Panther Lake Elementary School 34424 1st Avenue South, Federal Way, WA 98003

"Anyone can pull your child out, they don't I.d. You. All you have to do is sign in and put a sticker on and you are free to Rome the hall ways without a question. When the kids get mad they let them leave the classroom to walk the hallways until they cool off which means they spend most of the time " cooling off" than learning. They do not address bullying here and some of the staff are extremely aggressive towards kids when they don't listen from what I have seen. My son was pulled out of school by his grandma who is not on any paper work and has never been to the school. This school is not safe period. My son was ahead in kindergarten at his old school and then when he switched to this school he fell far behind! The worst school"

"I used to attend this school back around the early 2000's from the 3rd grade to the 5th (graduated in 2001 before moving on to Illahee the Fall of the same year), and mostly all I can remember is the HUGE playground, gym class, music class, the annual Book Fair in the Library, a few teachers, the final bus ride home (Oh my god, all the busses honking, waving, and teary 'farewell's) and the friends I've made here. Can't believe it's been 16 years and the school's architecture has long since changed! I miss those three years dearly and hope those who were there around that time have memories to look back on fondly. After reading a handful of reviews, it's sad to see some things don't seem to be doing well, but I hope things will turn around and current as well as future generations of children will have a bright future at this school as well as others. Everyone deserves a bright future! :)"

"Terrible. I walked into the school without notifying them I was coming and caught one of the front office staff giving my 7 year old son attitude like he was an adult! She stopped as soon as I let her know he's my son. The school staff does not seem to care much about the students. Wants to write everything off as "bad behavior". I emailed my sons teacher concerned because the last time he had any issues behaving, I found out he was being bulled. Her response was she doesn't think it is that and that he just loves his mom too much. And most importantly THE PRINCIPLE VIOLATED MY SON'S IEP! Not ok."

"Wow this school...never thought I could dislike a school so much. Where to start...I am a parent of a current 5th grader who has gone to this school for 4th and now currently in 5th grade. His 4th grade teacher I don't think I ever met...his current 5th grade teacher, I've met once. They don't really seem to have a very open door kind of policy but I'd be worried if they did because they don't even seem to care who comes to the school to get kids out. On 4 separate occasions my wife has had to get my son from school early and they have never once asked who she was, not a name or relation to the child. Thinking maybe just cause she was a woman and thats why they didn't ask, I then decided to go in myself. A man walks in the school and requests to get a child out of class, having a hard time remembering the teachers name. The receptionist helped me with the teachers name and never asked who I was or my relation, just let my son go with for all she knows, a stranger or someone who doesn't have custody (which I do). If this isn't bad enough it seems like every time we go there for a family event or just to pick up our son, the teachers seem to be cranky, especially the after school teacher who was getting short with younger grade kids because they weren't listening (when do kids ever listen in large groups anyways) My son's 5th grade teacher, while he is nice and is good at responding via email seems kind of basic, like he is not striving to leave an impression on the students. There doesn't seem to be a good communication standard in the classroom and it is almost like the kids can get away with a lot. When we had asked him about my son not turning in his homework in the beginning of the year, he just replied with, "boys will be boys," as if being a boy means you aren't going to turn in your homework and this is in some way "okay." Most recently the kids had a science fair with projects due. The kids were given 2 weeks to do it & the judges seemed to be very harsh on a bunch of elementary students, almost favoring some and being extra critical on others. The whole project fair seemed like a joke, kids who were obviously not involved in their project got great grades while others who had spent a lot of time (and money) on their projects were given very poor grades. Anyways, while this review won't necessarily keep parents/students away because they now assign you schools and its a pain to switch, I am just saying, keep an eye out on your students progress and make sure you be firm about what you want to see from their teacher. As for the front office...yeah don't know what to say about that except it needs a better security system in place. I don't have experience from the younger grade teachers but I've put my other kids in another school just to play it safe. I am done with this school for good."

"When we first moved to Federal Way my Son went to another school. They didn't have room for my daughter when she needed to go to all day Kindergarten. So we found Panther Lake. My son finished his grade school years there, and my daughter has been there since (has a few more to go). We absolutely love this school. All of the staff put the kids education, health and safety first. When you volunteer in your child's class, all of the teachers and staff welcome you and let you know how thankful they are for all of the help you do. The teachers take time to make sure the students are reaching the goals they need to, to move onto the next grade level."