1895 Comanche, Oceanside, CA 92056

Unfortunately, Empresa no longer lives up to its previous reputation for exceptional teachers, programming, and leadership.In my experience, the current principal, Mrs. Hollowell, represents what happens when institutional mediocrity learns to network: eventually, it gets credentialed, promoted, and handed an office. Over the course of three years and multiple interactions with her, I came away with the distinct impression that credentials were being mistaken for expertise, authority for leadership, and holding an administrative position for being effective in it.It might almost be impressive if the consequences of that leadership were not being felt by actual children—including mine. After three years, we ultimately made the difficult decision to remove our child from Empresa because we believed his experiences with the administration had become detrimental to his overall health, well-being, and education.Our experience left us feeling that this administration was far more concerned with the appearance of good leadership than the difficult work of actually providing it. As another reviewer aptly described it, the leadership often felt performative. Families deserve administrators who listen, take concerns seriously, accept accountability, and act in the best interests of the children they are entrusted to serve. That was not our experience.I would be especially cautious if your child requires additional support through a 504 Plan or IEP. Based on our experience, this was an area in which the school failed miserably, and I would strongly encourage parents to pay close attention, document everything, and advocate relentlessly for their child.It is deeply disappointing to watch a school that once had such a strong reputation decline under ineffective leadership. The superintendent and district need to take a serious, unvarnished look at what is happening at Empresa, because families—and more importantly, children—are the ones living with the consequences.