Sherman Oaks Elementary Charter School

Awful school!!!! Parents DO NOT send your children here! It is overcrowded the teachers are stressed out and there is not enough adult supervision. I don't care if this now a charter school it does not change the fact that this is one of the worst schools in the area! If you can afford it send your kids to private school.....that's what we did and our daughter is so much happier now. SOEC is full of bullies without consequences!!!

I went here for testing a few times. It looked kinda nice for a public school actually.

New principal is totally unresponsive despite repeated written requests for a meeting. My daughter started 3rd grade and her teacher rules the classroom like she's running a board meeting. My "Gifted" child is so unhappy and struggling with the approach but I am unable to get a meeting with the principal to discuss my concerns. The few informal interactions I have had with the principal have been a nightmare. She does not have the experience to be leading this school. She does not respond to children or parents well at all and seems clueless on how to deal with them. In my personal conversations with her she has been flustered hostile and incompetent. I truly hope they find a new leader for this school or we'll be looking elsewhere for next year.

This is our third year at the school. The teachers are excellent. The parents involvement is over the top. There is arts music computers a science lab PE a library. My children love the school. However the new principal is not cutting it. She is not approachable. You can only speak to her if you make a written request. And then you will be lucky if you get a response and your issue is not passed off to someone else. She is not utilizing support staff as budgeted. Even the children have commented that they don't like her (and we never said anything in front of them.) This principal had poor reviews at her last school and I wish someone from LAUSD had reviewed them and addressed them with her.

This is the second review I've posted for this school. Unfortunately my last review was deleted. I have no idea why as it was informative and didn't contain inappropriate language. My review was a warning to parents-- don't send your kid here. They aren't checking that kids actually live in the school district so it is overcrowded when it doesn't have to be. Parents try really hard to keep this school going (myself included.) My advice to you is go to Carpenter if you can afford to live in Studio City. That is all.

My child started 2nd grade here this year. Her teacher so far has been responsive and she seems to be doing fine. However the few interactions I have had with the principal have been a nightmare. She does not have the experience to be leading this school. She does not respond to children well at all and seems clueless on how to deal with them. In my personal conversations with her she has been flustered hostile and incompetent. I truly hope they find a new leader for this school.

We understand that all LAUSD schools are crowded and that funds are limited etc. We were hopeful that as a new Charter - this school was going to makeup for it with Parent involvement and dedicated teachers. We could not be more wrong. It saddens us greatly to encourage you to find another option for your child. Especially or at least for Kinder. These are the formative years and this is not the environment you want your child to be forming anything in. Let me assure you that we are not helicopter Parents and that we thought long and hard about posting anything about SOEC. We do not want to be those people. But we can only hope that other Parents would do the same to protect our children. Our Kinder child has not only been grievously ignored but actually neglected and was even injured with a swollen and bloodied knee without us being informed and without our child recieving help ( after telling teacher several times they were hurt ). We are not talking about an unwarrented amount of attention. Perhaps clean up the blood? An ice pack? A band aid?? THIS IS ONLY ONE EXAMPLE OF MANY. Above all else at SOEC your child will be taught that they do not matter.

This is in response to the earlier post about class size. Many of the "Blvd" schools had a higher than anticipated number of students enroll in Kinder this year. This is true for SOEC Carpenter and Colfax all of which had more than 24 students in a class until a new class could be created to lower the number to 24. SOEC formed a new class and now all classes K-3rd have no more than 24 students in a class. The poster is also misinformed about "shadows". In order for an autistic child to have an aide or shadow they must first be evaluated through the IEP process. If the parents did not have that done prior to entering Kinder then the process won't start until the teacher/parent puts in a request. But the process takes time and doesn't happen overnight. This is true for Carpenter and Colfax who also have high functioning autistic kids in there kinder classrooms. In the meantime SOEC/SOPA combined spends over $100K on aides not supplied by LAUSD. There are at least 2 aides in each grade which is more than most public schools. With a new school year parents need to exercise patience and should find out the true facts before posting inaccurate information on this site.

My children have attended SOEC for 3 and 5 years now. My children's as well as my own experience at SOEC has been extremely positive and enjoyable. Both of my children love going to school and have a love of learning. I attribute that to all the wonderful teachers they have had as well as the principal who puts the kids first. Every year the school gets better and better. The parents association does a great job of making sure the school has many of the extras LAUSD has cut including music art computer lab and teacher and a new science lab and 2nd science teacher. I highly recommend this school.

