Del Mar High School

Hi, Respected Sir / Madam, I am from India planning to settle in california san jose as my husband is already a doctor at national institute. i have a daughter she is 15 years and she is in class x. how do i get her admission in your school would like to know the procedure.can she get her admission in class xi?i have gone through the net to see the records of the schools in san jose but i found your school good in all around. please help me regarding this factor. Best wishes Lipi Biswas
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter attended Del Mar her freshman year and had a great educational experience. The teachers really seemed to care about the individual students and helping them to succeed. The "Small earning communities" idea was very good at helping the teachers learn about the students, enabling kids to stay on track and to meet fellow students. The block schedule was great at alleviating too much homework. The only negative was the student body overall which seemed to have a lot of under motivated kids and parents not involved. Due to a move, my daughter now goes to Leland which is ranked very high academically (I believe through no fault of the teachers who mostly seem interested in the A/P students. ) Spirit is very good and the school is very safe. Pressure to excel is high. .
--Submitted by a parent

As of this year, I am no longer a parent of a student at Del Mar. However, I was concerned last year that kids got out of school about 1:30 PM (school started at 8:00 AM). That seems to be to be really short for a normal student day. I am also concerned because most of us parents don't get home until 5:30 PM and I think four hours of unsupervised time for 14 to 16 years olds is asking for trouble. I know too many pregnant girls in my neighborhood.

im a senior at Del Mar high school and im really proud to say that Del Mar is now one of the best schools. It is now a distinguished school and its changing the bad reputation that the media gave it in past years. Im proud to say that I have a 4.16 GPA and its all thanks to the great teachers at Del Mar.
--Submitted by a student

To be perfectly honest, I think Del Mar Has a lot of improvements that still need to be done. My son has attended there since his Freshman year and will be a senior this year, He will NOT be returning to Del Mar. His grades started to drop from 9th with a 3.16 GPA and leaving 11th it dropped to a 2.1 with him really struggling to reach that. I don't feel my son is reaching his full potential.The teachers for the most part were responsive, but his safety is a huge concern. Mr Russell Has made some improvements but he really needs to find a lot more funding for sports so parents don't go broke trying to keep sports appealing to the kids! They need sports to keep there heads straight!
--Submitted by a parent

The only thing really lacking at Del Mar is involvement, from both the parents and the students themselves. Del Mar could be a great school if more students got involved in what Del Mar does have to offer, instead of complaining about what it doesn't. Really, a student's experience at Del Mar is what they make of it, not what the school offers.
--Submitted by Clarissa, a former student

I have no complaints about my daughter's high school. Del Mar has had extraordinary growth in STAR scores and the teachers seem to be doing a fine job. Principal Jim Russel has brought Del Mar out of the Dark Ages.
--Submitted by a parent

I think the most obvious reason that Del Mar High has seen an upswing in attitude and test scores is principal Jim Russell. His leadership and direction is clearly evident. We had huge doubts about sending our 2 children there. Now I'm glad we did. My daughter has been accepted to 5 state colleges and my son will soon transfer to one. Thanks to Jim and the entire DM staff for making this a better school and one that the community can be proud of. John Welch
--Submitted by John (Steve) Welch, a parent

Del Mar actually offers so many AP classes for the students, even though it is just a public school. It may lack in the extracurricular aspect but academically it can really be what a student makes of it. More importantly, the teachers really care and give their all.
--Submitted by a former student

Del Mar offers great AP classes. The quality of the music and arts programs are poor. There is a wide range of sports programs available with some great coaches. There is not a lot of parent involvement at this school which is a shame.
--Submitted by a former student