Welby Way Elementary School

Teacher quality in 3^rd grade: My child started attending this school in second grade. The second grade teacher was wonderful but can’t say the same with regard to his 3^rd grade teacher. Most of the children in her class are unhappy but terrified and parents are afraid to complain as it may aggrevate the situation even more. Also they are well aware that the school would not take any action. The teacher was very nasty to my child often coming up with vile allegations with no evidence. I had my son’s counselor sit in the class for observation, she informed that this teacher is not nice to the some students in the class including my child, makes me wonder if she in fact should be teaching at all ! I had complained to the proper authorities in school but they offer no solution. My next step is to escalate this to the proper authorities at LAUSD.
Barring this particular teaching picking on my child, experience in this school had been good. No other complains…

Whoa! Am I going to be the first one to rate my alma mater. :) hahaha!
I went to the magnet half of the school, quite awhile ago, but this place was the best! Back then, before the September 11^th attacks, every year, the 5^th grade class would trek from our little town in West Hills to Delaware/​Pennsylvania/​New York.
I remember quite a bit from this school.
The highlights:
4^th grade: The Western Sleepover. Yes, when I went here it was a sleepover. They transformed the cafeteria area into a «wild west» area. Panning for Gold… Throwing Horseshoes… Doing Tin Stamping… Leatherworking… you know, whatever else they did in the West in the 1800s. The best part, sleeping in the auditorium with your friends. The downside — there were tons of roaches. I think that’s why they discontinued the sleepover part…
The May day Celebration: Aside from lame pole dancing (okay, that came out wrong), pole string dancing, they have a tradition here. You take a lemon and get one of those See’s candy sticks. You stick the candy stick in the lemon and basically suck on it… until the acid from the lemon burns a hole in the stick. Instant lemonade. It’s something that I still do occasionally… and try to remember to do on May 1^st.
Also, I think the 4^th grade now goes to that Space Camp in Idyllwild, CA. I was totally jealous since my sister got to go and I didn’t. They didn’t do that when I was in 4^th grade. Ahhh! The jealousy!
5^th grade: Obviously, the trip to the East Coast was amazing. Where else would you get to go without your parents, with all your friends across the country. It was really amazing. One of my first memories is staying in these historic dorms and throwing someone’s underwear out the window. I don’t really know why I got in trouble for this… since they were «left» there. hahaha. Oh well. I caught my first fireflies here. amazing to see them in the wild. We don’t see that in LA. Also, I remember going to a historical reading on the campus and there being a random lightning storm… and running with friends back to the dorms. The lightning lit up the sky. I mean seriously, it was like it was daytime outside. Something I will never forget. Anyway, I don’t really like traveling, but as a kid, I didn’t mind. I fell in love with the country, I think, during this trip. We saw so many gorgeous places in Pennsylvania and Delaware (I really love Delaware –I have no idea why… but it calls to me. I must have been a Delawarean in another life…). Anyway, the countryside there is amazing. We went to many historic parks and locations… including the liberty bell and just tons of historic places. Probably pretty much every historical place in PA. Amazing! Also, I LOOOOOVVVVEEEEDDDD the Amish Country. We got the opportunity to dine with them and there was this one girl that I remember that was totally smitten with me and really wanted to be my friend. hahaha. I don’t know why I remember that. I guess my friends were teasing me about it? Ahh. I guess my innocence shown through even then. I also electrocuted myself on their gate. hahaha. Hilarious. Obviously, New York was amazing as well. Twin Towers. Glad I got to see that. UN. — we met Kofi Annan. I don’t even know what else. Ellis Island. I am sure there were a ton more places. The place in Philly famous for their cheesesteak sandwiches (which I don’t even like!). Maybe this is why I am such a foodie?! Who knows! I started early!
The whole trip was amazing and the teachers are really big on history. So when you actually went on the trip, at the end of the year, it was a culmination of all the studying you did all year. Amazing Amazing School. I know my 5^th grade teacher, Ms. Metson, is now the Magnet Coordinator. So congrats to her! She was the best! :)