My daughter is in 7th grade and very happy here. I have been so impressed with IVA since my…read moredaughter started last year. The communication from the school and the inclusiveness has made it a great experience for us. Students are respected, their voices are heard and they are made to feel like their opinions matter. The virtues are there to make them feel empowered as students. The weekly advisory meeting they have once a week for all students is great because it helps them understand and know the virtues and how to apply them to their work. Sixth grade is a learning curve and IVA gets that. One thing to know about the school is that since kids are coming from all different schools and school settings it's easier to make friends. There are no clicks in place. This year they also made it phone free. No phones at school. However, they can use them after school. I have read past reviews that said the school is not diverse and not for people of color. This from our experience is not true at all. Maybe in past years this was the case but it is no longer this way. IVA is very racially and socioeconomically diverse. It is a true representation of Long Beach in that regard. If you are a parent who wants to volunteer and see what is going on at the school there are plenty of opportunities, field trip opportunities, dances every year, a chili cook off, and family breakfast/lunches hosted by the school. There is a weekly newsletter, outlining all events coming up. How you can get involved, sports info, field trips etc... They make it very difficult for you to miss something. My daughter loved the dances last year. They are more like a fun party. There is no pressure to have a date or anything like that. They make them very low pressure like come in your PJ's etc... It's just an opportunity to hang out with friends outside of school. The staff and teachers will all know your child's name. I think this matters to my daughter. We live in Belmont Heights and had an opportunity to send her to Rogers as well. It's not quite our home school but it is a lot closer to us than IVA and I wanted her to go there. She would have had friends closer and I wanted that for her. However, after my daughter toured IVA in 5th grade, she made her mind up that she wanted to experience the smaller school and smaller class setting. She loved seeing students laughing in class with the teachers and sitting at little tables. The teachers were young and they didn't look miserable. The principal, Mrs. Bryant who led our tour was very dynamic and genuine. My daughter noticed these things and pushed for us to let her try IVA out. Her experience so far has not disappointed her. She has liked or loved almost all of her teachers. This is so important and this is coming from a student who struggles in school. She has an IEP for a reading disability. School is not easy for her. This is another reason I was hesitant on IVA. I wanted to her to have more options concerning her IEP and a bigger school can provide this. So far, her accommodations at IVA are working for her. She has also made friends with a great group of girls who are from all over Long Beach. In truth this is something I was also dreading but it's ok! She is happy! The parents of her friends are the type of parents who want the best for their kids. They will drive. This is how most of the parents are at this school as well. When volunteer sign ups come out for some event, the list gets filled up fast! Most of the parents at the school care. So far my daughter has joined Track and Cross Country. She also wants to play soccer this year. They do have team sports at IVA but it is on a smaller scale than a larger school. It's great for kids that want to try sports but might be intimidated at a bigger school with a lot of talented athletes. Not to say that there aren't some talented athletes here but it's not the focus of the school. If you're wondering about academics. I have heard wonderful things from parents who have had older siblings that graduated from IVA. One parent in particular shared with me that when her son started at his private High School (Bosco) after IVA, he was placed in honors classes which surprised her because her son was a B/C student at IVA. She felt the education he received at IVA was top notch, taught him how to be a student and actually engage in what he learned. Lastly, I just want to give a shout out to Mrs. Gordon, the dean of students and Mrs. Bryant the principal. These women care about your student. The love and dedication they put into their job is truly impressive.

its not the best school in the world but not the worst. The students are sort of rude to my child…read more If you really want your kid to go there so be it they have really good state teat results though. Try it for ur self

This school has been so very good for my daughter. She is thriving, excelling and being mentored…read moreby her teachers, counselors and staff. The classes are demanding and challenging as I think they should be. If there was a 6th star, I would mark it.

Great school staff, students are kind and respectful, teachers, main office and Counselors are…read morephenomenal. This school is built on "Poly Pride" and student success. Home of Scholars and Champions!! The immediate area is not the best, many reviews discuss the area, but the student confidence and student reviews far surpass the area! Mrs. Safotu is an all star and makes all elements of Polytechnic High School truly outstanding in every way. I would not chose any other HighSchool in Long Beach for my children to attend. The experience is second to none.

