Bostonia Language Academy - El Cajon, California

Guy Pappalardo

My daughter goes to the Language Academy here and it is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. She is learning Spanish and English and computer coding and she's only in kindergarten. The teachers are fantastic, the Principal is tremendous and I don't have enough positive adjectives for this place. The change in my daughter since going to this school has been astronomical. She is challenged and in a great environment and we will probably stay in a city i'm not too keen on just so her, and soon her brother, can keep going to this school. There is a waiting list and a test before you get in, but once you do, good things.

Honesty Lindemann

I attend this school and as someone who is not a parent and sees everything that goes on there, I wouldn’t recommend it, I’ve asked to switch classes multiple times because of my rude teacher, and rude classmates, and they ignored that whole problem. The kids are nice but not all of them, most are very disrespectful to other students and teachers. We also had a teacher apart of the lgbtq community and the teacher unfortunately had to leave because he was wearing nails and that didn’t sit right with one of the parents. The substitutes are also very rude. I do love this school cause you can make a lot of friends and have a good time.but the office or anyone working there who isn’t the nurse or main front office lady, could care less about all of these students. They also make us do everything on computer which is annoying and hurts everyone’s eyes, also the kids who love video games never pay attention when it’s time to learn and we have our computers out. And the lunch lady’s are just a another story some are nice but there’s 2 that everyone in the school literally doesn’t like, she gave me referral just for drinking water without asking her even though I asked another lunch lady. Like I said I wouldn’t recommend it but people will continue to put their children here because “its good to be bilingual”. And as for the manipulative, 2 sided principal he failed me and many other students.

Imelda Barranco

My kids have been going here for three years. And I am beyond satisfied with my children's education. They learn to read and write in both English and Spanish. Not only is this a bilingual school, but also a computer science school. Something that most elementary schools don't offer. I am amazed with all the programs they learn on their chromebooks. Mrs. Jacobo, the principal along with the many teachers are very friendly. I highly recommend Bostonia Language Academy.

Kandra Jones

I am SO happy with Bostonia Language Academy! I have a student in Kindergarten and he is carrying on full conversations in Spanish and is learning computer coding, which will be a great tool to have once he gets into the work force.

As with anything and everthing... nobody can make everyone happy. That's why there are different schools, different strokes for different folks. I, however, am very pleased with this school, with this program, with my student's Kindergarten teachers and with Principal Jacobo. I have been so impressed that Principal Jacobo has made the effort to know the students and their parents. When there was an issue with another student Principal Jacobo came to me personally when she saw me on campus. My son's principal last year at a different school made no such effort. Principal Jacobo is very involved in the school from directing traffic, to helping set up for school events, and checking in on classrooms. The parents and students are greeted by her each morning at the gate.

Before registering my child we were required to attend and in-depth meeting with Principal Jacobo. She informed us of what to expect from the school, from the teachers and from our student. After that, we were able to decide whether this was a good fit for our son. Choosing this school was not a hurried decision. We had to take certain measures and go through certain steps to get him here. For us, the positive aspects outweighed the possibly negative ones.

This is a new school and a new program so, as with any new business, there are bound to be growing pains. I, however, am in for the long haul because I am happy with every aspect of Bostonia Langauge Academy and my son is thriving, being challenged and has gained a sense of pride that he is able to speak another language.

Carrie Northum

I have two students at Bostonia, one in 5th and one in 3rd grades. I am a teacher myself and my kids’ grandma is a retired teacher who volunteers in my kids classes several days a week, so I have a good idea of what actually is going on in the classes from both a parent’s and teacher’s perspective.

I am very happy with their learning. We are an English only household but both of my kids are above grade level in both English and Spanish. My older daughter began at Jamacha before all the dual language programs were relocated to Bostonia. I agree that how the district handled the transition was not the best, but after sticking it out for a few years I can say that it was for the best. My younger child is far more fluent Than my older child who began at Jamacha, and I feel the difference is that she was truly immersed, not just a kid from “the Spanish class”. I can assure you that the teachers absolutely are teaching the kids, and immersing them not just having them learn from computers. Computers are used to supplement and support instruction, which is indicative of a 21st century classroom.

I teach science and engineering, so one of the things I really liked about the program at Bostonia was the computer science focus. I honestly think it is better at the lower grade levels- I think as the kids get older it is harder for their core teachers who don’t always have a lot of computer science background to know enough to feel comfortable teaching programming languages. Nevertheless, the kids at the school get a positive first impression of engineering and aren’t afraid of programming like most people are. This is a huge benefit to their futures.

Sannya Fangurista

All the staff here are amazing. They really are there to support you in any way possible. I was nervous not knowing how my kindergarten would do since he knows no Spanish. Now a month and a half later, this kid is speaking, singing and writing in Spanish. I'm so impressed. I love this school, how they encourage every student to learn and support one another.

Chava Gendelman

This school is repulsive. Since being "forced" to migrate to the Bostonia Language Academy, due to the district/superintendent thinking this was a good idea, even though all children at different schools in the East County had been adapting to their class mates and environment for the last 3 years. Never mind the Bostonia children and Teachers being displaced with NO notice. If this was not enough, they chose the absolute worst person to run, or should i say micromanage the school and teachers in every aspect. First, don't expect to EVER see graded homework. And you probably should take your child to have their vision checked after attending this school due to the enormous amount of time spent on the computers. Also, you may want to check your child's attendance record as that is more than likely being altered. Not sure how my children received perfect attendance when they clearly missed a week of school due to the flu. Do not expect to see smiles from anyone but the principal, who is probably smiling because she has successfully manipulated an entire district and remaining staff into believing she is so awesome. The whole program that originally began in 2012 was completely wiped out. Don't try to express a concern because you will have the whole school/staff talking behind your back. The motto there is, if you don't like it then door let the door hit you in the @$%$. Several teachers have resigned since the start of this in 2015 and several students have left the school Including my two children. One of which was successful in learning Spanish since K for 3 years. However this last year, there was nothing but regression and problem after problem, missing homework, constant complications and an extremely negative environment, so as a result we had to abandon Spanish and move to an English only school. Oh ya, and get ready for your child to start to adapt to middle school because the principal has implemented 3 teachers for each student. Don't bother trying to communicate to your teacher there could be a week wait, or no response at all. Its redunkulous. Id give this school zero stars if I could. The whole program has become East County's set up to fail. Id steer clear from this mess, unless of course you don't care about your child's academics and future success.

Boshara Family

As a kid in this school since kindergarten and now in 5th I hate this school first most of the staff is mean, no respect from the teachers the lunch lady's and the coaches. Second the lunch, there was turkey and mash potatoes for lunch because of Thanksgiving the turkey looked disgusting I rather eat prison food at this point. Third the bathrooms(this one doesn't really matter but it's been a problem to me and my friends) sometimes when I go to the bathroom at say 2nd grade lunchtime I am in the stall when a 2nd grader comes in, she doesn't see if there is someone in there she just tries to open the door. Forth, the time for lunch is shorter than recess make it longer. Lastly, in forth grade I told a girl that there were like 3 middle schoolers in one stall she told to tell my teacher,I told her that and said ok and did nothing about it. Also the school needs to stop spending money on lunch lady's and coaches. The only best part of the school is my friends because they treat me nice