Seven years ago, while touring preschools for our first child, we walked into Carmel Mountain…read morePreschool and immediately knew there was something special about it. My mom, who has spent 40 years in education and childcare, toured the school with me. By the end, she simply said, "Nothing else we've seen compares to this. The decision is easy." She was right. Choosing CMP meant a longer drive for our family than several other schools we considered, but we knew it was worth making it work--and seven years and two children later, I can say without hesitation that it was one of the best decisions we've made for our kids. The campus itself is truly unmatched. Each age group has dedicated outdoor and playground spaces thoughtfully designed for their developmental stage, and the school has created so many different environments for children to explore and grow. Art, nature, STEAM, farm-to-table experiences, outdoor learning--the list goes on. There is so much intention behind how the campus is designed and how children experience it. But what has made CMP so special to us goes far beyond the campus. The teachers and staff have become like family. They have nurtured both of our children with so much love, patience, and genuine care. When we returned years later with our second child, they welcomed our entire family back with open arms. There is a feeling of warmth and community here that is difficult to put into words. It truly feels like home. As working parents, we have also deeply appreciated how reliable CMP has been. Compared with other preschools, they maintain an incredibly consistent schedule with very few non-holiday closures. That reliability matters enormously to families who depend on childcare. We saw that commitment firsthand during COVID, when safe, dependable childcare was especially critical for parents who, like us, were essential workers. We are so grateful to be a CMP family. Looking back over these seven years, I have no doubt that the incredible teachers, loving environment, thoughtfully designed campus, and experiences our children have had here have given them such a beautiful start to their childhood. CMP will always hold a very special place in our family's heart.

Carmel Mountain Preschool has some goods and some bads as well. The goods are mostly around the…read moreteacher our daughter had. She helped us transition our daughter who had never gone to preschool before into this new environment really well. She called us almost every day after school for the first month to give us updates on how she did that day. We felt that she really cared for our daughter's wellbeing. The bads are mostly around the administration here. Whenever we brought up an issue or concern, we were replied to in a curt and uncaring manner. Sort of like take it or leave it. With the school being so big it sometimes felt like we were dealing with a corporation with multiple layers of bureaucracy and obfuscation. It felt like they were more focused on painting a pretty picture for social media than actually listening to the parents. Ultimately we did leave to another school in the area and we've been happy with our decision.

My 5 year old is very hyper, always stimulated and had a hard time focusing the beginning of his…read morefirst year of school year. Though they kept telling me he's still a baby and his behavior will change, I was also told they don't have the staff and correct skills for himto basically succeeded there and they suggested I transfer him to a school where there is a classroom with less students and more staff to help give him the support he needs. Since we have transferred him to Park Village and seen great improvement. As for Morning Creek, our experience has been less than great. I don't feel like my son was given the chance to enjoy his home school. I don't think they implemented much to help him succeed in the classroom, I felt like he was judged for being hyper and hard to redirect. He did get free a little physical with some of the other TK students which I heard about every incident. But as the school year goes on with him at Park Village, he's been telling me about one specific student from MC He did not enjoy spending his time with and this student caused him a lot of physical pain as well even when he tried to be nice to him. I was never told of any kids being physical with him just the other way around. To this day HE feels like no one at the school, staff and students like him and as a mother, this makes me super angry because why is my five-year-old having these thoughts of his elementary school? I have spoken to a neighbor who told me she has met families who were told they don't have the proper skills teach high stimulated kids. Mrs. Smith, the behaviorist and the recess staff always treated him well. It makes me sad he thinks his teacher didn't like him and the other Students. It makes me angry that he supposedly initiated every violent incident. I got the chance to be in the classroom every morning for the first month of school and let me tell you, kids can be quite brutal to each other with their words! I know for the most part they don't realize what they say can be hurtful to somebody but my son has not forgotten all the mean words said to him at Morning Creek..

I have the best teachers for my kids, great office team that makes me smile and is always helping…read more The principal this is her second year and she is awesome. She is super supportive with the military support group starting up on campus which started up last year for the kids and the family. We have an amazing teacher who is an advocates and has been bringing military members on site to tutor young kids. I'm content and feel like I'm making a difference here with them. The PTA they are actually a fun group and they are for the kids. Work super hard and I love the programs. Absolutely love the volunteers I work alongside with, this year will be a good year I'm praying.

