Chautauqua Elementary School

9309 Southwest Cemetery Road

School District

Vashon Island
Grade

PK, K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Vashon Island 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 November 26, 2023

Worst school district, not safe, not equitible, it's just horrible beyond words. What ever you do, Do not send your children to this school...
Submitted by other on June 08, 2023

I will start by stating that parents on Vashon are typically (not always) privileged and entitled. Our kids are primarily white, middle class or higher level economically, and are given opportunities that are not available in other neighborhoods. We are extremely lucky to have the amazing public schools that we have.We had a WONDERFUL experience with Chautauqua and are feeling very optimistic about the high school given the early communications we've had.McMurray is the purgatory for kids in school on the islands. It's a holding ground where some teachers care and are amazing and frustrated, but the administration doesn't bother to reply to concerns, get engaged with kids who are struggling, or offer tools for success. If they don't fit into the mold of "average student" or "severely lacking", they are disregarded.Our tested and accepted as "highly capable" child entered the school in a highly capable program to help him not get bored with programs and lose interest and motivation. This has not been even mildly acknowledged and teachers expect busy work to do their job without actually teaching the subject. This highly capable child is failing, and while we accept that he has responsibility in this, we also know that no one bothered to reach out beyond early 7th grade to develop a plan or system. No one provided continuous support. No one was on their side.There is no celebration of these kids accomplishments, only disappointment when they fail. There is ZERO communication with the parents when they are struggling. If the kids don't tell you, it will be a shocking surprise when the grades come through with very little to no plans or suggestions on how to support them and engage them.We are huge fans of public schools, and are still considering alternatives for our younger son, after seeing our highly energetic, positive, highly capable child who loved school go to McMurray and leave hating school, feeling depressed, and lacking any motivation with the exception of a few highly engaging teachers who are what keep this school going, because it certainly does not exist in the administration.
Submitted by parent on May 11, 2023

Our son's experience here as been absolutely phenomenal, especially compared to the schools off-island our first went to. I was first worried about lack of diversity until we moved here and realized I had it wrong- and each year CES gets more and more diverse! The teachers have been nothing but beyond supportive of our kiddo's leaning toward math and less affinity for language, while making reading as fun as possible for him. There is decidedly more of a focus on social and emotional learning and less homework and focus on testing which is what all the scientific data says make the best elementary education! It is very hard to find this in a school! There is a strong sense of community and parent involvement and many activities families can attend together.
Submitted by parent on May 10, 2023

The principal at this school is horrible. My child has an IEP and I have yet to experience a principal this disengaged and unhelpful. She is unable to answer even basic questions about school policy, procedure, or vision. She demonstrates no empathy to students, parents, or teachers. She has shown up to every meeting we have had with her late and appears disinterested and bothered to be there while she is present and often leaves early with no explanation or apology. She is by far the most disagreeable and least competent school official I have had to deal with to date. Despite her inadequacies, the school has been a positive environment for my child who has show progress under this teachers.
Submitted by parent on April 22, 2023

Many kids who went to CES that moved to other districts were painfully behind. Some good teachers but the best were crushed by their leadership. There has been a long string of principals who were phoning it in and now the vice principal who many little kids were scared of has been hired as the new principal. Not a great sign of having more thoughtful hiring practices or for the future in general.
Submitted by parent on February 06, 2023

Not a good fit for a bright, well-adjusted child. The school takes a very passive approach to addressing behavioral and learning issues. Teachers are compelled to spend considerable time simply managing the classroom, and the obsession with SEL programming further crowds out time for actual learning. Expectations are exceedingly low. In short, the school provides a poor foundation for future student growth.
Submitted by parent on July 11, 2022

Our Daughter has excelled in this new school last year. We recently moved to Vashon a little over a year ago and we couldn't be more pleased with her emotional and academic bounce back from a pandemic education she was receiving in West Seattle just prior to our move.
Submitted by parent on November 01, 2021

Unfortunately the school did not meet our expectations. We moved to vashon from Texas because of a job opportunity in Seattle. We liked the small town environment & the “great” schools Vashon had to offer. However vashon was lacking in both
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2020

This is a wonderful school full of great teachers. They integrate the arts and science into the themes that are taught. There is a strong focus on basic education and beyond. They don't focus much on preparing for state tests, so the scores aren't that high, but they do focus on real learning. They have a full time counselor and support specialists. They also have PE, art, music, Spanish and library. Kids play outside at recess daily and there is a lovely forest and garden as well as a two acre playground.
Submitted by parent on April 29, 2020

Chautauqua is an amazing school! Both of my children had great experiences there. They developed strong academic and study skills. I was welcomed as a parent volunteer and saw what the teachers were doing first-hand. The comment about busing ELS students from Seattle is incorrect (and frankly, offensive). Vashon School District, like many districts, accept students from other districts. Any student can apply to come to the Vashon School District. These out-of-district students add a lot to our school community from elementary to high school.
Submitted by parent on January 28, 2020

My son went here from k-5 and was horrible experience!Most of the teachers have a high turn over. His teachers were 1st year teachers so they didn’t have the experience. I was drawn to this school because They claimed to focus on the Arts! This is a big joke. My kid was good at making pinwheels but didn’t know one famous artist. The schools only concern is ESL. They have all kinds of programs for them and even bus them over from Seattle. I guess they get more money for immigrants. Sadly, Stay far away from this school!
Submitted by parent on September 25, 2019

Teachers are not effective at all. Horrible school.
Submitted by parent on April 22, 2019

Disappointing in the past years older child had better experience. It seems disorganized too much going on.
Submitted by parent on December 10, 2017

I decided on this school after reviewing this site. My son was at this school for 4 years. Some of the teachers are nice but I wasn't looking for a friend, I needed someone to education my son! He showed very little progress in all the years he was there. He never received homework, class size is almost at 30 and time spent on stem classes are always too short. My child is now in another school and when he first started he was way behind others in both math & reading. He also received homework that seemed overwhelming because he never had it before.DONT rely on this site or scores schools receive