Green Lake Elementary School

2400 North 65th Street

School District

Seattle Public Schools
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:14
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 27, 2023

Green Lake Elementary, under Principal Amy Klainer, offers an inclusive environment that champions diversity. Ms. Klainer's commitment to quality education and open communication with parents is impressive. In terms of teaching, Ms. Shelly Poss, the kindergarten teacher, shines. Her engaging teaching style caters to all backgrounds and abilities, ensuring every student feels valued. She's instrumental in nurturing not only academic growth but also social skills in students. The school’s administrative assistant, Amy Carroll, contributes significantly to the smooth running of the school with her efficient management skills. She’s always ready to help parents, adding to the positive atmosphere at Green Lake Elementary.Green Lake Elementary offers a range of extra-curricular activities, ensuring holistic development for students. Its commitment to equal opportunities and support for students in need is commendable.Overall, Green Lake Elementary is a nurturing and robust educational setting where all children can thrive. I'm thrilled my son is receiving such a fantastic start to his education here. Highly recommended!
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2023

My fraternal twin boys have been at Green Lake K-3 so far and we love this school with all our hearts. Principal Amy Klainer and Admin Amy Carroll are a dynamic duo; in my experience Principal Klainer runs the school with such positive energy, openness, and empathy. Ms. Carroll runs a tight ship. The staff are ALL incredible and bring such warmth to the school. Our student body does admittedly lack diversity. I can only speak for the experience of my 2 sons who live in the neighborhood, are white, and speak English as their first language. They LOVE their school and have only good things to say about their peers and their teachers. 3rd graders are kind and create safe space for each other. Upper classes are currently struggling with some bullying problems and our PTA is working to support the staff to help them better address the challenges. We have a strong PTA; our volunteers care deeply about the school and work hard to provide supplemental funding and support that teachers and staff request. We do really unique stuff like running a 6-week swim program for all K-3 students at Evans Pool during the school day to ensure all students can participate, and we send 5th graders to Islandwood for a weekend bonding experience. We also provide financial support to a sister school in our District. My sons can't wait to go to school every day. They love their friends, they love their teachers, and they love to learn. What more could a parent ask of an Elementary school?!
Submitted by parent on May 31, 2022

I'm following up with my prior review because WOW have things gotten so much BETTER!Here is the first bit from my prior review:I love this school. I love the teachers and their passion. I love the community filled with people with big hearts. I love the inclusivity and the really hard work being done by everyone to make social justice and equity a primary pillar and focus. Kids are taught to be kind, to learn from each other, and to understand how their actions make a difference in the world. All this to say, this school is amazing because of the people who show up (in person and virtually) to make it amazing. ***I'm changing the second part because our new Principal is amazing! She started in Fall 2021 and the entire atmosphere of the school immediately shifted, was warmer and more inclusive. Principal Klainer has really made this school a more supportive place for students, staff and family. Everyone I've spoken with has only high praise and an optimistic outlook for how our school will move forward.
Submitted by parent on December 13, 2021

Many hard working and dedicated teachers here but they struggle in a system that is failing to support them. Agree with another post that states -there is little help if your child needs help catching up. After school tutoring lacked a professional approach. If your child needs extra attention the large classroom sizes, and lack of teaching assistants here is going to be extremely challenging for you and your children.
Submitted by parent on November 03, 2021

We have embraced this public school, and found a thriving community of kids, teachers, and involved parents. The teachers we have had are innovative and thoughtful, and capable of connecting with my kid in a way not every adult is able. We absolutely adore our current 2nd grade teacher. Our experience with the kindergarten setup was positive; because they all get to know each other, they form community early and that seems to stay with them in the smaller classes in the future years. We love that we know a lot of the neighborhood kids, and the new principal (as of fall 2021) seems like a great fit for this school.
Submitted by parent on October 26, 2020

A year ago, my review would have been different. The pandemic has revealed many issues and ineffective leadership with a lot of finger pointing. The principal doesn't seem to lead, and is quick to blame the steering committee, the district, the union, and her own teachers when mistakes are made or issues arise. The mixed-class kindergarten is chaotic, but seems to work with great teachers at the helm. The PTA is a powerhouse and really what drives the sense of community and support--and that is driven by passionate, engaged parents.
Submitted by parent on July 03, 2018

We have a host of mixed feelings about this school. It's success all comes down to the teachers on the front lines. They've been working with limited resources and grew fast with a MAGIC (multi-age classroom model) that was not scalable to the 25% increase in students across five years time. It's sad for the kids who were caught in the experimental classroom structures as it feels as though their education was a experiment from beginning to end.
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2018

The Spanish immersion program has been a great for my daughter, she started kindergarten with no Spanish experience at all, and by 5th grade she is fluent!
Submitted by parent on June 08, 2017

Principal not friendly! Too many bully, not suggest other races go. White ok.
Submitted by teacher on November 16, 2015

The open classroom concept in the kindergarten does not seem to be a good model. There are so many kids that there is practically no one on one attention, it is chaotic and the children often seem lost. i.e. One kid might be still looking for his lunch, which he can't remember where he put it among the coats and back packs and the rest of the class is leaving for lunch. Often, no one even notices that he's still looking and the class leaves. I noticed that kids primarily read to themselves and not in any kind of reading group. I think it would be very easy for one child to totally get left behind (mentally) and no one would really notice. Perhaps they need a LOT of parent volunteers.
Submitted by parent on September 04, 2015

Chaotic and rundown with poor communication from teacher(s). Our experience was that if you have the slightest outburst you are targeted as a bad student and you will get phone calls, asked to pick up your child or suspension. Overall our experience is that the Seattle schools are looking out for themselves and to make accommodations first and foremost, for themselves and not an individual student. We knew we hit a wall after speaking with the rep of Seattle schools special-ed in the region who called called students in one of the programs at the school the "r" word. Yes...it still happens.....and was appalling. If you have a student with any special needs, you have you to be their own advocate and I suggest you hit the ground running at the beginning of the year so your child and you have a voice.
Submitted by parent on June 21, 2015

