I attended city college years back; I loved it. Now my daughter attends it; she likes it too. Her…read morefirst year here; she didn't like some of the classes because the teachers or students were rude/bully. I myself did not experience that; although it was a different time when I attended. Her second year, she loves it! She mostly has online classes and her theatre teacher is awesome. She's more happy than ever. They have so many programs for those who need food & health etc. I don't really like that anyone can just come on campus but that's why we have to stay vigilant. So many crazy stuff happens there. Parking is horrible unless you have classes that's not at the peak hours.

I've taken classes at three of the four San Diego Community College District's schools. Of them,…read moreSan Diego City College has been my worst experience by far. Safety: This is the biggest concern. The open campus is located in a high traffic area (due to the trolley being right next to it). Anyone can come and go from the campus with little issue. There has never seemed to be any campus police presence. I've never felt safe walking to and from campus, even during the day. Atmosphere: SDCCD's family of schools like to promote that they're inclusive and "safe-spaces" for marginalized groups. And while I've gotten that feeling from City's sister schools, I constantly see vandalism on City's campus targeting racial and sexual minorities. Combined with the fact that the campus is kept up about as well as the surrounding downtown area (in other words: not kept up very well at all), this does not feel like a welcoming and inclusive space. Faculty: Every professor I've taken at City College has fallen into one of two categories. Either they use the class to espouse their personal beliefs (often on topics not related to the class), or they just don't care about their students' success at all. On one occasion, both. Teachers who brag about their fail rate on the first day of classes, smugly saying that they expect 70% of the class to drop by the end of the semester, need to reassess their teaching styles. 70% of your students should NOT be dropping or failing your class. Administration: If you have any problems with a teacher, you'd be better off just dropping and taking the "W" on your record and retaking the class at Mesa or Miramar. Attempting to get an appointment with a counselor is next to impossible, unless you have all day to wait around for a possible drop-in. If you try to reach out to deans or department heads, expect to wait a long time before you hear back--if you ever do. No one at that school cares about student success or well-being. If you need to register with a service like VA, EOPS, or DSPS, you basically need to go to campus and force them to schedule you, because they won't respond to calls or emails. Disabled Students: The campus is a network of hills, with very few elevators. It was clearly not designed with disabled students in mind. Unless you're in an electric wheelchair, it's nearly impossible to get around quickly. As I said above, attempting to register with DSPS is fruitless unless you physically go in to schedule. Campus Layout: The campus is a labyrinth built into a mountain. The buildings are laid out in a toggled grid pattern and labeled with letters that sometimes correspond to the subject(s) being taught in those buildings ("MS" being "Math and Social Sciences" and "S" being "Science"), but also sometimes not ("D" being the campus store and "L" being the "Academic Success Center"). The buildings aren't laid out in any sort of alphabetical order ("A" building is on the opposite corner of the school from "AH" and "B" buildings), so it's next to impossible to figure out where you need to go unless you have the campus map in front of you. The Library (what they call the "Learning Resource Center") is located at the far front corner of the campus, as far from classroom buildings as you can get, which makes it extra difficult to study between classes, and there are limited study spaces inside the classroom buildings. You either need to schedule your classes with no time between, or an hour or more between, or get comfortable with studying while sitting on the floor or outside. Programs: Since City is part of the same District as Mesa and Miramar, they have a lot of the same classes. So even if your specific certification/degree isn't offered through Mesa or Miramar, you can still take your classes there and get your degree through City College. The major exception are vocational programs, like Cosmetology or the AIRE program. If those are the directions you want to go, you'll either need to tough it out at City or look into alternatives (private institutions, Palomar, Grossmont, etc). Overall, San Diego City College is just a mess of a school. It's worth the extra hour or so to commute to Mesa or Miramar instead. Both of those campuses, while not without some administrative flaws, are much better, safer, and just generally care more about their students.

If you're looking for a quality school environment for your child-- my recommendation is to look…read moreelsewhere. Our experience with a kindergartener. --The school experienced much upheaval last year when the beloved Principal of over a decade, was fired, no explanation given. She was just "gone". -- the school makes it very difficult to have informal conversation with a teacher. Parents are not allowed inside the gates, so they rarely have the opportunity to have a casual "check in". This makes for a very impersonal relationship and lacks fluidity between school and home. -- If you're interested in the 50/50 German immersion, last year the SDUSD approved a change in the charter, which alters how German will be taught, and how often. The German teachers are the best-- they hold that school together, but who knows now that changes to the school charter have been made, exactly how much input they will have -- the uniform code is ridiculous, and enforced sporadically. Our kinder wore the wrong colored skirt on the second day of school and she was sent to the office to change . A simple note home would have been far more preferable than to frighten and humiliate a five year old in a new school -- this is a minor point, but one to consider. If you're picking your child up in the afternoon, plan to be in the pickup line for 20-30 mins, occasionally longer. Their drop off/pick up system is highly inefficient. --Our child was hit with a basketball, not once, but twice in the head by accident, by an older child. No msg from the teacher, school nurse, nothing the first time. The second time the hit was hard enough to cause a nosebleed, and she was sent to the office, but still no note from the teacher. --The instruction was "all over the map". Homework packets were sent home, rarely was it ever checked, some lessons were turned in that required the child to explain their homework to the class, but the teacher never acknowledged their work. This certainly sends the wrong message. Parents of kinders were told that homework was "optional". Also, at the beginning of the year, at orientation our child's kinder teacher announced that she would be attending every soccer tournament, ballet or piano recital-- to our knowledge she never attended a single one. There is massive building expansion going on at the school. With quality already at an abysmal level, adding more children does not seem to be a good direction for the school to go. --This is not to disparage all of the teachers at AEA, but our child's kinder experience fell far short of expectations. She is now in a different school and has already participated in several back to school events that have brought exuberance towards school, and helped ease the transition of being in a new school environment. I would definitely not recommend AEA, San Diego.

