Still feel the same -- this will be my daughter's 3rd school year here! Crazy! I really appreciate…read morehow involved the school is, and the staff truly seem to care about the students. They encourage students to guide themselves, which was hard for me at first but is so important for teens to develop independence. If you're interested in the school, I absolutely recommend coming to check it out!

If your focus for your kids is to get ONLY API scores, this is the best school for you. Public…read morecharter with extended school hours where parents can just leave their kids there to get bombarded with homework for Free! If your kids are bullies, this is the best school for you as well. There are no consequences whatsoever, who wouldn't want that, right? But God forbid, if your kids get bullied, or harassed..expect the answer to be "we understand, we will look into it, but you haven't finish your iReady." "Look at her/him, getting mad about the little stuff( bullying)" Ever watched a drama movie? Most of teacher in this school acted just like that. Personal opinion about your kids is shared with others...and in front of your kids...as F the professionalize, who cares, teacher get to abuse their powers over little kids, totally normal. Your kids can totally learn a great length of how to be bullies, racists, and assholes in this school, humanity do not exist here. So have fun at it!

This has been, by far, the worst school experience my child has ever had. The administration…read moreconsistently fails to protect students who are being bullied and shows a troubling lack of understanding around mental health. Instead of addressing the behavior of documented bullies, the administration routinely shifts blame onto parents and punishes the victims. The principal, Mr. Tropp, demonstrates no accountability and has been openly condescending when legitimate concerns are raised. After assuring me he would conduct a full investigation into my son's bullying situation, he claimed to have reached a "conclusion" within hours. Our meeting began at 3:00 p.m. -- yet by 10:00 a.m. the next morning, he announced the investigation was complete. Considering school ends at 4:00 p.m. and doesn't reopen until 8:00 a.m., it's clear no thorough investigation took place. My son was repeatedly bullied, and only when he finally defended himself did the school take action against him, not the aggressor. The district seems more interested in protecting staff than protecting students. Parents deserve a school where safety, accountability, and genuine mental-health awareness are priorities. Unfortunately, this school has demonstrated the exact opposite.

Came to support a special needs client of mine during senior graduation, just to find his name…read morewasn't included in the graduation program, even though he walked. How distasteful!!

This is the best school in the Spring Valley area. Next year it is going to be an Early College…read morehigh school and the whole student body will be able to enroll in college classes if they want. The teachers here are student centered and are always available to help students. One unique aspect of MM is the hub, which provides support to all students.

I went to the school and it's outstanding, great, athletic department, and support from all…read moreteachers and coaches. I would definitely send my kids to the school . It also led me to a very lucrative career as a safety, professional .

Holy crap DD, was that an autobiography or a review? Going from a private catholic school to a…read morepublic school is always a challenge. You can whine about it on yelp over a decade later or be an adult and learn from it. I went in the mid-80's, and it was fine.