I was very impressed by the way Principal Harr handled a very sensitive student specific issue in the past. She didn't throw her hands up refusing to stand up for what is right as some unfortunately would instead she courageously took the lead and set new precedents for her school. Every school can benefit from having this type of a Principal leading their school to a higher standard. Kudos Mrs. Harr!!!

SOEC is a very good school! I was raised by a dedicated first grade teacher and I have high standards. My son is in second grade and has thrived academically and socially each year. We have been blessed with gifted and nurturing teachers who have my child and many others working above grade level. Most importantly my son has made nice friends and loves school. His teachers have really fostered a love of learning. But it is more than just the academic standards - all students enjoy an amazing music teacher an incredible art program science lab and science teacher a computer lab and computer teacher and there is an orchestra a theater program and sports teams that keep winning district tittles. I have enjoyed a great level of communication with his teachers all of whom have gone way above the call of duty and really love teaching children. It is a big elementary school that feels much smaller once you get involved and it is full of caring passionate parents and teachers. With the support of the parent organization budget cuts do not interfere with a quality well rounded education.

We LOVE SOEC. The parent involvement is amazing. And the teachers are caring and generous with their time. All LAUSD classes and schools are crowded but the teachers here do an amazing job of working with the students and parent volunteers are encouraged. The charter says the school needs to have a certain number of students and that is what the school has. LAUSD sets the norm for how many students are supposed to be in each grade - not the school itself so if you want to blame someone for the "overcrowded" class size blame LAUSD not SOEC. It is not overcrowded it is exactly at the number it is supposed to have so the posters speaking on the overcrowded nature of the school should gather more information before posting inaccuracies.

This school needs a lot of work. Teachers try their best. There is over 34 kids appx. in one class. Most of the kids dont belong at this school. The school needs to verify address more carefully most of the children are not suppose to attend this school.That is probably why its so crowded. There is no shade on playground. Not enough supervision. Bullying has to be addressed better. They don't move the bully at all. It doesn't matter if they are in the same class. I'm not the only person that has experienced this they are many. I am writing this so the school district can make changes. What is the use of living in an up scale neighbor hood if any one can attend this school? Principal needs a lot of training.

We are new to the school. I have no ratings at this time will let you know in a couple of mounths.

This school is way too crowded. The kids are not supervised well on the play ground. In an effort to raise test scores that hasn't worked ridiculous amounts of home work and un realistic projects are given too often. This leaves the parent to teach the lessons and often do homework and projects for the child. The current test scores in the 830 range show that the principal is not doing her job creating a good learning environment. She has told parents unhappy with the school to leave. They teach to the test. And as I said this hasn't worked out . Encino public schools far out rank S.O. in testing. The pick up and drop off is chaotic kids are bullied with virtually no notice from staff. The saving grace is the parental involvement. There is no shade in the play yard and too many grades per age range. Much could be improved with a change of principal.

We have been at Sherman Oaks Elementary for 3 years and have had a great experience so far! I am really happy with the teachers we have had and the SOPA program.

I am a happy parent here. My son loves his school. My daughter can not wait for another few months to be in this school for her Kinderhood. I think this school really offer a lot extra compare to other public school. We got wonderful PTA teachers principle and also very informative website. I checked other school website is simply just not that updated. We are truly lucky to be part of SOES.

Great school ! wonderful mix of kids. great diversity. great principal. fun happy and safe .

After hearing such great things about SOES I ve been nothing but disappointed with our experience this year. I've witnessed a major lack of support for the students. I ve witnessed teachers yelling at students class aids/ helpers/ volunteers shouting & speaking to children with a complete lack of respect down to the yard aids screaming across the playground like they are the ruler of the yard--relishing in their power over the children. They have no idea how to support the children and assist them in figuring out what this new environment is about and how they might be able to tackle it. They question why the children don't "respect" the rules or the authority --I haven't seen much respect shown to the children. No warm caring ears to listen just a lot of shouting. Of course this isn t representative of all SOES teachers--I have observed on occasion a couple of teachers who stand out and actually seem to enjoy children. For now I am trying to figure out how our family can make it through this year positively. I am hoping there will an alternative schooling situation for us in the near and we won't be stuck here for the duration of elementary school.

The office staff seems nicer than most at other schools at least on the phone.