I applied for the lottery believing this was the best possible school my daughter could go to. I…read morehad previous connections to some staff and the best principle I've ever met, Greta Bouterse. I absolutely love Frau Claudia & Holt, and despite my multiple requests being denied for my daughter to be in the latter's class, after jumping through all of the other hoops, we put her in the school anyway. Sadly, just after the cutoff date for applications to other charter schools closed, Superintendent David Sciaretta and the Board deviated from their charter, firing Principal Bouterse under suspect circumstances, truly undermining the foundation of the school and damaging relationships with parents, faculty and staff. This single blow has been truly devastating to our community, and has shattered our confidence in Sciaretta and the Board, who seem corrupt, power-hungry and lack transparency and integrity. We have yet to receive a reason for this firing, after 23 years of excellent service by Greta, 12 as Principal. Furthermore, despite parents and faculty showing up en-masse to meetings, airing grievances and raising objections, with hundreds more emailing in, requesting that Superintendent Sciaretta and the Board hold true to their charter and divulge information, all requests unheard or denied. On site, there is consistent physical assault, bullying, teasing, and unhealthy, unsafe, and unnecessary negative interactions that are not being resolved in quality manners. Office staff deny requests for restorative justice, there is no on-site nurse, and many of the teachers lack quality pay or resources to support their needs. Many of whom are paying out of pocket for supplies, with parents also donating to make up the difference. All this while Sciaretta has spent over 300,000$ on advertising and has a ridiculously large salary as well. The administration of Sciaretta and the Board is appalling, injust, disheartening, and disappointing. Many efforts are being made to protest, demand transparency and a return to the schools charter. I will be enrolling my child in a different school next year. It is pathetic and unconscionable to see the downfall of this school, once a heralded, prestigious institution of our community. Do NOT SUPPORT this corrupt administration, demand justice be served!

Over the past 5 years, I have tried several language schools in my quest to learn Spanish. The…read moreother schools are exclusively "online teaching" and have registration systems that are difficult to work with and require questionable security commitments. I was hacked because of one of these exposures. With Spanish Language Center, you contact them, find a lesson time and teacher that meets your needs, show up and get a great person to person lesson. Payment takes place at the first lesson... in person! The owner, Luz Kutchins in the author of a complete course for Spanish Learning. Spanish Language Center is "Numero Uno"!

There is no pricing on their website so I followed their contact page for an email. I asked for…read morepricing via email. Luz replied via email and asked for my phone number but I said I'm not available by phone. Please email me pricing. She then proceeded to call me multiple times even though I continued to ask for an email from her. I'm at work all day and can't receive calls. A customer's requests should be respected. I've had to block her calls. I won't be using this service. Pricing should be listed on the site. It shouldn't be this hard. I can only assume it's expensive an out of my budget.

What a beautiful campus. The campus has so many offerings of different food for the students. I…read moreattended the convocation with my goddaughter and was impressed with the cultural emphasis and diversity shared by the leaders.

Some of the Football Staff very rude and unprofessional and highly unorganized When it comes to…read morefootball games.

Currently closed. My client used to attend and was fine with the program which had its ups and…read moredowns.

Excellent school!…read more This is one of the much needed schools for the special education that does not exist in the current school districts around San Diego. The school's program is carefully crafted to help students with many different learning disabilities. The staff is very dedicated, and they treat all students with much kindness and respect. The students are happy and comfortable in this school environment. These are the students who would have been bullied in public schools for just being who they are. Excelsior Academy provides a safe haven to these students; therefore, they are able to focus on their academic and becoming a responsible individuals. Their graduation speech is a testimony of the school's amazing support for the students and a great achievement by the students. (Yes, every graduating student speaks at the ceremony. Very impressive!) If you are a parent and feel alone in the mainstream world, you will find a parent support group at this school. Excelsior Academy Parent Association is not only a parent group to help creating a fun social events for the students, we are each other's designated support members. I feel that I can always talk about anything to other parents who would understand and would not judge me. I highly recommend this school.

My son graduated from Cristo Rey with high honors and goes to USD now with a full scholarship…read morebecause of their help, the staff is excellent and do not tolerate bad behavior My daughter goes here now and she is very happy and thriving If you behave properly and study You will do well here and enjoy your time in school

I honestly wish I never went here. My experience felt very unfair and it affected me deeply. I…read moreoften felt watched and singled out, getting called to the office multiple times a day over accusations that usually did not make sense and often involved the same small group of people. Administration never seemed concerned about that pattern. One of the biggest issues was how a serious threat from another student was handled. They had proof but nothing was done and that student still attends the school. I felt like my side was not properly heard. The pressure and repeated reports became so overwhelming that I eventually felt forced to leave. There were also times staff took my phone without asking and read my messages it made me hate school and not want to go back and It often felt like protecting the school's image mattered more than helping students. I also did not feel supported by counseling and was disappointed in how leadership handled things. I would think carefully before enrolling.

This school is fantastic! We spent 3 years in Germany and wanted the kids to keep their German up…read morenow that we are back in the states. They not only have kept up their German, but are excelling in the testing. The classes are fun and they are dedicated to learning not only the language, but also about the culture. The classes are well organized to keep my two kids at very different levels of German motivated and learning. My kids even love the summer camps and it gives them the chance to keep a little german during the break. Great school and great staff.

I absolutely love the school and teachers. They are knowledgeable and supportive. I would recommend…read morethis school to everyone

Altus has been a great school for my son! He gets all the support from his teachers in order to be…read moresuccessful in his studies!