I have 5 kids who have all been attending this school since the year it opened, which has given our…read morefamily the unique perspective of developing relationships with 5 different teams of teachers/grade spans each school year. And our kids have now gone through every grade, K-8 at D39C. We have been very pleased with our experience at Design39. After our children previously attended a number of different elementary schools (both within Poway Unified School District and in other states), we have found that the principals & staff at this school are relatively quick to respond to parent concerns and quick to actually make real changes when they recognize a need. That hasn't always been our experience at previous schools. One of the things we like the most about this school is that the kids are allowed to make choices about the elective classes they take, even down to the youngest students. And when kids have a choice in their classes, they are often more passionate & excited about what they are learning. And this is a public school, so the kids are also learning all the standard topics, language arts, math, social studies, science, etc. and are still getting the common core curriculum like all the other schools in the district, they just get to choose electives in addition to their other classes. Our kids have been able to take such a variety of elective classes so far over the last few years, including sign language, sewing, coding, cooking, genealogy, Spanish, Russian, French, Korean, Project Lead the Way (STEM), Music Composition, Drama, Kite Design, Lead39 (school leadership), Writing Workshop, Advanced Math, Biztown, Ceramics, Ukelele, Maker39 (kids design their own products and get to sell them and learn about businesses), Oceanography, Mosaics, Food Science, Photography, Community Service, Robotics, Chess, 3D Art, Gardening, Painting, etc. My husband and I often think we would love to have gone to a school that offered so many choices, especially in the younger grades. And I don't know how they do it, but my kids usually get their 1st or 2nd choice of classes. Another thing we have been pleased with is that there is less homework at this school than others in the district. Many people have the wrong idea and think that D39C has no homework, but that isn't the case. Many students in the younger elementary grades have little homework other than reading, practicing math, and an occasional group project outside of school. And as they get older, especially in grades 6-8, the homework load & expectations for student responsibility for assignments gradually increases as they approach high school. I believe that my D39 students likely have fewer hours of homework per day than their peers at the local middle school, but they definitely have homework (and, as at any school, it depends a lot on each individual student's time management whether they may be able to get a lot of their assignments done during the school day, or if they may leave more to be completed later at home). [Although the PUSD school board has recently changed it's district homework policy -- see this article: goo.gl/QTZPZS. They now recognize the studies showing that reading for enjoyment is much more beneficial for students than excessive homework, especially in the younger grades. So hopefully more of the other schools will start to move toward this model too over time]. Another myth about D39C is that the kids never use pencil & paper and are always on their devices. Yes, each student at the school uses a device (tablet or laptop), and they do use them for creating presentations, turning in assignments online (in grades 6-8), sometimes reading books online, working on group projects. But they also use paper and other supplies in their learning -- daily journals, bring home art work that they have created or prototypes that they have designed, reading from paper books, etc. It's a mix of both. Overall we've been pleased with the school. There will always be room for improvement at a brand new school, especially one that tries to do things a little different, but they have promptly made changes as needed and we haven't run in to any major issues over the last few years. We also haven't run into any problems with any of our kids' teachers, (which is saying a lot, since our kids have been with 20 homeroom teachers and numerous other teachers for different classes, electives, PE, etc. so far since we started at the school). Surely this school has had to deal with it's share of behavior issues from students, just like at any other school, but in our family's personal experience our kids haven't had any issues with bullying or bad behavior from other students. Another positive thing about this school is that the kids generally seem to still be excited about school, even by the time they reach the end of their middle school years, instead of being burnt out. My kids look forward to going to school each day.

Please dont send your kids here. I went through all grades in this hellhole and it is worse than…read moreyou think it is. Teachers are reckless, same with case managers, and admins are full of shit. They beg for your money for fundraisers in which you never see that money again. Do the Monterey Ridge to OVMS to DNHS route instead.

Morning Creek is our home-school to be quite honest, REALLY dislike them due to them claiming they…read moredon't have the skills and staff to teach my extremely hyper four year old, Mrs. Racheal and her aides in the class have helped my son so much this year. I have seen a difference in his behavior since joining her class. He has high energy, easily stimulated, and hard to keep on track. He is still all these things but always talking about how he is going to make good choices and have a calm body at school and outside of it. He is always saying " I like Park Village" and "I'm a penguin" The TK playground is awesome, he came home one day learning how to do the monkey bars! Another bonus he really enjoys the school lunches. The ladies in the office are great as well. We've been late a few time, I think after the first or second time, they remembered him. So far our experience at Park Village has been very positive and I am grateful for Mrs. Racheal and her aids!

