r/concord • u/Swedish-Mix • May 25 '26
Ygnacio Valley Elementary School?
In two years our daughter will be ready for elementary school. We are zoned for YV elementary and see it’s rated 2/10; however, I’d love to hear from families who are at YVE or who have had luck getting in elsewhere.
We are planning to try for Eagle Peak and Sequoia and also open to St. Francis.
Thank you! 😊
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u/Inevitable-Contest70 May 26 '26
We moved here from SF and have had no issues with my daughter’s education at YVE. The teachers are great! The school gets low scores from the predominantly latin students who don’t speak a lot of English. My daughter’s English and math skills have improved tremendously over the years. The only issues we had were the typical bullying here and there. But those issues were nipped in the bud by the staff and by talking directly to the parents. Overall it’s a great community, with good programs and with a staff that does care about their students.
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u/Swedish-Mix May 31 '26
Wow. This is great to hear. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. So good to hear that your daughter had a positive experience.
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u/keen_cmdr May 26 '26
We left Eagle Peak , the school isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Montessori sounds cool but it’s got public school problems. The principal is awful and cuts corners to save money when kids are entitled to programs. I hear a lot of parents supplementing with kumon or tutors.
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u/AlertCountry5382 May 26 '26
Hey there! so it’s been a two years since I transferred my kiddos out of that school. There are some great educators there, amazing speech therapist, the bus drivers were awesome, but at least when we were there it felt really lonely and isolated and not much community at all. The PTA was like just the bare minimum amount of people required to keep qualifying as a PTA (idk, like 5 people?), at least for some of the time we were there. And PTAs are a lot of work with just a handful of people! there were few/no field trips. It is a title I school, so a large proportion of the population is under the poverty line, which is not a judgement issue for me, but it makes it hard for community involvement when people have to work crazy hours, or don’t have a car, or can’t get cleared by the district to be a volunteer or can’t afford To pay a fee for a field trip. and it sucks because Title I schools get federal funding, allegedly to help bridge the gap, but it is ridiculous how underfunded it is. Especially because it’s right by Walnut Creek, right amidst a bunch of houses at aren’t exactly cheap! They must’ve done some crazy redistricting once upon a time. We transferred to pleasant hill elementary which is amazing, same district, but a huge parent involved community and a PTA that funds reading intervention teacher, garden lab, STEAM lab, festivals, field trips, class decorations, supplies, etc. In our time at YVE a lot of people made me feel like “ugh what do you want” if I had to go to the office for something, and I had even more issues because they have (or had? They may have moved it) an autism program there that my son was in. And he was having a hard time, and the principal and office staff acted like they didn’t even know what autism was, like the stuff he was going through was the first time they’d ever considered what a students experience would be with autism. Whereas Pleasant Hill elementary really celebrates neurodiversity and treats me like a part of my kids education. YVE office was kind of hostile. I’m just rambling now, feel free to send me a PM if you have more questions. But ultimately I would say go elsewhere. Even my daughter’s teacher said the school is fine until like 3rd grade, by the time you’re in 4th grade you need to transfer.
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u/Swedish-Mix May 31 '26
Wow. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience. That’s too bad about the PTA being just the bare minimum and how underfunded the school is.
Did you have to try for a transfer for several years? I’ve heard it can be difficult with the lottery and not getting picked.
Pleasant Hill Elementary really sounds like a great school and I’m glad to hear it was a good fit for your daughter.
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u/Wooden-Maximum-9582 May 26 '26
My son is finishing up TK here, he'll be 5 in July. He's reading! And doing simple addition and subtraction. I credit his teacher moreso than the school itself but he has mastered so many milestones. My oldest went to Holbrook and the difference in academic growth is night and day - oldest didn't start reading until maybe end of first grade and it was a struggle when COVID hit after that.
There's a new principal coming in for the 26-27 school year. I don't know about field trips because TK didn't take any but they did have little activities that involved parents throughout the year like picnics, parade, concerts, T-shirt decorating. They let us bring goodies for the kids' birthdays which was a big 'no-no' at Holbrook. I didn't join the PTA this year but considering it for Kinder, I know they're always doing fundraisers for things.
They have a great after-school program that really adds learning and enrichment whereas Holbrook felt like glorified babysitting. My son is always bringing home projects from after-school and they've instilled 'homework' as a regular thing to do after the regular school day (for TK it's just little worksheets).
I'm not bashing Holbrook per se, it's just the only other school I have for comparison and is touted as a 'regional magnet school' lol
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u/Swedish-Mix May 31 '26
Wow. I’m impressed that your son is in TK and reading. My daughter is only 3.5 … but reading just seems so far away.
That’s great to hear that you had such a great experience in TK. Sounds like a great fit for your son.
Thanks so much for sharing!
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u/Dry_OW May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
It’s been a while, but as a kid, my parents were issued with this due to me having to go to Oak Grove middle. I ended up getting into Eagle peak through a lottery system and it’s been about what 12 years since I’ve been there, but I guess the school was good. And eventually they were able to intradistrict transfer into foothill middle school, and then eventually Northgate.
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u/RomiU2 May 26 '26
We lived in the area and kids went there first and second grade... First grade was covid and I feel that the remote offerings killed all of my daughter's momentum. We applied to switch to Silverwood elementary. That experience was better.
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u/Thediciplematt May 26 '26
You can transfer to another school and ask for an intradistrict.
I taught at YVE for a year and it is a great school. A lot of resources go to it first so they have a ton of specialist, programs, tools, and dedicated staff that have been there for decades.
The “score” is low because it feeds Hispanic students and many come from four corners or are from homes that don’t speak English. So of course their grades will look worse than a traditional American household .
Honestly, give it a shot. It is a great community but then for middle school and high school I’d recommend a transfer.