Though reviews for SVMS on "rate your educational institution"-type websites are, at best, tepid, I…read moremust admit I don't know how the school is faring now, because I am a former student and it's been a long time since the last bell rang for me. My parents made the mistake of believing all the hype about Spring Valley Middle School, which, during the mid-to-late nineties, had a reputation as an exemplar of administration, curriculum, and instruction. And, considering what the rest of Spring Valley had to offer in terms of public schools, I can see why SVMS had such buzz surrounding it. Sure, there were good teachers and good administrators here. Unfortunately, as caring as some--some--of the staff may have been, they were no match for the community riff raff the school served. What I learned from my time at Spring Valley Middle is that no amount of education or empathy can keep up with an army of no-good child-gangsters who have nothing but contempt for education and perceived weakness (or human frailty, or just humanity, if you prefer) in their peers. One must acknowledge, however, that Spring Valley, save for a couple of isolated pockets of lower-middle class comfort and a swath of affluence on Mt. Helix, is a rough, tough town. Granted, it's no Euclid, but as far as East County goes, it's a blemish of a community which has been declining since the installation of cheap housing (and LOTS of it), the entirety of which now amounts to little more than a vast, glorified Hooverville. Perhaps it isn't the fault of SVMS (established in the late 1950s, arguably before "urban poverty" took root in the area) that it happens to be situated very near the heart of this squalor, and consequently has to deal with all the children who are forced to attend school there simply because of proximity, but one would think that the barbaric behavior that takes place on its campus could have been reigned in somewhat--at least during the years of my attendance. The result of what I believe to be a lack of vigilance on the part of the administration was that SVMS was more like a prison yard than a school, where, accordingly, factions and gang-like groups quite often distinguished themselves along racial lines. The bullying was intense, and when you weren't getting pushed around because of the color of your skin or because your physical appearance didn't meet the expectations of your peers, you were ostracized and snickered at by those in the tragically hip cliques, many of whose members came from the better-off corners of Spring Valley. Of course, no one bothered them. Having transferred from the Catholic school across the street and being somewhat overweight, I was a stranger in a strange land on my first day at Spring Valley Middle, and, of course, an easy target for the scum with whom I would shortly become acquainted. Suffice it to say that this was not an easy transition for me. Every day I was dodging this group or that, or this bully or that, and very seldom getting away. This continued for the duration of my attendance here. I became paranoid and depressed. I believe that my experience at SVMS, which felt like three years of hell, was nothing less than traumatic. I don't normally indulge in the histrionics we tend to associate with self-reflexive psychobabble, but I do believe that my stay there scarred me, as I know it scarred many others, because I wasn't alone. Perhaps one of the greatest sins of the faculty, aside from the obvious looking-the-other-way which all too many school figures are guilty of, is the implementation of the "Zero Tolerance" policy, which was something of a fad in the educational system at the time. This policy stipulated that absolutely no student violence would be allowed, and that every act of student violence would be severely punished--no matter what role the student played in the violence. This meant that if a kid walked up to you at lunch, socked you in the jaw, and you hit him back, you were both getting suspended for a week, or worse, regardless of who did what. As I was a good kid scared to death of getting in trouble, I took this policy to heart. Unfortunately, it was (at least partly) for this reason that I suffered abuse at the hands of fellow students for so long. I was afraid to strike back. There were a few times that I did retaliate and punch an agressor out of anger, and while such actions seemed to mitigate some of my problems, I was suspended after each incident. But that was a long time ago. If you're debating sending your child to SVMS, maybe you can hope that because times have changed, the school has changed also, and maybe for the better. But the socioeconomic conditions of the surrounding area it serves have not, and in some ways have grown worse. This may offend some people as insensitive, but having to endure life in this sort of environment tends to throw such sociological, liberal sensibilities out the window. Anyway, good luck with your decision!

My son has been attending Trinity Christian School since kindergarten, and it truly feels like…read morehome! The teachers are amazing; caring, dedicated, and committed to nurturing not only academic growth but also faith and character. He has grown so much spiritually, socially, and academically, and it's clear that every child is valued and encouraged to walk in God's purpose. The sense of community at Trinity is incredible. Parents, students, and staff work together to create a supportive, Christ-centered environment where children feel safe, loved, and inspired to thrive. Trinity Christian School is more than a school; it's a place where faith and learning come together, and where families truly feel welcomed. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone seeking a school that nurtures the whole child in God's love.

TCS is truly a blessing to our family! The staff is like family and treat my daughters with so much…read morelove and dedication. They teach character development and truly model Christian values throughout their curriculum.

The school dynamic is amazing. Mrs. James is an amazing principal, the staff there are all so…read morefriendly and care so deeply for all the children. This is a very tight knit school. The parents are very involved when it comes to after school events. Overall this school is very underrated. My daughter has been here since TK(this is her 6th year at the school), each year has gotten better and better.

it was ok at first but near the end of the school year kids started being mean to my child and we…read moresoon had to take my daughter out

horrible school they don't keep an eye out for bullies both my kids was bullied and they do not do…read moreshit even my son was kicked in the stomach he was so scared the bullies would hit it or hurt him so he took a knife to school to protect him self he not very verbal and has a hard time finding his word and they just expelled him with out hearing what actually happened on his side and the bully still go to school there

I guess there is mixed feelings about this school from speaking with other parents. My personal…read moreopinion is that it's a great school for my daughter being in Kindergarten. The teacher she has is named Ms. Cooper who is youthful and very intelligent, she always seems to be educating the children with many activities that involves team work as well as independent learning. My daughter has never had anything bad to say about her teacher or faculty being rude or disrespectful. Although, this school has a reputation of bullying ; I can assure the staff are on it. My daughter did experience a boy throwing dirt on her head the first months of School and did obtain Lice from other students that brought the outbreak to class. I will not let that effect the good job this school is doing to providing the tools our kids need for success. I remember when i was in elementary i attended a school that was known for being one of the best Elementary Schools for academics and our school had bullying like any other school has today. The Lice outbreak will unfortunately happen to all schools eventually, so i will not deem this School from a 5 star review.

