Queen Anne Elementary School

411 Boston Street

School District

Seattle Public Schools
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:8
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 June 02, 2022

Horrible school if you want your child doesn't follow rules to a "T". My child was harshly punished for minor things. Ms. Roy is horrible. 5/6 emails to her have been ignored completely and same with the teacher. The communication and willingness to communicate is just appealing. There is a lot of favoritism also from the teacher. I would not recommend this environment.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2022

As a current parent, I am a big fan of the current principal and school. The school lives their values around social emotional learning, and supporting the emotional needs of students. The reviews and complaints around "bullying" are completely inaccurate and misguided. The school principal and administrators are hands on during recess, and helping students to resolve conflict. This is not a school where behavior is labeled bad, and a kid will be punished or sent to the principals office. If you're a parent that hears something "happened" at school and you want a child "punished", yes, you might have a problem here. But if you understand that child development involves learning from mistakes, working with peers, and finding solutions when there are a problems, you will appreciate the approach this school takes towards learning and positive discipline. The description of not supporting neurodiverse children is also inaccurate, as there are a number of children here receiving services from a very engaged and caring team (great speech therapist, occupational therapist, etc). Warning: parents that are disgruntled about the current administration are referring to old politics that happened years ago at this point when an old principal was basically fired, and then some interim principal left and took a bunch of teachers to Lawton Elementary in Magnolia. I was curious why so many Queen Anne families had feelings about this school, and it seems to be related to some perceived injustice around these older politics. These have nothing to do with the current principal.
Submitted by parent on March 01, 2022

I had four kids go through this school over the course of ten years (starting in the school's second year). When the change of leadership happened, everything went downhill. That's not to say the previous leadership was perfect, far from it, but they at least cared about the students' social emotional health and looked to meet students' learning needs and accepted neurodiverse kids. Over half the staff left at the end of the new leader's first year. Many committed PTA parents left due to the change in attitude between the leadership and new parent cohort moving in. Special ed needs were never adequately addressed with my younger two under the new leadership. I had to fight to get them to even meet or follow IEP and 504 terms, let alone meet for evaluations. Focus was on pulling kids out of class for IEP minutes rather than work with kids in the classroom environment. Bullying was never adequately addressed. Kids were gaslit when issues were brought up. I witnessed this with my own kids and others. It's also an extremely white school community that says they want diversity, but every year I saw African American families come and go - most leaving after only a year - though some stayed. The community's idea of diversity does not include disabilities. Kids with disabilities are not treated equally and not protected from bullying. Neurodiverse kids are not accepted by the current administration and parents are not listened to with regard to how to manage neurodiverse students - insisting on adding more structure and being confrontational despite that being triggering for the student.
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2019

Great we are now going onto our 4th year and excited about the new spaces!!
Submitted by parent on October 07, 2017

An innovative approach to academics with up-to-date teaching methods, caring and dedicated teachers and an involved community. The technology focus is fantastic!
Submitted by parent on August 29, 2017

I love the community and the focus on the creative approach curriculum. they go beyond abc/123 and focus on modern learning approaches.
Submitted by other on July 11, 2016

We left after three years. The first two years, we had great teachers (one who has left for another elementary.) The third year, our child was not challenged and she was bullied. She started to say "I hate school" almost every day. We received no response from the teacher or Principal Elliot when we emailed about either of these concerns. At the end of the school year, we moved our child to another public elementary with the Spectrum program and have been happy with the Staff and community there.
Submitted by parent on May 17, 2015

If u go to this school I hope you are religious cause you better pray your kid does not get bullied cause the principal won't do a thing except blame your kid and make you feel like a bad parent
Submitted by parent on April 21, 2015

My son has attended QA Elementary since the first year of it's inception. We decided to attend QAE, and live in Queen Anne, after meeting David Elliot, the principal. His vision and leadership drives excellence in this community of amazing teachers and staff. David created a school with a focus on technology - not just how the kids use it, but how we teach children with it. This school is on the forefront of teaching in the 21st century, and finding ways to engage generations of children who are learning differently from how we were raised. I think a healthy sign of any school or business is execution of the mission, and ask a child at this school what they stand for. I bet everyone can name at least one of the Five Pillars (We are self-directed learners We encourage each other to think critically and learn more We are concerned, confident and compassionate citizens of the world We learn everywhere, we learn together We are creative) This stems from amazing execution of great values. If you have a chance to attend this school, do it.
Submitted by parent on March 20, 2015

