Cottage Hill Elementary School at 22600 Kingston Lane, Grass Valley, California.

Cottage Hill Elementary has grown tremendously since I was a student there 30 years ago when the classrooms were just 8 trailers connected by an elevated walkway. When my son started attending there, I was amazed to see how much the campus has changed and grown. But what hasn't changed was the quality of the education and caring of the teachers and staff there. They foster a safe environment where the kids can grow and mature. The kids do great academically, but they don't accomplish this by pushing test scores and creating a stressful environment like I have seen in other schools. It was nice to see that Cottage Hill is still teaching kids the way I remember being taught, where they help kids prepare for life, not just for taking a test.

I love this school! I have 3 boys there ages 5, 8 and 9 years old. They also love the school. The principal, teachers, staff, parents, and kids are great! We moved here last year from the Bay Area, where my kids were in a 'top rated' school. We are WAY happier at this school than the previous school.

I feel the teachers and staff really get to know the kids here personally. Many teachers have been there for many years and seem genuinely happy to be there. The kids get way more positive attention than they did at the 'top rated' school they came from. They were stressed out and unhappy at their previous school. The previous school cared mostly about their rating and API scores, not the kids themselves. And, the previous school had a ridiculous amount of homework each night. I feel this school has the appropriate amount of homework per night, not too much that it is overwhelming and kids burn out, but enough to keep them on a good learning curve.

Now my boys are excited about going to school and are all doing extremely well and excelling academically. Every day that I pick them up from school and I ask about their day, the standard answer was that they had a great day.

The school also has great after school programs (Coding, Lego Robotics, Cooking, Art, Science, etc.) and an Advanced Studies Program. So, there are many ways for kids to excel at this school beyond just the normal school day.