My son likes attending this school. It is a good alternative for the traditional school setting…read more Teachers and staff members there are caring and helpful. Students work at their own pace. My son was turned off with school until he started attending. His grades are up also. He feels safe there, and that is a great relief for me. There aren't many options fo socializing but they do have a few activities. If you have working student and is serious about completing school then this is a great choice for you. It is definitely worth checking it out.

ok school kinda sucks i reported a teacher giving me their number and i got dismissed for not…read morehaving enough evidence and the schools offer was to have me go to a different center while keeping the creep teacher around, didn't end up happening but as soon as i graduated they let the teacher come back. also the coach for the girls soccer team so if you want to send your kid to a school where teachers allow each other to be unprofessional and ask for your child number send them this way and ask for emilio!

We are not year-round family at Westerly, but we consistently return for their summer camp…read more Our eleven-year-old son had attended all the local summer camps in Long Beach--JCC, 49'er camp, the city's parks and recs--over the past few years, and he ranks Westerly the highest among all camp experiences. The staff is accommodating, the hours are flexible (7:30 am to 5:30 pm), and he has a great time.

What can I say. Our family loves Westerly! Our eldest started at one of Long Beach's blue ribbon…read moreschools, but with the huge classes we decided to take a look at Westerly and we couldn't go back. Since then all our kids have thrived in their Westerly experience. It starts with a sizable campus with a beautiful grass field for sports and activities, newly constructed learning studios and the amazing arts village. What a great place to learn. Then the passionate teachers and staff deliver a whole child program, with a better than 10:1 student/teacher ratio. The Westerly program includes: Curriculum and instruction - Enthusiastic teachers with a well thought out curriculum and small class sizes enabling teachers to adapt the curriculum to the needs of your child. Technology/STEM - Westerly recently hired a full-time Director of Instructional Technology to enhance an already strong technology/STEM program throughout the curriculum. Think coding in class, 3D printing, science and engineering fairs, etc. Visual and performing arts - Incorporated in the curriculum is an annual school-wide play lead by the folks at TKTC. The visual arts program is second to none with the kids being exposed to public arts projects, ceramics in the new ceramics studio, mixed media, painting, photography, etc. I wish I could take the classes myself. Wildcat, the after school program is a blessing. Our kids beg to go to Wildcat to play with their friends, work on yearbook, take film, dance, music, robotics and other after school enrichment activities. Athletics - A legitimate, well-run PE program with enthusiastic instruction and basketball, volleyball, football teams throughout elementary and middle school. Music - Every child takes both general and instrumental music as part of their Westerly experience. Spanish - Kindergarten through 8th grade all the kids get introduced to the Spanish language through a dedicated Spanish instructor. Leadership - This is quite possibly one of the most amazing parts of the curriculum. Continuing on the theme of whole child education the Director of Student Affairs leads an amazing program that goes so beyond student council, creating leadership opportunities for so many children. Programs like student council, district representatives, green team, etc., start in Kindergarten and the kids grow in responsibility as the children grow themselves. Each child also gains leadership responsibilities as a student mentor, where each older student is paired with a younger student as a mentor. Service learning and field studies - As the kids grow in maturity so do the service learning and field studies. Our children have enjoyed trips to Catalina and other local camps, but the highlight of the program is a one week trip in 8th grade where the whole class travels to Nicaragua to conduct a service learning project, practice their spanish, and are exposed to a different culture and way of life that they are used to. Community - Westerly is a place where without question every family places a priority on securing a great, well-rounded education for their children. Being in an environment like this is so fantastic. Independent school is not cheap, but in our minds it's the best gift we can give to our children. Westerly also offers significant financial aid support, so if that is an issue be sure to discuss your situation with the school to see if they can make something work for your family. P.S. This may sound like a paid ad, but it's our true feelings about this place. It's really special.

School is great. I actually go to the school so fun makes you do so much fun stuff and feels you…read moreprotected.

And although they are a little bit too sensitive with everyone's feelings, it's a great school and…read moreI love my kids teacher teachers

Well we are fans of some of the teachers. Mrs. McClellan really stands out. As a resource teacher…read moreshe exhibited kindness, passion and patience with our son--and other students. Even when we were not hearing from the administration as much as we would have liked, she volunteered to keep us informed of our student's progress. In a short amount of time, he made great strides and even won some awards in his final days of 8th grade. No child is perfect. And it's tough for new kids or kids with disabilities or other struggles. A great school will keep fighters like Mrs. McClellan around. Some other great and caring teachers include Mr. Yearwood, Mr. Crabtree, Mr. Widman and Mr. Crockett. Why call out teachers? Because that's what makes a school. The campus is neat, and in a nice area too, which sets it apart from some of the other district schools. The school also takes advantage of a great WRAP after school program and of a local mentoring group called BLAST.

the way they treat us is bad and the students in detention don't get to eat before detention…read more That's 15 minutes that everyone else can eat but not them.

