Genesee Hill Elementary School

5013 Southwest Dakota Street

School District

Seattle Public Schools
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

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 May 28, 2024

This is the most blatant racist school! They make no apologies and if you have a problem they will tell you that "this school might not be a good fit for your child". Every Black child that enrolled has been pushed out. Look at the records.
Submitted by parent on April 21, 2022

Excellent experience with two kids. Clear expectations for kids. Willingness to provide extra help before the parent requests. Early reading help is available in kindergarten v other elementary schools that wait until 2nd grade. Strong focus on social and emotional skills weekly. Great staff that works together. The best elementary school in West Seattle!
Submitted by parent on December 08, 2021

Our first grader loves his teacher and has made tangible progress in reading, handwriting and math since beginning to attend in-person. Virtual kindergarten was difficult and it has been a gift to watch him flourish in-person.
Submitted by parent on July 17, 2021

My kids enjoyed this school.PTA is well funded and they have many enrichment classes.Though it is a big school, it is well organized and easy to follow what’s happening at school.My kid struggled thru pandemic but when we asked for help, the school counselor, teachers and assistant principal made a special plan for my kid and worked with my kid very well. They were very helpful.
Submitted by parent on July 16, 2020

Very positive experience. 1st & 2nd grade teachers have been phenomenal. I can see our kids light up when they interact with their teacher and they establish a very strong bond over the year.
Submitted by parent on February 07, 2020

At the end of the day, the most important aspect of supporting kids with disabilities is for the staff to clearly see the child and formulate a plan to accommodate them in the most appropriate learning environment. While plans are moving targets, I can say with absolute certainty that this school clearly does NOT see children's strengths and where they need support, and does NOT address these abilities in the most appropriate settings.Parents who send their kids here should feel spirit-wracked knowing the school does NOT "have" their kids. In my experience, if there is something they think they could do better, they should be open to the conversation. They would get sued a lot less and the students would actually prosper instead of having their skills atrophy.
Submitted by parent on May 30, 2018

This school is good for "average learners." If your child is academically advanced or needs additional support look elsewhere. Also, if you value equity and diversity this may not be a good fit. The biggest challenge for us is the size of the school. It is hard to get resources and hard to build community when there are 125+ kids per grade level. Get away from using Great Schools ratings, tour schools, and talk to parents about the best fit for your child.
Submitted by parent on January 30, 2018

We have been happy with this school so far. We love that the pta is able to supply the entire school with supplies on the first day of school.
Submitted by parent on January 31, 2017

Great school. High parent involvement. All the teachers we've experienced were wonderful, caring and dedicated.
Submitted by parent on December 17, 2015

Strengths: Parental involvement, plenty of resources to compensate for shameful public funding levelsWeaknesses: Uneven teacher competency and commitment, administration that puts plausible deniability over children's interests, glaring oversights in regard to student safety (recent example: autistic child with egg allergy is given gingerbread house icing made from raw egg--class is offhandedly told "remember not to eat the icing")Bottom line: There's nothing special here. If your child is of average abilities and likely destined for a career of low-level bureaucracy and rote repetition, this school will be adequate--provided there's a parent with free time to pitch in and cover the gaps. If your child has any special capabilities or needs or is exceptional in any way, you would be better served elsewhere.
Submitted by parent on September 04, 2014

I love this school! My son had a fantastic Kindergarten experience last year -- in large part because of our wonderful teacher. I also heard fantastic feedback about the other Kindergarten teachers, too, so I would tell new parents that your incoming kids are in excellent hands! Every staff member I have met has been engaging, and the principal is very available/approachable. The PTA is simply unparalleled -- family involvement (in terms of both time and dollars) is very generous, and I'm grateful for everyone's hard work. I feel proud every time I tell someone in the community Schmitz Park is our school. The only reason I can't offer 5 stars is because the facility itself is far too small and outdated for the 600+ students who go there. But a new school is in the works, and parents and staff are involved in that process, too.
Submitted by parent on August 22, 2014

Over crowded. Very poor leadership. Read the school report card, staff and parent "grade" for leadership consistently dropping over the last few years. Parent complaints about principal mostly ignored. Parent concerns voiced to principal gets your child targeted for discipline. Only good thing is most teachers good but the best ones leave for other schools. Now my child out of there I'm very relieved.
Submitted by parent on August 21, 2014

This is an incredibly overcrowded school. There are 12+ portables. Very uneven teacher quality, first year teachers are consistently hired. Overall there seems to be more interest in achieving high standardized test scores than any creative or inspired teaching. The active PTA is the best thing this school has going for it.
Submitted by parent on October 24, 2013

This is a great school. The only issue I can think of is that it could be more ethnically diverse. The staff and principals are great, the expectations high, the PTA does wonderful things and raises large amounts of funds to add all types of before and after school enrichment programs. Haven't had a single bad experience there in 4 years. No complaints at all!
Submitted by parent on September 12, 2013

This school used to be a great school until the new principal got rid of every old teacher that dared not to agree with everything that he tried to do. Teacher that were working at the school for decades were pushed out and the principal brought his own crew. I didn't think that this kind of Stalin style purges could happen in the schools. I though that's something that politicians did. It has actually been very disturbing to watch great teachers being pushed out. The teachers that didn't want to leave on their own were set up by the assistant principal and pushed out that way. Very, very disturbing.
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2013

This school has the family supported Singapore Math curriculum unlike nearly all of the Seattle Schools. The PTA is powerful and demands a lot of time and $ from families. Its often called a "public private school" by locals. The PE program was superior, but has declined in the last few years . (The program swung to strongly favor girls.) The school is now so crowded, there are 14 portables on the property. A new school is slated to be built in 2016 blocks away. The school currently sits on acres of woodland, and classes are frequently guided on hikes through the woods. Kids get a broad education. Increasing extracirricular activities (like dance class) steadily reduce classroom time for core studies, which may or may not be good. The teachers are first rate, and to ensure this, poor performing teachers have been fired.