Rancho Pico Junior High School

My son is in the 7th grade at Rancho Pico Jr. High and my husband and I couldn't be happier about his school environment. We have seen him truly blossom since going to Jr. High. His teachers are caring and excellent teachers and the communication with parents is outstanding. I can check on his progress and homework assignments in every class whenever I like online. The teachers are also very responsive via email if I ever have a question. I am so grateful to live in this community so that my son can have such a tremendous public education!
--Submitted by a parent

The staff and teachers at Rancho Pico are educated, involved and interactive! In response to the parent who submitted a remark on Aug. 8th, I don't think that parent was involved with the school. I participate in the PAC meetings and volunteer in the school and I have witnessed great integrity and awesome involvement of the staff. They educate our students, take preventive measures and intervene efficiently if need be. I am proud to have my daughter attend Rancho Pico. She is high achieving and has made alot of good friends. Because I volunteer and experience first hand the interaction of the staff and students I can proudly say that this campus is safe and an excellent environment for learning. Drugs and bullying will always exist in life but Rancho Pico is making sure it is not tolerated at this school. No school is perfect but Rancho Pico strives for the best.
--Submitted by a parent

My son is n the seventh grade this year and so far I have never been so impressed with a middle school as I am with Rancho Pico. It is a fantastic environment for learning and all the different types of development going on during these difficult years of growth. "Back to school night" was beyond impressive. The staff is simply amazing. As far as the comment on Ms. Levy Holmes back in Aug, this was clearly written by a student. She is more than an art teacher. She ties in vocabulary, history, cultures, some math, all this with the art she is teaching. It is an honor for my child to be in her class.
--Submitted by a parent

Rancho Pico is an outstanding school. I have had two students go through there, with another one in 8th grade now. I have been very impressed with the high standards of the teachers, counselors and administrators. The principal's energy alone gives that place a positive charge that is felt by all. The teachers go the extra mile to make sure students learn. Our only regret is that it only lasts 2 years.
--Submitted by a parent

I think that this school is great. The teachers are, for the most part, excellent, and the principal is fantastic. I read the post about bullying and drugs and do not know what to say. I do not know of a school (public or private) that does not have to deal with these issues. None of these are issues that are new. Even when I was that age (thousands of years ago), there was bullying and drugs. However, the school does its best to keep parents in the loop (parents can access grades, there are multiple emails, phone calls from administration on events and happenings, etc.). As a parent of a "high achieving" student, I have not seen any, nor heard of any serious bullying. It is important to remember that this is, in fact, a junior high. 12-14 year old kids do things that are stupid, they are hormonal and sensitive and although, there is definitely a bullying problem in the United States, we would do well to remember the difference between real bullying and ordinary, (often misplaced and misunderstood) junior high conflict. In any event, this school has done a great job at working on these issues and the staff and faculty have all seemed available to discuss any issues.
--Submitted by a parent

Upon reading the 08/08/201 submission, I was compelled to contest the statements made. As a parent of a former and current RP student, so I am very familiar with the school, administration, teachers, and staff. Both of my kids are extremely high achievers and in their combined 3.5 years of attending RP have always felt accepted and unified and never ostracized for their success, in fact, quite the opposite! As for school personnel, they go above and beyond to accommodate and respond to any parent and student concerns. With a zero tolerance policy on bullying and drugs, situations are immediately and appropriately dealt with. I cannot fathom any RP staff standing by and allowing any inappropriate behavior to occur and offer zero help and do nothing as the individual stated. Perhaps the parent was simply angry and lashed out at the school. Regardless, to make such generalizations and broad misstatements about Rancho Pico and the staff is irresponsible. This is an amazing school, run by dedicated, caring, and concerned staff and as one of over 1000 parents, we are privileged to send our kids there and take tremendous pride in being part of the Mustang family.
--Submitted by a parent

It has come to my attention that there was an unfavorable post about RP. In my opinion, that cannot be further from the truth. My daughter is a high achieving 8th grader and for the past two years her class has been instructed on how to deal with bullying by the staff/teachers. I ve also had friends that have been in situations where the staff/teachers were extremely helpful. As a matter of fact, there was a PAC meeting a couple weeks ago on the topic of bullying but there were only a handful of parents in attendance. My guess on the low attendance was due to the fact that the topic of how to avoid bullying is not a new subject. I m sorry for that child who was bullied and won t be able to attend their home school. I just can t believe RP offered no help. I m proud to have my daughter at RP.
--Submitted by a parent

It is shocking how awful this school is!!!! The drugs are everywhere and the bullying is even worse! The Principal and counselors offer zero help and do nothing to the students who tease and humiliate the high acheiving students. My child no longer attends this school after going there for 6 months. It is sad that many students will not be attending their home school because of the same situation. I thought my child was the only one, but that is not the case!!
--Submitted by a parent

Rancho Pico is a pretty good school academic-wise, but they are pretty bad with PE. Only a few students can actually run well, and this year's advanced band doesn't sound phenomenal. Or even great. The teachers for the most part are exceptional, with a few exclusions. The problems I have are that the traffic is insane and the students can be really crude. I like the principal, not so much the assistant principals.

This school is phenomenal! I have never saw such passion from school staff before. They do their utmost to get parents and students involved with teachers both at school and after school, even on the weekend outings and activities. You can just sense the "Best of Class" atmosphere and mentality, from the principal all the way through the ranks. This rubs off on the students also, they always seem so friendly and upbeat whenever you are at the school. I would highly recommend this school to anyone.
--Submitted by a parent