Literally opened yesterday for business and as expected, it's very much a work in progress. Parts…read moreof the school are still in construction, they still need to fill some positions, and each day, kinks in the drop off/pick up process are improving. I have three kids with one in 1st, another in TK, and the last having a few year still. I plan on a long term relationship with Bella Vista that will stretch almost 10 years so the little stuff won't matter. Again, it's still early on so take my review lightly and think of it more as a place holder. I'll be back at the end of year one with an update.

Extremely rude staff. When the staff is so unprofessional and rude how can I expect them to teach…read moremy kid good manners?

I'll be honest - this place nearly drove me insane. It's not a happy place. I attended 2014-2018…read moreand I hated most of it. There were a few teachers I loved - but they are actually gone now (moved to different schools) such as Mr. O'Haire (math) and Mr. Seipel (PE - weights class) who moved to schools closer to where they live. The teachers, for the most part, were good and cared about the students to an extent. My issue lies with the other students. This place is infamous for the student community, which, in short, was not enjoyable, for the most part. While I did make some lifelong friendships, I do not miss 80% or more of the people I knew. As well as teachers, most administrators were okay. And DVHS has the best proms/balls in the bay area. Also, DVHS is academically superior. I was an average student at DVHS, with a GPA around 3.7, only a few Honors/AP courses. I had friends with over 4.5s, but also knew people with under 3.0s. I believe this place is a top 10 public high school in California, academically. The struggles I've had in high school made my time in college a breeze. College is so easy to me because DVHS was just so hard. I went from average at DVHS to (well) above average at my current school (which is certainly not prestigious like an Ivy League or UC school, but is a decent school indeed). If you plan on going to a small liberal arts college or a community college after graduating DVHS I think you will have a really easy time. I know many people currently (2020-2021 high schoolers) that transferred to Cal High or other schools because of how notoriously bad DVHS is. I actually switched to Venture Independent Study next to DVHS (public, part of SRVUSD) in the middle of my junior year and only took 2 classes at DVHS for the last 2 years (concurrent enrollment for AP calculus and a science class). My diploma is technically Venture and not Dougherty Valley. Of course I miss high school sometimes, but I am certainly glad to be done with that period of my life. Also, if you are 16-19 and know someone from DVHS, I would try to go to prom with them ;) My prom in May 2018 was memorable, definitely my most prominent (lol, no pun intended) memory of this place.

Former student here, would definetly recommend sending your child to a different school like cal…read morehigh instead. The staff is the biggest issue at this school. Teachers and counselors (apart from a select few) do not teach well and students end up having to basically self study whole courses. Staff also think students are beneath them and don't resolve issues that come up during the school year. The college and career counselor Mrs.Theobald, probably the most important person at that school because she manages internships and volunteering opportunities through the school, was the main reason I left this school. A mistake on her end (not telling me that the due date of an application was actually before the written date) made me lose an important internship opportunity, and when i went to turn in my application, she put the blame on me for not turning it in earlier (i turned it in 2 weeks before the date written). I even sent a long email to her about how i felt about the whole situation to which i got a one sentence response and no follow up or apology. That situation made me realize that i would never succeed academically if i stayed in dvhs. The school's staff has been kept based on seniority, not quality, so most of the teachers are bad, and counselors are very unhelpful and never actually try to solve problems that students have. The school might be rated high on a state level but it's because the students work so hard by themselves, so don't be fooled by the high ranking, this school has many issues.

We have 3 young ones with the oldest being in Kindergarten. I must say that we are very impressed…read morewith this school. They have teaching down to a science. And I'm not just talking about the academics, which by the way is off the charts top 10 in the entire state and the top API in San Ramon, which has great elementary schools altogether. They are tops at teaching kids important life skills, social skills, the importance of volunteer work and fundraising. This school does programs such as food and clothing donations in the winter for the homeless, an amazing school supply fundraising event where they donate all of the supplies to an inner city elementary school (this year it was a school in Richmond), jog-a-thon, anti-bullying resources, and many more wonderful programs. Our daughter loves being a student here and loves her amazing teacher, Mrs. Choa. We have seen such development in her since the beginning of the school year. She can read fluently, is good at math, is a good problem solver, thinks and speaks logically, and is so confident for her age. This school has great school spirit and does so many great events both for its own students and for others, I can't think of another elementary school that could compete!

Excellent elementary school with first-rate administration, talented teachers and dedicated staff…read more Highly recommend!

