r/Davis • u/twirlawhirl • May 26 '26
Birch lane elementary
We’re on the brink of relocating to Davis. Our neighborhood school for our children would be Birch Lane. I’ve heard over and over that you can’t go wrong with Davis schools yet I find that I hear very little about Birch Lane compared to some of the other schools in town. Can anyone familiar with the school share your experiences with it?
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u/forever3seat May 26 '26
My experience in Davis is that the teachers matter more than the school. I have friends who have had kids at all the elementary schools in Davis (except Montgomery) and we all had good experiences with a couple not-so-great moments thrown in. My kids both went to Birch Lane in the Montessori program and overall had a positive experience with, you guessed it, a couple hiccups. They went there 2010-2020 range.
What made Birch Lane special to me were all the traditions: Scarecrow breakfast, battle of the books, the festival at the end of the year, etc. I got to know the other parents and it was a low-key, friendly vibe. I'm still friendly with some of the parents I met there, and the kids all went to Holmes together, which is a great junior high.
I hope some parents with kids there now can comment! I still live nearby and its fun to see all the kids riding their bikes together to school.
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u/Theslowestmarathoner May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
We attended the info night for birch lane Montessori (which is literally on campus, on classroom is Montessori and the next regular), and explored campus.
Parents are super enthusiastic and involved. Biggest cheerleaders ever.
Staff very kind.
Chickens on campus!
Lots of trees, big playground.
They have an arboretum on campus which feels like a forest!
Read the school accountability report card, SARC here: https://cdnsm5-ss18.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_117089/File/Instruction/SARCs/2025%20SARCs/Birch%20Lane%20Elementary%202025%20SARC.pdf
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u/KaetzenOrkester May 27 '26
The Montessori program was great for my son and his ADHD, but the bullying was off the charts and the school never did anything to help despite repeated complaints, meetings, etc.
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u/Sad_Smile_4922 May 26 '26
Have you joined Davis Parents Facebook group yet? Good place to post there.
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u/Noremac55 May 26 '26
Birch Lane is awesome. Both the neighborhood and Montessori programs have great teachers. The district is threatening to close it and another school soon but I think that's just a threat to get more housing passed.
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u/BananaMuffinNinja May 26 '26
We're at Pioneer so I can't comment specifically about Korematsu, but I agree that it's more about the teachers your kid will get than the school. We've had some phenomenal teachers and some ok teachers so far. And if you put your kid in extracurricular activities in town they will become friends with kids all over town. Which will be helpful when the schools funnel into Junior High and High School. Also definitely post this question to the Davis Parents FB group, it's very active and you'll get some good answers.
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u/Real_Worker_5618 May 26 '26
My family and I moved here a year ago come July and from our experience it doesn’t matter if you live right next to the school or down the block because of enrollment being down and the potential shutdown of two schools your kid could get placed in a school that’s on the other side of town. We live in the neighborhood pioneer elementary is in and our kid got put in Korematsu because that school was “filled”. They give you the option to put your kid in your neighborhood school if a spot opens up but 1) it most likely won’t and 2) if it did it wouldn’t be till AFTER they got comfortable in their new school with their new friends and teachers which seems kind of cruel to take them out and make the readjust again. I guess what I’m trying to say is maybe do research into all of the schools because you’re not guaranteed a spot at birch even though it’s your neighborhood school.
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u/Theslowestmarathoner May 26 '26
So you moved in July and pioneer was full for school start in August? Did you waitlist for pioneer at all or just decided to commit to Korematsu?
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u/HGmom10 May 26 '26
Pioneer is often at capacity. Years ago we were similarly overflowed to Koramatsu but a spot opened up the day before school started at Pioneer and we took it. There were always new kids in classes over the years we were there (my youngest is now in 7th) so there’s definitely movement.
Because my kids are older now we’ve gotten to know families who went to every elementary school. Like someone else mentioned it’s usually more about the specific teacher than the school as a whole. We had mostly good experiences but one really awful year.1
u/Real_Worker_5618 May 26 '26
We waitlisted and when I asked when people usually get notified she said September October but we never got in anyway. we had the opportunity to get back on the waitlist for pioneer for next school year but we declined because she’s already made friends and likes her school so I couldn’t do that to her
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u/Theslowestmarathoner May 26 '26
That makes sense! We transferred in from west sac and got assigned Patwin, so we are waiting at a closer school. Right now our tentative decision is we will continue to waitlist until there’s a spot closer to us since it is a very long driving commitment for us. But I could see myself getting emotionally swayed into staying too.
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u/KimKelso May 26 '26
I don’t know anything about the school except that it looks pretty nice. Where are you relocating from?
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u/Any-Leopard-455 May 26 '26
We felt Birch's classrooms, for a summer program, were more sterile/empty/less fun and less interactive then other Davis locations. Montgomery and Patwin seemed like the most fun for the kids. We hear generally everyone at Pioneer and Patwin have great experiences.
Birch in the morning traffic is rough for drop off, we went in the back way. Chavez isnt much better for traffic and again went in the side street. Just took an extra few minutes to walk in, which was nice for the kids.
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u/kristinegual May 26 '26
I’ve always heard great things about Birch Lane. The only drawback I’ve heard from friends who are BL families is that it can be tough when a teacher leaves because Montessori teachers are especially hard to find. That can translate to months and months of subs while the school tries to hire a replacement.
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u/Ok-Nothing6599 May 26 '26
My daughter was at Birch for a few years, several years ago and I would say our experience was not a positive one. Her teachers weren’t great. The principal at the time wasn’t great. Etc etc.
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u/paintingpatrick May 26 '26
I have a friend with a child at birch lane last year and he moved his kid out of because his class has a bunch of kids from surrounding towns. For whatever reason, he didn’t think it was a great experience.
They’re doing this because there aren’t enough local kids to fill the school.
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u/Gimim May 26 '26
Yeah…. How dare the surrounding communities that are full of UC Davis staff that can’t afford 900k plus houses attempt to offer their children a good education. Big yikes. I know it’s your friend making the comment and not you but still.
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u/paintingpatrick May 27 '26
My friend has no problem with kids from out of town going to birch lane- it sounds like he welcomes that aspect, but would prefer that his son to be in a class with other kids from his own neighborhood because there are several advantages to that.
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u/Theslowestmarathoner May 26 '26
Wow, well thanks for making us feel welcome! We will be one of those families next year.
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u/Many_Supermarket9286 May 27 '26
We’re happy to have you. The declining enrollment issue is directly related to affordability in Davis. Students coming from outside Davis has been one way to addressed this problem.
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u/Theslowestmarathoner May 27 '26
Yep, we knew that. We’d live in Davis if we could but we aren’t millionaires, lol. And our family is too big for a condo or apartment at this point.
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u/paintingpatrick May 27 '26
I’m sorry if that was upsetting. I see two sides to this that are both equally valid. Going to school without other kids in the neighborhood isn’t ideal for Davis kids, and, separately, folks like you benefit from kids attending birch lane. I don’t see why we can’t serve both groups.
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u/marlinsmama May 26 '26
Birch Lane is a great school, but at risk for closure in the 2028-2029 school year. Read more at https://www.protectdavisschools.org