Monterey Highlands Elementary School

I absolutely love this school I went there for 1^st to 6^th grade before I moved it was a great 6 years

We just moved from LAUSD to this school this year, this school is new to us. They did have a fence all around it, I know lots of parents don’t like it, but which school doesn’t?
especially this is a K-​8 school, lots of young kids running around. It could be dangerous and safety concern without fences.
Comparing with our previous school, this school is very strict regarding following rules, we were having problems enrolling with this school in the beginning. They also very strict about late policy, etc. Somehow, our previous school is much more «friendly»… don’t be wrong, our previous school has average API of 960+ while this school is around 900.
Luckily, our son has a fantastic teacher, caring, considerate and responsible. We are really lucky to have this teacher.
Hope every teacher like our teacher.
So far, we are very happy about this school.

My youngest is currently going here for the firs time. Wow, this year they closed the back gate and everyone, especially the TK/​K has to walk all the way to the front, up the hill. They claimed the students/​parents were damaging the grass. Did they even even look to see if there are any greens??? it’s all dirt everywhere, even where no one walked on… The school overall is poorly constructed with a useless and pointless fence all around. the one-​way drop off is so slow and crowed with no help. the front gate where you pick up your little ones is a big mess. With people taller than the kids blocking everywhere, there is no way for the kids to even see their parents to point them out. School did not even bother putting cones making sure parents stay back and leave some room for teachers to help their students recognizing their parents for pick up. It takes u about 30 – 45 mins to get there, find a spot to pick up your kid each day!

yeah you need to watch this

Run run run around the school! Only after school hours tho.

Liked this school very much at first… location, nice. Has a great community/​family feel. Most of the staff are helpful.
Negatives…well, heres a personal story, my nephew was supposed to start 2^nd grade here. He had attended Kinder and 1^st at MHES. He attends with a permit. My sister is a faculty member (who just had twins) and was last min. in applying for permit. Got a release from San Gabriel School Dist. (in time) and because they didn’t believe that she got it done (due to SGSD error) in time they LIED about there being openings available. I guess as punishment to her they denied her request. Meanwhile my nephew was in limbo missing valuable school days.
To cut to the chase (too long already) my sister is still waiting for response from new principal. Who suffered here? A 7 year old little boy. For what?
My nephew now attends Park Elem. who actually care about kids education!

I am writing this review on my mom’s account. I attend this school and I must say that it has changed since the time I have arrived. They have made Multiple improvments and they have many more activities to participate in. I now understamd that it would be hard to keep a large school clean with so many students. All in all they have improved quite a bit and i am satisfied: D

Very peaceful and open. Usetoo come to this school and looking back, i really enjoyed it.
One great feature about this school is that the school is not fenced up and the great thing about that is the students dont even ditch school!

Highlands is small, but it’s pretty cool I guess. It’s not always true that teachers pick favorites o. O The teachers here at Highlands are pretty nice and fun. There’s a Casuda Canyon Plaza opening. I heard they might have a Boba place there. lol And there is a Santa Fe Market close by so it’s easy to get snacks. haha Soo let me talk more about the school:
Atmosphere: It’s clean and cool. There’s graffiti of course. Every school probably has graffiti: P
Teachers: Teachers are nice. They teach pretty well lol.
Fun: There’s Day at the Fair, dances, and holiday celbrations. lol I think they should fix the dance though or atleast have more xD
New: There are new buildings and a new computer lab, but we don’t use it for computers… it was like a storage. lol There’s also a bridge/​elevator, but sadly the elvevator is only for handicaps :/​
Overall, my 8 (going to 9 ;D) years at Highlands has been pretty good (:

I love this place!