Discovery Key Elementary School

3550 LYONS RD

School District

Palm Beach
Grade

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 September 26, 2024

DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO THIS SCHOOL. I have warned you.
Submitted by parent on October 06, 2023

I love both Kindergarten and First grade teachers so far.
Submitted by parent on September 29, 2023

If your child has any type of learning disability especially dyslexia or you think they might. DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD ATTEND THIS SCHOOL. Even after private evaluations and district evaluations they will not give your child proper intervention. The ESE department and coordinator are awful they do not follow the IEP goals, refuse to give age-appropriate goals, don't administer invention times as stated in the IEP. and skew data. What this school and the Palm Beach County School district is doing to children is criminal! If you have to send your child to this school or any school in this county, please make sure you are doing your own private assessments and research. Do not trust what they present to you or think that they have your child's best interest at heart!
Submitted by parent on March 21, 2023

This is not a great school at all… if you are zoned for this school I would explore other options. We did after only half a year at this school. My son is gifted and the teachers do not know how to challenge gifted students at all. They also are not great at communicating with parents. We are so happy we were able to get our son into a charter school! I do not mind driving him 30 minutes there because I know he is in a much better environment where he has the opportunity to thrive! This was not ever going to happen at this severely overcrowded and unorganized school with over 1,000 students. AVOID THIS SCHOOL AT ALL COSTS!!!
Submitted by parent on December 19, 2022

Front office administrators are very disrespectful and have no regard to children and parents. It is a flu season and when I dropped in to pick up my sick child, two people kept yelling at me how she was supposed to go to nurse's office and not text me.I explained she must had been very unwell as she always followd the rules. They did not seem to be listening nor caring.Especially, this woman named Melissa was ruthless and merciless. She screamed at both me and my child again how she violated rules when we were about to exit. I asked her what about saying "feel better" and got her name.If you can't practice empathy in a profession dealing with children, you are in the wrong one.
Submitted by parent on October 23, 2022

This is an A rated school for a reason. Do not listen to the negative comments on here. My daughter has been attending since kindergarten, and has grown so much! I know parents who are driving their kids a half hour distance to take their kids to this school because they know that this is one the best elementary schools in the area. Yes, the traffic is crazy around the school, but that normally dies down after the first month. Yes, there are more than a 1000 kids at this school and things can be hectic, but your kids academic progress here will be astounding compared to other schools. This is a great school.
Submitted by parent on October 16, 2022

I’m baffled by the ppl who gave it 5 stars what are you comparing it to? This place is a mess! Car line is horrible and disorganized for a school that has been in existence this long. What functioning adult has 30-60 minutes twice a day to sit in a car line? The new principal doesn’t communicate anything outside of her newsletter which is useless. Office staff is RUDE try to avoid the office. My child is in kindergarten, he went to preschool at another school in the district which was much better. The list of school supplies for kindergartners included $175 worth of items SOME OF WHICH WERE CLEARLY FOR THE TEACHER! That’s tacky to ask parents to buy teaching supplies. Then at the curriculum meeting the teachers had a wishlist FOR MORE SUPPLIES FOR THEM! In all I spent over $300 dollars on school supplies and I’ve gotten 4 pieces of paper worth of “work” home for my child! Not one project with construction paper or the card stock paper that I was asked to buy! The staff is nice nasty they are polite but they don’t want to be bothered with you, they want you to get out of their face and leave them alone. I hate every interaction I have with the ppl who work there. The PTA is a clique and if you’re not in the clique you don’t find out about anything. The school is good at communicating when fundraisers are but not the fact that my kid needs a snack for school. The school is clearly overwhelmed by the 1000 kids in attendance, I think they need more staff or something. It just comes across as disorganized and unfriendly. There’s no sense of community or inclusion for new families just a stupid newsletter that tells you nothing but rules and fundraisers. My child had no teacher for the first 6 weeks of school and the principal didn’t communicate AT ALL! It’s just a mess. The ESE coordinator is unresponsive, in general it’s very hard to get information or any sort of response from the people who work there. I feel like my child is entering the abyss every morning and I have no idea what goes on there. It’s unbelievable that this school is in the same district as my sons previous school. I agree with the parent who said if you have other options explore those because this place is not where I want my child whom I love to be! The principal and assistant principal are new so maybe that’s why the folks on here with older kids love it so much, but for me there’s nothing to love! It is secure though that’s all I can say that’s positive.
Submitted by parent on August 14, 2022

This school is amazing !! I absolutely love this school! My daughter has attended DKE since the 1st grade and we’ve contemplated moving several times but we could not bring ourselves to transfer her from this school! They have a no bullying policy and I have seen first hand that this school does abide by it and they take it very seriously. I’m saddened that my daughter only has 1 year left in this school and I’m all ready in fear for middle school! I wish she could attend DKE until she goes to high school lol. My daughter has excelled so much while going to DKE and is far above her reading grade level. Trust me this school is truly one of the best !! The teachers and staff are really great (minus the cafeteria staff) :( I’d be lying if I said they were nice because they are not!!! But otherwise the school’s environment is great!
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2022

Speaking from my experience, the teachers and administrators at Discovery Key Elementary are incompetent and truly have no regard for the children they are entrusted to educate. You should pursue whatever alternative option is available to you.
Submitted by parent on October 10, 2019

My daughter is currently in the first grade .. she previously attended another school in the district and sadly our experience wasn’t great. We decided to enroll her in Discovery Key and it has been nothing short of amazing! I have truly gained a peace of mind knowing my daughter is in good hands through out the school day. My daughter begs to go to school even on the weekends :) From the moment we arrived at DK we were greeted with nothing but smiles and hellos from both students and staff. I would truly like to say thank to everyone at Discovery Key for making my daughter’s school experience such a great one and we happily look forward to the future years to come with you! :)
Submitted by parent on May 30, 2018

My daughter is finishing up 3rd grade which was her first full year at DKE. We transferred her here from a charter school in late 2nd grade and We are thrilled that we did so. She learned so much more here than in her first 3 years at the Charter school. Her teachers were very open to discussion about facilitating our daughter's learning. The rest of the support staff were very accommodating and communicative about the learning goals. We are so thankful for the hard work that the teacher and adjunct staff do. Thank you DKE!
Submitted by parent on March 14, 2016

My son has been in DKE'S ESE program since kindergarten. He is now in 5th grade. I absolutely love this school. Teachers work great with him. He's going to miss this school.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2015

My child first year and last year there. No communication, staff does not seem to care. The car rider line is horrible, even you are the first one there you have to look for your child they are not called.
Submitted by parent on April 17, 2015

This will be my daughter's last year there, has been there since kindergarten. Most teachers have been great!
Submitted by parent on November 02, 2012

UPDATE TO: "Recently transferred our two kids to DKE from Coral Reef" posting. Wanted to add feedback based upon second year at school and call out the fact that the bulk of the initial low ratings for the first year were based upon experiences with specific 4th grade class, which were very similar to the other postings (apathy, frequent substitutes, slow/no response to parent questions or meeting requests, etc.). That said, 5th grade this year has been a 100% turnaround for the positive. This year's team of teachers my child has are exceptional. They are organized, communicative, and energetic. My child is excited to go to school every day and is really progressing academically so far this year as a result. Well done!