Both of my children have attend PVE and my daughter is still a student here. I cannot say enough…read moreabout this school as the interaction between the teacher / student and teacher / parent is wonderful. Even with all the budget concerns that have hit schools statewide, my wife and I have felt that our kids have not suffered at this school and there is a feeling of the teachers trying harder to connect with the kids. The school offers many activities to get the parents involved and it has a real sense of community. The PTA is very active and the school also includes a DAD's group which does many activities throughout the year with regards to routine maintenance, pancake and sausage breakfast, astrology night and movie nights to name a few. It is located in a wonderful neighborhood and we were very lucky to find this gem.

I cannot say enough about this school. My daughter graduates from the Academy tomorrow and then off…read moreto Middle School. The staff from kindergarten up to 5th grade has been excellent. I have not had any issues with any of the teachers in a personal manner and am pleased beyond belief that we fell into this area. Granted, a child is only going to get what he/she puts into it. My daughter put a lot into it, we supported her and the school. Including volunteering and also purchasing items to help support the Academy. Every single person that I interacted with, the parents, the teachers, the administration everyone was excellent. I could not think of one negative thing to say about the school. If I am blessed enough to have another child, I would go out of my way to make sure that he/she ends up at Los Pen.

This school is as good as it gets. Their Administration, teaching and support staff strive for…read moreexcellence in education and maintain high expectations for all students, no matter the level of the student. The positive spirit and pride of the school has been adopted throughout the neighborhood as well. I'm personally very grateful for all that my children have learned at Los Pen.

Dawg I hate this school sm I spent 6 years here like k-5 and summer ess and heck no don't send ur…read morekids here

Ah, my alma mater! You hold a place in my heart and of my 20 other cousins who went here too!…read more Great school in a great school district, but what else can you expect from an upper middle class neighborhood? I owe my great child hood to this school. Go Sundance Kids!

The school is truly amazing, and the staff is dedicated to helping every child succeed - and I…read moreabsolutely love that! The teamwork among the staff makes all the difference, proving that together, they truly make dreams work. If you want the best for your child, this is the place to be!

Both our kids went here from kindergarten through fifth grade and they couldn't have had better…read moreexperiences. Wonderful teachers and a great principal with a very good environment for kids to learn and grow.

The school was not that bad but still not great. The food was pretty bad but sometimes they had…read moresome good options like Mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, and a big daddy's stuffed pepperoni pizza. The teachers were kind of random. Some of them were good but a lot are bad.

I'm not going to be specific and name any families out. But I was watching a child that attends…read morethis facility for kindergarten and he's quite the trouble child. His parents only enrolled him because it's "supposedly the best around and has high ratings" I now believe that it's only due to test scores. The child I had to watch was a troubled kid. He needed the right attention but instead of doing that they have enabled his behavior by letting him play on the playground to "decompress" whenever he wants and take him out of class to go to a "sensory room" which in my experience was very degrading. They also let him wander the halls all day without returning him to class. If you treat a child like they are less than their peers that child is doomed to be unsuccessful. Canyon View Elementary doesn't know how to discipline a child the right away. Instead they use a "reward system" and whenever said child got all his rewards all he wanted to do was spend time with the the staff. Which was again taking him out of class and preventing him to learn. He can hardly spell a word. They can't even handle him and his parents have to take time off work multiple times a week because he keeps getting suspended, almost like they don't know what they're doing and just don't want to deal with the child anymore. Why should the parents stop doing their job when the school should be doing theirs? Hands down the worst elementary school around in a while. They are supposed to make the school safe but yet I had to walk into campus (without any other parents) (without being searched, and without proper identification of who I was before entering the campus) I had to watch him until his assigned aid was available. Over all I would give this school zero stars. They don't know what they are doing and should hire more help with kids that have special needs and learn to not treat them accordingly. If they are acting out, calm them down but then treat them like any other child. Every bad reaction deserves a consequence without risking the development of their child's education.