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.

What an amazing school! We were enrolled at Cathedral Catholic and were not pleased with a…read moremultitude of things, so we searched for a new school. Del Norte is a beautiful and academically sound high school. The leadership over this school is second to none and the teachers truly care. I'm grateful for the opportunity of my child attending this school as I truly think they work to prepare her for college. Don't get me wrong, this school isn't a cake walk, but it's apparent she will be well equipped to attend college when she walks out the doors her Senior Year. Not only is the academic program better than a private school from what we experienced, the sports program is amazing. Some strong athletes come out of this school. Great facilities, coaches and supervision over the sports program has been a wonderful experience! Love that they invest in their academic and sports programs alike! My kid has never looked back once coming to this school and absolutely thrives. Nice work and thank you. to the school administration, faculty and staff!

"It's a good school, but blah blah is better." Could the kid…read morewith 0 friends care to elaborate? Tell you what! This is a relatively new school in the Poway school district. Common to new schools there are "growing pains" of sorts to work out. At this point, DNHS is 4 years old. So far, the administrators, student body, faculty and parents have stepped up to make this a more than "good school". If MC is better, why are so many kids from its vicinity coming to this school? Some kids coming from RB high neighborhood or even WestView and Poway high neighborhoods make the commute here. Go ahead and ask those guys "why not their area high schools?" Or do you even have to try? Seems obvious... Clearly THEY think Del Norte IS the better school.

I really wanted to love the program, but I had a poor experience with the 2 year old classroom…read more There were several red flags with the teacher, including refusing to take my son to go potty when he asked. I was also uncomfortable with feedback about my son being shared in front of other parents, and my emails asking for more context went unanswered. Ultimately, the program wasn't the right fit for our family, and we ended our contract after one month.

The worst school I have ever been to. They claim to be Christian but then why does everyone act as…read moreif everything must be perfect? The teachers and students suck. The dress code is the dumbest thing I've ever heard and the level of acceptance you feel is less than 0

I go here on Saturdays for soccer games. The field is in very good shape, compared to other PUSD…read moreschools. The bathrooms are a bit of a walk, but at least they're not porta-potties. The parking lot gets full sometimes, but that's to be expected. The only other thing I'd add is that it's been very windy there. If feels as if their field is on a sort of plateau, and it gets windswept a lot.

My time here has been quite miserable. Disabled students are mistreated by peers and staff alike…read moreand little care is given to improving their skills. Teachers often tell me that as long as I am in school and in class, my grades and work don't matter. I was punished with having multiple grades lowered despite doing work because I was in the hospital. Drug use and bullying is extremely common here, little is done to stop it. Kids are reckless on bikes and motorbikes. Suspension and detention policies are too loose. My entire time here, 6th to 8th, was very depressing and filled with bullying. Students can be forced to go no contact with others rather than have civil conversations. I wish I never attended.

Horrible school, faculty gives students tickets for parking in STUDENT PARKING LOT. nobody cares…read moreabout student input and admin are like robots. Don't have your kid go here, no school spirit, no enjoyment, and campus vibe sucks. Also no AC so it's hot in classrooms.

I think the teachers are decent here, but the admin, especially the Principal and admin staff…read morecompletely ignore all emails for months at a time. It's as if they just sit around drinking or golfing until they decide to communicate with parents once in a while. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually get students to write all the standard school communications that go out. In summary, they completely lack professionalism or the ability to communicate and deal with issues in a timely fashion, and in a word they are a joke.

On the day of the graduation, guess what this school did? Exposed the grades of all the 8th graders…read moreby putting an cross with a circle next to the child's name to indicate a perfect GPA and star next to students who got more that 3.5 lol! Whose permission did they take before doing this breach of trust/ data? Why this stupidity? I attended my grandchild's graduation and was stunned at this breach of publicity like some stamping/branding. Isn't it enough these poor children got thru this hell of a year(pandemic), did they deserve at this tender age this kind of grades data exposure? Teachers are okay, admin is super rude.

This school isn't clean, super dirty bathrooms with cameras in them,unorganized,way too big, the…read morelunch lines are too long etc.

It's been a while since my original review, and coming back here recently felt incredibly…read morenostalgic. Over 10 years ago, I brought my son Brody here to learn how to swim. Fast forward to today, and he's now a swim coach here and absolutely loves it. There's something really special about seeing things come full circle. He remembered his experience here so fondly that he decided to apply for a job, and now he's thriving in a place that once helped him grow and build confidence in the water. The environment here has always been welcoming and family-focused, and it's clear they continue to create positive experiences for both kids and staff. They're lucky to have Brody, and he's certainly lucky to be part of such a great team. I still highly recommend the noon and family swim sessions - they're such a fun way for families to enjoy the pool together.

Update 10/04/2026: Very disappointing experience with Coach Jezelle J. She was initially somewhat…read morehelpful, but throughout our interaction her demeanor came across as dismissive and unprofessional. We were simply trying to clarify makeup classes, scheduling, and our previously stated preference for a female instructor, but we felt rushed rather than helped, and several of our questions were not clearly addressed. We also tried calling the facility while standing there and the front-desk phone was not ringing properly. After initially being told she did not know what was happening, the issue was eventually acknowledged when the call came through. This was a noticeable contrast to our experiences with Miss Chloe and Coach Rayne, who have consistently been friendly, patient, and accommodating. Unfortunately, our interaction with Coach Jezelle left us feeling unwelcome and frustrated.

I've been to the District Office twice to try and get a Level 2 clearance as a volunteer. Their…read moreprocess is antiquated, as nothing is done digitally. What makes the situation worse is that the staff there appear to be mostly uninterested in providing customer service. It just seems like a miserable place to work. Hopefully some of the staff leave with Mariam Kim when she goes.

This is a review for the cafe at the Poway School District…read more This location has a restaurant that's open Monday-Friday with daily specials. It's Avenue of Science's "best kept secret" ^_^ PROPS: HUGE menu, and a staff that seems to care about the quality of what they're making. SLOPS: It's cafeteria eating, and it's a throwback to when I was in public school. If you order something that's not one of the daily specials, expect to wait a few minutes longer as they prepare your food fresh!

Our daughters truly enjoy and often look forward to their Mathnasium sessions. We've seen so much…read moregreat progress from their time there. The staff is super responsive and flexible.

Mathnasium is really fun and unlike my school it gives multiple subjects at a time! That's why I…read moregave Mathnasium a 5 star review