Torrey Pines High School

AWFUL. My son has attended both Canyon Crest and Torrey Pines. At TP the non-AP classes are literally a joke. My son had just a few teachers that I would consider "teachers". The rest were just collecting a paycheck. The classes consisted assigning book reading (she could have done that at home), watching movies, and more often than not over an hour of time with literally nothing going on. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Check for yourself. Manufacture a reason to be on campus and then walk by your kids' classroom a couple times. I'm incredulous. These kids don't stand a chance in the hyper-competitive, flat world they'll live in. IN CONTRAST CCA was pretty good. There was actually instruction going on in all the classes. I don't know where a lot of these reviews are coming from but this school is seriously flawed and needs to be completely re-examined. I like to think I'm a focus-on-the-positives person and I can't remember the last bad review I gave, but this education from a supposedly "top tier" school is truly appalling. LOOK for yourself. TP is resting on its laurels. Kids are succeeding in spite of the place.
--Submitted by a parent

My child is now in her third (junior) year at TPHS. She picked TPHS in part because several good friends were going there and in part because it is walking distance from our home. Two+ years later I am very glad this was her choice. The education she is getting is top notch. Her teachers have very high expectations for students which her mostly very motivated fellow students enjoy meeting. Both academic and sports achievement are celebrated. In several different classes, she has been asked to do collaborative projects in which she has learned to work with teams of students with diverse capacities and skills, learning management and negotiation skills that I did not learn until my thirties. Her walking helps her develop independence and a community orientation, and is good for the environment. I also like that her sports training is done far from freeway (particle and chemical) pollution.
--Submitted by a parent

This is one of the schools that have alot of variety. Because of this, the teachers cannot discipline or answer students' questions very well. There is never a sense of honor, nor a sense of what it feels to be moral and great. Additionally, the students are provided with so much menial work that they become deficient at self-awareness. Furthermore, the teachers mainly try to provide care for the lower levelled students. For example, a teacher took 30 minutes lecturing the importance of homework. Our children are already in high school. They already should know this, and it's very scary that this is happening. Furthermore, some people may argue that the school has many Ivy Leagues and good students.That's because they do their own work. Any belief that the school can help them in any extracurriculars very deeply is a fallacy.
--Submitted by a parent

As an alum of TP, I still am filled with TP pride. Top notch academics, athletics, and extracurriculars combined with the motivation and drive of a significant portion of the student body makes TP one of the top high schools in the nation. The only thing that will hold your child back at this school is his or her motivation as essentially all the resources available to them are at their fingertips. I attend an Ivy League university, and TP did an amazing job to both academically and socially prepare me. In fact, I can say with 100% certainty that many of my TP teachers provided better teaching than my professors at college and some of my courses from TP (particularly in science and math) were more challenging and in-depth than comparable courses at my Ivy League institutition. TP was excellent preparation for college and the real world.

Great school with great teachers. Highly competitive; will get you into an Ivy League college if you do well here. Principal is open to all, fair, and consistant. Would recommend this school to anyone with super high standards.
--Submitted by a parent

I have been a parent at Torrey PInes for 6 years and it is the 'grand dame' of all public high schools in San Diego County. We moved to the area so our children could attend this high school.
--Submitted by a parent

The thing about Torrey Pines is that it is in one of the wealthiest (if not the weathiest) areas of San Diego county. Therefore, a lot of the students here have parents who have poured money into their education including private tutors and college counselers. This does make the academics very competetive for students who would be in the top 5% at other schools. This is the only thing that I have found that I do not like at TP, though. There are so many school-sponsored extracurricular activities to get involved in as well as a ton of clubs. There is a place for everybody as long as you find your niche. There is just a certain pride that comes with going to TP that other schools don't have and I am definetly proud to say that I'm a Falcon!
--Submitted by a student

Torrey Pines really focuses on its high-achieving students. It pours many many resources into AP and honors classes, to the detriment of the average student who wants a high-quality yet not overly intense schedule. It is plainly obvious that TPHS funnels all of its best teachers to its advanced courses, leaving the average and sub-par teachers to college-prep classes. So, bottom line: if you are an average student, you will get the short end of stick from Torrey Pines.
--Submitted by a student

Honestly, I don't think that TP does cater to the highly motivated students. Smart kids do well because they're smart, motivated, and come from good families. No matter who you are, it's impossible to get in to see your counselor...as to the review below, A students don't get in right away. But neither does anyone-- it's just a very unfriendly, cutthroat, competitive place, and it's incredibly easy (no matter who you are) to get lost.
--Submitted by a student

Torrey Pines caters to highly motivated students that are doing really well. If this is your child then it is a good choice. But, if your child is simply average then they will be lost in the scuffle of making sure the best and brightest continue to get ahead. My child, a very average kid, received A, B, & C s and graduated with a B average. Why then, after taking placement testing at a JUNIOR College, were they placed in bonehead math and English? My other observation is that my kids either NEVER got to see their counselor or were finally given an audience with the pope after 2-3 weeks. Again, the A students get in right away.
--Submitted by a parent