For the most part, QAE is a good school with brilliant, thoughtful, dedicated teachers who are engaging and who truly care for the kids. BUT I don't feel my child is safe there for many reasons. First, the bullying issue. When my child was hurt by another kid, I was told by the principal that my kid was being annoying and that is why the other kid hurt him. I was stunned. There was also a little boy who liked to tell girls he was going to kill them, and the girls were told to just stay away from him. On the opposite end, there seems to be favoritism when it comes to meting out accountability for bullying - a boy was once told he had to eat lunch in the hallway for a week because he was being too loud during lunch and it bothered one little girl (whose mom seems to be tightly integrated into the school). Most recently, the school removed passwords from many of the kids' online showcases (without parental consent) so ANYONE can see them even though Rule #1 for cybersecurity is don't ever give out personal info to a stranger! Now anyone has access to names, pictures, hobbies, locations, names of family members, etc. Thus the 1 Star rating.
Submitted by parent on March 14, 2015

Our son has gone to Queen Anne Elementary since the first year it opened. The principal is highly dedicated and his greatest strength is his ability to hire staff who are concerned, connected to their students, and foster a vision of excellence. As a teacher myself I think it's important to remind parents that every year and every student is different. When choosing a school try to find one where you feel comfortable. You will never find a school that fulfills every hope and whim. Personalities sometimes clash, no matter where you go. Growing up isn't easy, and elementary school is naturally a time when children learn about themselves and how to work with others. Behaviorally my son is in the middle somewhere. He isn't a problem, or an angel--just an average guy. Over the last five years he has sometimes struggled to find balance both academically and socially. But Queen Anne Elementary is a family within itself, and with the help of his fabulous teachers, he has learned to both persevere and thrive.
Submitted by parent on October 21, 2014

Our kid has gone here since 2nd -now in 5th. We're generally happy at QAE + have liked all her teachers except one. If your kid needs extra help, you need ID it early + be their educational advocate. Not much HW at QAE citing studies that argue its effectiveness. While hours might not be good, a bit of HW to reinforce learning is key. 5th grade does have a bit of HW. Most teachers want your kid to read 20+ mins/day. There's a lot of parent involvement. Lunch runs in 3 twenty minute shifts. Facilities a bit tired: a garden, small gym, covered climbing wall, outdoor basketball court, blacktop (sorry, no grass field), small salad bar at lunch, special ed, childcare, library. Also: blogs for everyone! After-school clubs vary but can incl: math for girls, math, chess, robotics, basketball, debate, art, and programming. I get what one reviewer said about bullying. My kid had a bully incident in 2nd gr + I felt the school didn't address it to my satisfaction. I reported it to the district + asked them to mediate. Almost everyone, incl parents, are friendly. (There's always 1 or 2 sour ones). Principal is dedicated, most teachers are great, curriculum is tech-focused + project-based.
Submitted by parent on July 09, 2013

Excellent, dedicated, well-trained teachers. A very active and supportive group of parents. Thoughtful and dedicated principal who is highly regarded by QAE staff, students and parents as well as by those from his previous school (Coe Elementary). Progressive in their approaches to educating with emphasis on math, science, technology, and project-based learning. Just wish state funding for public schools would dedicate budget to upgrade QAE facilities to match the caliber of their teachers/staff. Overall I highly recommend.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2013

It's sad to rate a community school so poorly. We had high hopes for this school. The principal and teachers do not know how to deal with bullying. My sons were severely bullied here and the teacher told us that "he needs to learn to deal with bullies on his own." The principal told us that the students doing the bullying didn't have "a mean bone in their bodies." We didn't receive the items we purchased at the auction, even after numerous emails, and the principal and auction workers were extremely rude to us. My sons were in tears at the thought of going back to this school. Needless to say, we withdrew. I hope this school can improve their leadership and care for all students.