper communications, it wasn't in english, making it really hard to sign permission slips. Fortunately we will not be returning to the school.
Submitted by parent on February 07, 2014

Highs: - Strong PTO, but just low participation from parents. It's the same few parents that you see at all the events and activities. - Performing arts program is very strong with great teachers - Certain teachers are very committed to their jobs, you have to know which ones they are. Lows: - Administration isn't very strong or diverse, and many times not available for help. - Focus is on bringing up kids who are low on performance, at the expense of kids who have potential and need to be more challenged. - Not very much focus on cultural diversity education because of such high concentration of certain ethnic backgrounds. - Bullying is a big issue at this school. - Classes are at capacity, mostly 30 to a room, with no in class support except for parent volunteers. - No programs for special needs or gifted and talented education. - Need to update their communications, seem to waste a lot of paper and efforts on sending out multiple notices, seems very inefficient and costly.
Submitted by parent on October 10, 2013

The comment about hiring Keith Woodhouse is way off! The school administration is completely separate from the private after school program that hired him. Furthermore, the problem was that Woodhouse's previous employers have him positive work references, instead of reporting him to the police. This allowed unsuspecting child care organizations to hire him. I was actually impressed with how the after school program administration got this guy arrested quickly. It's a terrible situation, but it occurred because the Catholic school and day camps where he worked previously failed to do what's right and allowed other children to become victims. Trace is a good school, it has some issues, a big one is the principal Mrs. Rocha, who has no leadership skills, does not handle bullying properly, and does not work well with parents. The music, arts, drama, and two-way bilingual program are great. And so are the teachers and other staff.