I love this school soooooooooooooo much I transferred from another school and my transfer has been…read moresmooth

I am currently in 8th grade, but I recently transferred and I'm no longer a student at Marshall…read more Firstly, the environment is mostly okay. Though, the bathrooms are rarely ever cleaned and have spider webs everywhere. A lot of the toilets and sinks don't work. The thing that bothers me the most about the bathrooms, is that they are always locked. I get that they want to prevent students from skipping, but they already have school monitors who go in each bathroom stall during class time. There is a bathroom in every building yet students can't even use them. There is also never soap. Now, the cafeteria. It is so small and cramped, especially for the 7th and 8th graders who have lunch at the same school. I never brought lunches, so I always went to the cafe to get food. The lines were always so long. By the time I got my food, my friends would be outside and I would run out of time. At one point, I just stopped eating in general. When I didn't eat, it would be impossible to find a seat both outside and inside. Why even build such a small school for so many students. Another thing that ruined the experiment, was the teachers. Yes, I did create some genuine bonds with my teachers, one of them being Mr. Murillo. I am glad that I had him as my 7th grade history teacher. Sadly, most of my teachers weren't like that. I will not specify which teachers, but some of them treat the students unfair and are very rough on them. One day I was in art class and there was this boy who would make fun of me for my weight, and my body hair. The teacher never took it seriously even though the boy was known for disrupting the class every chance he got. Yeah I admit, sometimes the teacher would send him out of class or email his parents, but nothing was ever fixed. Now, all I did was throw a sponge toward him, a sponge. Nothing hard, and I didn't even aim at his face. The boy even threw the sponge at my face before that. She yelled at me and humiliated me in front of the whole class, knowing how shy I am. She sent both of us to the math class next door. I was trying so hard not to cry, everyone in the class was staring at me, including my friends and my bullies. The teacher in there wasn't nice either, she yelled at me for not facing the right way. I never talked back to either of those teachers or anything. My art teacher even emailed my mom, luckily, my mom defended me. Once I got home, I couldn't stop crying. My heart was broken, I treated my teacher with respect and she does that in return. It was one mistake. Speaking of bullies, this part completely ruined me. During 6th and 7th grade, I was already having a rough time which caused my grades and my confidence to drop. After the pandemic, I became very shy and had a hard time communicating with people. When I would try and make friends, I would end up making people hate me. I tried to fix it but nothing worked. A lot of the 8th and 7th graders didn't like me. It had been happening since 6th grade, and I couldn't take it. In November of 2023, I tried to end my life. Fortunately, I survived. Things went fine until maybe around February. Until this girl and her friends would make fun of my friends and I every time they saw us. I will admit that I said stuff back, but I was frustrated. One of the girls made a lie about me destroying her back pack and her mom and my mom ended up having an argument. The next week, the same girl assaulted me. everyone laughed and cheered her on. That's when I decided that I didn't want to spend another year at Marshall. It made me mad knowing that the staff did basically nothing. All they did was have me talk to some of them and then the moved my seat in one of my classes. I was upset. I told them beforehand everything that she had said to me. She called me slurs, and would make fun of me in front of everyone during PE class. Adults always want us to "ignore it" until something happens. They don't care. I sobbed so much. Why would they let that happen. They never cared, at all. They didn't even care about how I felt. People recorded me, and they didn't do anything about it. I felt like I lost. I still had to go to school the week after and I was so nauseated. I couldn't even enjoy the field trip we went on toward the end of school. People kept trying to say things to me, but I just couldn't say a word back. It had a big impact on me, I would constantly try and starve myself and I would hurt myself. I really wanted to like the school but it genuinely ruined me. I am the only one out of my two brothers to not be promoted from Marshall. It's not only me who had to deal with it. My oldest brother did too. Please, do not go here. :(

Our daughter has been attending St. Barnabas Catholic School since TK, and the difference has been…read moreincredible. After a difficult experience in public school, we were heartbroken seeing her not get the attention and support she needed. Everything changed when Mrs. Kellam invited us to have her try a day--and from that moment on, we never looked back. The teachers truly care and make every child feel seen and supported. The communication is strong, the environment is nurturing, and the focus on both academics and character really stands out. Our daughter is now confident, happy, and thriving--and we are so grateful we found this school.

St. Barnabas School (SBS) is a wonderful school. My son has attended K-5th so far. The faculty…read morecares about each student and makes school fun! Students can also participate in extracurricular activities. I chose SBS after attending an Open House. Two very excited graduates and one current student (at the time) told me about their experience and how fun the school was. We are very happy with our choice!