Curie Elementary School

This is a wonderful school! The teachers teach to the students individual needs from my experience. They teach what is expected and way beyond. Where else will teachers stay late nights and hold special classroom events such as plays, poetry nights and even autobiography night to celebrate the students?! The principal could use a bit more of a backbone to stand up to the pushy small group of parents that think their opinions should matter more than others. There is only one teacher that taught Art that bumped heads with the majority of the staff and many parents. She was known to screech and yell at the kids as well as produce the same work year after year. Apparently she was not a team player at Curie (even left campus early and demonstrated zero flexibility) and the staff majority chose not to reelect her full time as the preptime teacher. They voted in Science instead making the curriculum that much stronger! By the way, one of Curie's teachers won Educator of the Year for the La Jolla area!
--Submitted by a parent

We have completed one year at Curie and I believe it to be a great school, overall. The parents and families are extremely involved at the school which builds a strong community. The PTA strives to make up for the shortfall in the school's budget and helps fund WEEKLY - art, music, PE, science and library and other enrichment activities (special presentations, field trips, etc.). The Principal and our teacher were open to suggestions and followed through with feedback. As with any school choice, the experience will vary greatly on the student/family/teacher combination (i.e. what is good for one student/family might not be good for another). After all, teachers have personalities and are human. My child learned everything they needed to by the end of the year and I was amazed at how much that is for a Kindergarten student! I would HIGHLY encourage all families to have an active role in the classroom as a volunteer, attend PTA meetings (evenings and free childcare is provided) and the monthly coffee chats with the Principal. Curie is a great neighborhood school and the families that attend (and Choice in) strive for the best educational experience possible.
--Submitted by a parent

Our son just finished K, and we had a wonderful year. Our son is a very spirited child and his teacher handled him wonderfully. He reads and writes well, he creates his own stories and books, ejoys math. We of course work him on a daily basis, but we follow the lead of his daily program - so I pass the credit to his teacher and our Principal. I saw a review slamming the standard testing, etc. Yes that is huge problem but not one that I blame on Currie. Wonder if the parents with concerns are attending the PTA meetins and involved in the shool board meetings. Probably not. No schols is going to be perfect, but I give Curie a huge thumbs up.
--Submitted by a parent

My son just finished Kinder at Curie. The academic environment was amazing fantastic better than I ever imagined. He was always busy and thinking and creating. Every week there is art, jogging club, music class, science, library, garden visits. He s doing math, he reads very well, he s always writing stories at home and making his own books. He is curious and the school stimulated him. His teachers could have been more nurturing and there was way way too much yelling at students in the classroom. Parents I have spoken with have concerns about her yelling as well. However the teachers are very accessible and will talk openly about your concerns. They took time out to write daily reports which we discussed with our son every night and gave him support and guidance based on his behavior in class. There are field trips to the zoo and to nature preserves. It is a vibrant school community with incredible parent support.
--Submitted by a parent

The white kids at this school outperform some white kids in Carmel Valley schools (API = 959 in 2010). The English learners don't do as well (API = 902, 16.7%, 2010). The principal is overly nice and will not stand up to power-mad teachers, many of who are older than he is. One pushy teacher wanted to have the art teacher of 20 years fired, to be replaced by a district science teacher. After losing a parent election two years in a row, she rigged it, south american banana republic-style, one day to vote! It seems that some teachers don't want their poor science-teaching skills graded by the CST test. But these teachers are just as horrible at teaching art! Lucky for them, the district doesn't give standardized art tests! The GATE enrichment for gifted students mostly consists of one extra worksheet of mindless drill, weekly. Don't expect your kids to learn to write well at this school; don't expect them to even hold a pencil properly! You don't have to hold a pencil properly to shade in the circles on a STAR or API test, so the teachers don't care !! Parent involvement and overall performance is very high at this school, it's top-3 in the SDU, top-20 in the county.
--Submitted by a parent

If your child is doing well, the school is fine. If your child is struggling do not count on help, academically, from the teachers or principal. The school has a very active parent volunteer network - which helps make up for the shortfalls. But some of the teachers are less than communicative with the parents and unwilling to address students struggles or work with parents to improve the child's performance. There's a lot of complacency. I assume because the STAR/CST/API test scores are so high. But that has more to do with the demographics, and less to do with the teaching. I am strongly considering changing my kids to a different school. Curie is not as good as it looks on paper.
--Submitted by a parent

In my experience, this is a great school. My girl attended only first grade and we loved it. Her teacher was awesome and caring. Parent participation incredible. So sad we had to choice out.
--Submitted by a parent

Great School. Recommended. So far my daughter had great teachers. Principal is friendly with students & parents. Also helping tranffic control early morning. Teachers are good.
--Submitted by a parent

You know that it's sad when all you can do is bite our tongue until the last day of school. Anything you say to the teacher or the school office results in immediate retaliation by the school and teacher marking your child as a "problem child". Children don't need to be yelled at to learn. Hard to believe that this is a 10 school. I'd hate to see a 7 rated school.
--Submitted by a parent

We came to this school with very high hope that it is a good school. I really feel it is a good school but our teacher needs to be retired even if he doesn't want to or can't afford to. He is kind of cold to the kids and the parents. I have seen kids around him asking for attention and was totally ignored. Also, I am not so sure if it is even legal that the teacher asking for donations to himself. Most parents I know paid for it simply because we do not want our children to be treated differently.
--Submitted by a parent