I attended this school around the 2006-2010 time frame (I was born in 2000) for Kindergarten until…read more5th grade (then to Windemere Ranch Middle School and Dougherty Valley High School) as it was my residential public school. It could be worse. I knew some good teachers who cared, and some maybe less so. But it is (or was, at least) better than other elementary schools, honestly. I wonder if any of these teachers are still there. I had Mrs Coquia for Kindergarten, Mrs Petraglia for 1st, Mr Maloney for 2nd, Mrs Valdez for 3rd, Mrs Van Aken for 4th, and Mrs Vela for 5th. I did make some lasting friendships that still exist to this day, and I don't have any terribly bad memories about the school. Field trips were pretty often and very interesting and a lot of fun. I don't know if they still do this but I have memories that will last a lifetime from Camp Arroyo and Camp Walker Creek (I think that was the name?) which were a few nights for 4th and 5th graders, in cabins accompanied with chaperones. Truly a blast! Also they did sometimes have pretty good food, at least to a kid. I remember I loved nachos and tater tots as a kid!

11 years later and the school has deteriorated. the school leadership is not as strong as it used…read moreto be, and the culture of the school is not respectful. no respect for personal boundaries. one of the newly hired teachers is awful - gave my child anxiety. we ended up leaving and transferred our kids to coyote creek, which was so much better for us. it so sad because our oldest flourished here and it was so nice at that tjme. unfortunately the new administration is not as welcoming and didn't do enough to keep the quality of education up, or improve the school culture to make it more inclusive.

Amazing and professional team, my 3 kids graduated from this school and all 3 loves their teachersread more

I lived in San ramon from San Jose for nearly 15 years and one of the main reasons we moved was…read moreat the time kids schools and closeness to work . We had three kids going to this school one graduated Cal High last year . The one Consistent thing at this school was always blaming home and the kids for any missing work or falling behind .once a teacher with name of Coby goes the extra mile to tell my third grader boy at the time to stop speaking his original language at home and needs to speak English only because she thought he was talking while in class . After yelling at him in-front if the class . At the Beginning of COVID closures and going online there principal Haar had quit on the kinds and whole school . Went transferred somewhere else so won't miss his undisputed good record for years god forbid he had to do some work then may expose his incompetence .same with the district school superintendent went to retire at the same time . At the time of COVID the were not only not or paired like everyone else they were not available and didn't have a plan for COVID and how to run classes . The missed our dough yet placement because we requested online when they had kids to come back to school so she missed her place in class so had to be transferred to another school and missed almost a month worth of school work . The school almost always find excuses for there failure than finding reasons to make things work . There answer to everything" we can't , it not up to us really, you have to talk to the district. We can put you in the waiting list" I don't recommend this school for anyone .they live off there reputation from the past . Hope to see change to Better . School should be a partners and educators . They have our kids most of Days . We don't blame them for there bad behaviors they absorb . Just do your job.

My Daughter was assaulted by , a student in her class she was spit on and nothing was done as…read morefar as repercussions.

Ok, both my kids went here. The facility and staff always impressed me. I volunteered to drive on…read morefield trips and got to see the teachers and students in action. A very nice neighborhood school with a caring staff. Nice playground area, tennis backboard, T-ball and LL field, a fenced area for bikes and a center courtyard that most of the classrooms face. Good security practiced here, my kids enjoyed their time here. Highly recommended.

My daughter started school in the summer of 2024 and she could not be happier. All of the teachers…read morehere are caring, nurturing, and very happy to be working with kids. Her TK teacher, Ms. Swarnali, has really created an environment geared towards fostering a joy of learning. The kids do science experiments, arts, writing, reading and so much more. My daughter is leaps above other kids her age due to her TK with Ms. Swarnali!

I started my daughter in Preschool at Harper at 3.5. She had not been to school before, and I was…read moresuper nervous about this transition for her. She started with Ms Mamta, who was amazing with the transition. She was so patient and accommodating to all of her big feelings. She very quickly started loving school. She is currently in Ms Swarnali's class, and she has truly blossomed, she is truly exceptional! From the very beginning, Ms. Swarnali has created a warm, nurturing environment where she has felt safe, encouraged, and excited to learn. Ms. Swarnali consistently uses positive reinforcement to guide and motivate her students. Her approach has helped my daughter grow not only academically, but also emotionally. I've seen tremendous improvements in her confidence and the way she interacts with others -- changes that I credit directly to Ms. Swarnali's support and teaching style. It is clear that Ms. Swarnali is deeply committed to the well-being and development of her students. We feel incredibly fortunate to have had her as part of my daughters early learning journey.

I really enjoyed working there. People were quite pleasant especially in TK! The office staff are…read morevery professional and kind.

Great staff! Super helpful Every-time I need help. Thank you for a friendly welcome to San Ramonread more