The address previous posters:RE: Chaos. GLES follows the MAGIC class structure system (Multi Age Grade Instruction Classroom, I believe!). This means there are multiple ages within 1 homeroom. You have the same teacher for: 1/2 - 2 years, 3/4/5-3 years. Kinder used to be 1 teacher/1 class until 2 yrs ago, when they adopted the responsive classroom approach (1 big classroom, homeroom groups per teacher. This is more in line with the MAGIC structure). The teachers voted on the MAGIC structure not too long ago, not because of the open floor plan.The benefits of this system are huge. Teachers get to really know your children, and guide them through multiple years of learning progress. There is not lag time spent each year with getting to know your teacher/child. Also, for us, coming from a Montessori environment, was perfect.Next, I just completed kindergarten myself and have never heard of this dark "consequence" room. There are side rooms that are used for break-out learning groups but I have never experienced a child being put into a dark room. This type of talk, seems extremely inflammatory and misleading. I have experienced the classroom discipline, which in my opinion, is fair and building towards making better decisions.As a parent with 2 children, one with needs, I have found our experience at GLES overall to be a very positive one. It's a small community of parents who really care, with huge volunteerism. Our child has received all possible assistance to help in their academic and social career. Having had the same teacher for 2 yrs, allowed us to really focus in on the discovery of our child's issue and put together a future plan that was immediately implemented. This would not have been the case if we'd had a new teacher each year, having the re-familiarize each time.Bottom line is= each school has it's own personality and it's really how well (or not well in some cases) do you click with it. But providing misleading information is irresponsible.
Submitted by parent on January 09, 2015

While the test scores are good, and the staff is warm and welcoming, I found the learning environment to be chaotic. Because the school was built in the 1970s, there is an open floor plan, so the classes are of mixed age. They only stay with their grade for subjects like Math and Science. Literacy is according to their level, so they will be older or younger students. There are many wonderful science projects going on. That is all well and good, but how the students can concentrate is beyond me. The place is a mess and utterly disorganized. Academics does not seem to be a priority; stewardship and friendship are, which is nice, but academics are important as well.
Submitted by parent on December 06, 2014

My son experienced about 8 weeks of kindergarten at Greenlake elementary school and has nothing positive to report about it. For 8 weeks children were wearing name tags in the classroom, one week is justifiable but not 8 to learn the names of the children. Whenever the children had extra energy and wiggled on their seats they would lose recess time as a consequence. The kindergarten class had a little dark "consequence room" at the back of the class where a child would be sent when disturbing the class. The communication with the teacher was almost non-existent and it was very difficult to support my son and the teacher into a fruitful learning environment. The Seattle school district administration was responsible for unilaterally transferering my son multiple time until putting him a in special education class because his first language was not English and the transition was difficult.
Submitted by parent on July 19, 2014

I don't normally post reviews anywhere, but as we recently relocated and trying to find reliable accurate information about schools has been a nightmare I felt I should do my duty. I had 3 children attend Green Lake for 2 years. We were welcomed into the community and had great experiences with the younger grades. I cannot speak 2nd grade, but we loved our time at Green Lake. Very active PTO. Very social community. School needs an update, but they work well with what they have. Nice, but firm and seemingly involved principal. Parents are welcome at the school anytime and they are happy to put you yo work in the classrooms.
Submitted by parent on March 03, 2014

We are in our 6th year at greenlake and cannot say enough wondeful things about it. The teachers are incredibly dedicated and innovative. They spearheaded the move to multiage classrooms which has created a callaborative and continuous learnin experience for our child. The parent involvement is huge. Our child is entering middle school next year in advanced math and with excellent writing skills.
Submitted by parent on June 03, 2013

It is true that the OSPI Accountability Index Score went down because the Science and Writing Tests were lost. According to the State Superintendent's Office Green Lake mistakenly returned these test booklets to the vendor with their package of 'not to be scored materials'. I agree with the previous post that the district and the principal should better publicize the fact that the low Accountability Index score is because of the lost tests. While they are at it they should also do a more accurate job of explaining how those tests went missing.
Submitted by teacher on June 01, 2013

As a teacher at this school, I feel it necessary to correct the previous poster. While it is true that the science and writing scores did go down, what is NOT publicized is that this is due to the fact that our science and writing scores were LOST by the testing company and all those scores were reported as zeros! Some have now been found and the numbers are quite different. For example, there were only 3-4 students who did NOT pass the science test; a decidedly different score than those reported. I wish that this information was made more public, but alas...
Submitted by other on July 18, 2012

Green Lake Elementary School is the best school ever. It truly, honestly coud not get any better. This is coming from a now 6th grader who just left Green Lake after 6 years. Best 6 years of my life. I made no enemies and all the teachers are EPIC. I love GLES!!! This place will always be my favorite school no matter what. So if your looking for a school, this is the place for you. You DEFINETLY wont regret it. GO DRAGONS!!!!!!!!
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2012

Simply put, Greenlake is an outstanding school where the teachers and staff are committed to the academic, physical and moral education of the children entrusted to them. I have a son and a daughter in this school and they are thriving and enjoying the classroom (this comes after my son spent two years at a school where he hated to attend and was labeled as a having a behavioral issues). The Principal is accessible and involved and there are more programs and volunteers than anyone could hope for, so much that I feel my children are receiving a private school education. They also have a great program for children with special needs which is integrated into the school. The PTA could do a better job reaching out to new parents (we seem to be on the outside trying to find a way in to this group), but they care about the school's success nonetheless.