Santa Sophia Academy has been an important part of our family for a very long time. I attended SSA…read morefrom Kindergarten through 8th grade, and years later my son did the same. Having experienced the school both as a student and as a parent, I can say that the education we received there went far beyond academics. One of SSA's greatest strengths is its Catholic formation. It is integrated into the way students are taught to treat others, take responsibility, serve their community, and develop into good people. Those lessons stayed with me long after I left SSA, and I have seen the same values in my son. We also experienced teachers who genuinely cared about their students and were willing to put in an incredible amount of time and effort to help them succeed. Mrs. Genna is probably the best example I can give. There was a period when my son was unable to attend school, and every day she emailed us his assignments, explained what he needed to do, answered questions, and provided guidance on her own personal time so that he would not fall behind. She did much more than I would have reasonably expected from any teacher. What makes that even more meaningful is that her support did not end when my son left her classroom. She continued encouraging him for years afterward. I have no doubt that Mrs. Genna, along with many of the teachers he had at SSA, played a significant role in developing the confidence, discipline, independence, and academic foundation that helped him succeed in high school and attend Cornell University. That is also why some of the negative comments I have read about the school, and particularly about Mrs. Genna, simply do not match our experience. We never saw her show favoritism or disregard students who struggled. We saw a teacher who invested an extraordinary amount of herself to her students. Teachers absolutely have a responsibility to teach, communicate, and support their students, but a child's education cannot rest on the school alone. Parents also need to stay involved, reinforce expectations at home, and take an active role in helping their child succeed. I have also read suggestions that families may be treated differently because of ethnicity. As a Filipino family that has been part of the SSA community across two generations, that has never been our experience. SSA has always had families from many different backgrounds, and race was simply never an issue for us. I cannot speak for another family's personal experience, but I would be very hesitant to draw broader conclusions about the school or its staff based on race. No school is perfect, and I am sure every family will have its own perspective. But after attending SSA myself and then trusting the school with my own child for nine years, I can say that Santa Sophia provided both of us with an excellent foundation. It helped us become stronger students, more confident people, and better prepared for what came next both inside and outside the classroom. I will always be grateful to Santa Sophia Academy and especially to teachers like Mrs. Genna who cared for my son. That kind of commitment is difficult to measure, but years later you can absolutely see the impact.

Unfortunately, my family's experience at Santa Sophia Academy was very disappointing…read more My biggest concern was the lack of transparency regarding my son's final Science grade. After he received an F, I repeatedly requested a breakdown of the assignments, tests, and missing work used to calculate the grade. The FACTS parent portal did not display any of this information, despite the school directing me there, and my requests for clarification and a meeting with the principal and teacher went unanswered. We also had a very difficult experience with my son's fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Genna. As the parent of a child with ADHD, I did not feel he received the patience, understanding, or support he needed to succeed. In addition, we were asked to pay for books that the school said were missing, even though those materials had remained at school. We were also initially asked to pay $270 for a damaged Chromebook without being given the opportunity to inspect it, determine whether it could be repaired, or understand how that amount was calculated. After I requested an explanation, I felt that my concerns were not handled respectfully. In the end, the Chromebook repair cost was only $54, a significant difference from the amount originally requested. Throughout our time at the school, my family also felt that we were treated differently at times. As a Mexican family, there were interactions with staff that left us feeling unwelcome and, unfortunately, gave us the impression that bias may have played a role in how we were treated. While I cannot know others' intentions, that was our genuine experience. My concerns are not about expecting special treatment, they are about communication, transparency, accountability, respect for families, and appropriate support for students with different learning needs. Based on our experience, these are all areas where the school has significant room for improvement.

​We visited this school to see a Young Actors Theater (YAT) production of Frozen, and it was an…read moreamazing show! ​Parking is plentiful, and the walk to the theater entrance was very easy. There is a decent-sized foyer that comfortably accommodated concessions, raffle display tables, and the end of show meet/greet. ​Inside the theater, every seat gives you a great view. We sat in the back row on the main floor level and had no trouble seeing the entire stage. It's a very clean venue, and the comfortable seats were definitely a plus for a 2.5-hour production! I wasn't cold or hot. Surprisingly the temperature was just right! ​YAT did such a wonderful job! If this is their main venue, we'll definitely be back to support future productions. I 100% recommend following YAT for upcoming show dates!

FOR TRACK FIELD ONLY:…read more -Open to the public to run/walk the track field -Rubber track ground for knee protection -4 laps is one mile -restrooms nearby open to public -parking lot right near the track field also available for public to park -can still run on the track laps even when there was a game going on -remodeled with laps numbered and painted lines