Hancock Elementary School

Hancock Elementary: If your kid goes to Hancock then you DEFINITELY are a military family. Keep in mind: military schools typically come with a host of unique problems - parents serving deployments which can be disruptive to home life, family moves frequently, Parents less-well-educated than other mainstream schools (ceterus paribus for same socio-economic strata), etc. However, they also have a greater sense of shared community and a more-diverse student body, which has its benefits (though these don't typically come out in standardized testing). Wife and I live on the Officer side of the neighborhood and our daughter attends Hancock, 2nd grade. Her assigned teacher, Ms. Doran, could not be a more attentive instructor. She is professional, wise, kind and maintains a great learning environment for the children. She is the best teacher our daughter has had in 3 different states. Teachers should not be held responsible for the education of children, only the instruction (some persons fail to understand this, I know...) of said kids. Hancock is a safe, organized school, even considering the scene at pickup everyday is a big CF, but due to the parents not the administration ;)
—Submitted by a parent

Well apparently half of my review dissappeared - basically my 9 yr. old granddaughter who is new to this school is failing math - has ADD and altho she's in 4th grade is only working at a 3rd grade level in math due to her previous school. So after several attempts to get help for her and trying to get the school to accept her into an afterschool math program (they have the program available for all grades except 4th - so her mom tried to get them to accept her into the 3rd grade program since she's working at 3rd grade level anyway but it's full) but apparently they would prefer to see her fail than add 1 more child to the program. How ridiculous is this !!

i go to to this school and im a fifth grader so i have to say to give it a five. one because my brother threw up in the bathroom and when he went to the nurse my mom wasnt told about it till after the day was over and she started to make a fuss about it. over all i love the school, it was where i met my best friend and we both excelled in the fifth grade so we are both hoping to go to the same middle school and i owe it all to my teachers who have brought me to the top and my best friend would probably say the same thing.

This school is a big disappointment. Having come from IL, my son, who just got out of kindergarten, was on the same level as their 1st graders. I have family in VA and NY. I have family in both places have children in the same grade as my son. Both elementary schools in IL and VA are doing what Hancock is doing a year in advance. Knowing this depresses me because my son will be very behind when we move back to our home state of VA. I feel that they so not push children to excel. They just expect the bare minimum and that is what the children put out. I feel it is not the teachers fault. They are really good and caring teachers. As soon as I can, my child will be out of this school
—Submitted by a parent

If another child injures your child you are not told about it. The principal doesn't return e-mails or phone calls until she is told her supervisor's will be notified. They give preferential treatment to special needs children. One such child was allowed to tear apart a classroom while the other children watched. This happened not less than five times and he never received detention or suspension. He also tormented my son and nothing happened because he was special needs. The special needs staff are great but there is no discipline or standard for which the children are set to behave so lots of things go on in class. After talking to other parents they too had problems with destructive behavior as well as disrespectful children after school. It is a horrible school so make sure before November 1, you fill out an application to apply to a better school like Kumeyaay.
—Submitted by a parent

Great school. You can't blame the school for parents who don't care about their kids education. You only get out of a school what you put into it. The teachers at the school do an amazing job considering they have kids coming and going throughout the year. The new principal has done an amazing job getting it back to where it needed to be when the last one didn't care about anything. If you aren't pro-active in your kids education you can't expect the school to be anything less than horrible because your kid is probably a flake who doesn't do anything in class.
—Submitted by a parent

Before my family (military) moved to San Diego, our daughter (who is in 2nd grade now) had been to 2 different schools in 2 years--this is her 3rd school since starting school. This is also the VERY BEST school I have seen since she started!! The principal--well I cannot say ENOUGH good things about her--she is AWESOME and she DOES care about the kids! My daughter's teacher has made the comment that "her students become HER kids while they are at school"--she cares so much. I have tried to get my daughter into speech therapy (she stutters) in her past 2 schools and NOTHING ever happened! It took LESS than a month from the time school started to get her into speech and she is doing SO much better because of it!!! Overall, this school has got the BEST team, they communicate with each other, the principal KNOWS her kids by name. There is nothing I have found negative about this school and I would consider staying at a San Diego command for ANOTHER 3 years JUST to stay at this school!!!!!
—Submitted by a parent

my son just started half way through the school year and i already don't like the new prinicpal!! i've never met her. i have ran into a couple of issues at the school and the front office and teachers are very helpful but when i asked for the principal to call me about my issue the vice principal called me instead!! and now i'm finding out that she had a bad habit of doing that at other schools she's been at also!!! the school overall isn't that bad the principal is terrible!!!
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter has attended Hancock since kindergarten and is now entering the 4th grade. She has had excellent teachers who have been nothing but caring and patient. The school, however, is very small, outdated, and definitely reflects the san diego school budget crisis. There are a number of bungalows w/no air conditioning to accommodate various grades including Special Needs classes. Because this is a military community school teachers are constantly having to address excessive absences, disruptive students (verbal and physical), large class sizes that often dwindle toward the close of the school year, and worse the hygienically challenged. There are no 'letter' grades at this school. Instead they use a basic progress report grading system. Families are involved in this school and Hancock does an exceptional job of setting up events for family participation. Please note their testing scores as they are a good reflection of what to expect academically.
—Submitted by a parent

My boys are ADHD and I could have never asked for more patient and loving instructors. My kids love going to school and my son who is developmentally behind exceled in this school. Thanks you so much staff, you are a blessing to worring Mom's like me.
—Submitted by a parent

Hancock is an outstanding school. The principal is on fire for the kids. My son's teachers this year, and last, are caring, hardworking professionals.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is great. They have fun and inventive ways of teaching the kids. My son is in 2nd grade and he is doing great. Very helpful staff.
—Submitted by a parent

School has no discipline. It seems like no one at the school cares about the safety of the children either. Parent involvement is none. With 0 tolerance expected, it should be enforced by the school. Am transferring my child to a better school next year. No teacher involvement or concern for state testing. Scores reflect this. Would not recommend this school to anyone.
—Submitted by a parent

Parents don't care about the childrens education. The school is trying to get better but the parents do not make the kids study enough or get envolved with kids.
—Submitted by a parent

If only we have enough discipline in this school, I know this school will be great....We have too much disciplinary problems that affects the other students' performance in school.
—Submitted by a parent

I love Hancock, our new principal started the year my son was in kindergarten and each year gets better. We are no longer in the military, but still live close by and I have chosen to keep my son at Hancock because of the love and caring of this wonderful school
—Submitted by a parent

We now have a new principal for the last two years and there are improvement that has been done...If only we can have discipline.....We have so many children who don't have respect at all and they are not punished.....
—Submitted by a parent

I love the principal because of her emphasis on reading and communication skills for all grade levels.
—Submitted by Aurora Lee, a parent

I am a grandmother of two boys who attend Hancock Elementary and a retired teacher. The new principal has made such a difference! She has empowered the teachers and staff. The children appear to be so much more involved. Now it is time for all of the parents to give her their support. She can't do it alone, nor can the teachers.
—Submitted by Susan, a parent

Awesome school. Closeknit community where the children are hardworking and families are very involved.
—Submitted by a parent