509 Ely Blvd
Petaluma, CA 94954

I teach at this school, so I am obviously biased. With that up front, I will say that we have a wonderful group of students and staff who make each day a pleasure. Our principal sets a positive energy tone and our students respond so well. McDowell has some special attractions that you may wish to know about. Each student receives PE from a PE specialist each week. There are weekly music classes from dedicated music instructors. Our Spanish language classes, taught by Maestra Hancock, provide academic Spanish for all students twice a week. McDowell's Family Resource Center is just that...a wonderful source of help for all of our families. Other features of our school include before school day care and after school programs offered by the Boys and Girls Club, intervention and enrichment classes after school, frequent field trips to engaging environmental and cultural destinations, and more. I could say more, but best to come visit if you are interested in placing your student into a school in Petaluma. You won't be disappointed. Enseño en esta escuela, así que obviamente soy parcial. Con eso en el frente, diré que tenemos un grupo maravilloso de estudiantes y personal que hacen que cada día sea un placer. Nuestra directora establece un tono de energía positiva y nuestros estudiantes responden muy bien. McDowell tiene algunas atracciones especiales que quizás desee conocer. Cada estudiante recibe PE de un especialista en PE cada semana. Hay clases semanales de música de instructores dedicados. Nuestras clases de español, impartidas por Maestra Hancock, brindan español académico para todos los estudiantes dos veces por semana. El Centro de Recursos Familiares de McDowell es precisamente eso ... una fuente maravillosa de ayuda para todas nuestras familias. Otras características de nuestra escuela incluyen guardería antes de la escuela y programas después de la escuela ofrecidos por el Boys and Girls Club, clases de intervención y enriquecimiento después de la escuela, excursiones frecuentes a destinos ambientales y culturales atractivos, y más. Podría decir más, pero es mejor visitarlo si está interesado en colocar a su estudiante en una escuela en Petaluma. No te decepcionará.

Overall, Casa Grande High School is a good school. There are adults present that can be trusted and can be a great resource to the students. My only issue with this school is the inconsistency with its administration and its scheduling. It is absurd that a high school should have 3-4 vice principals and a new principal every damn year. Sure, the new schedule offers some extra time for the students who need it, but isn't that what study skills is used for. Why impose a school wide study skills regimen when most students don't actually need the extra time in school and would benefit greatly if they just went home at an earlier time. Students have lives larger than school. Not all students have the same lives, and it is time for the school to address it. Some students have jobs or other responsibilities to attend to. If the school wants to help the students who need extra help, they should work on actually keeping there study skills students in the class instead of letting them roam the campus for an hour. Lastly, when it comes to there top students and the possibility of graduating early, they never once discuss it, and when you bring it up to the counselors, they immediately shoot down the idea. They ask questions like "why would you even want to graduate early", "Don't you want to have the senior experience", and "you want a headstart on what, there is no difference if you become a lawyer or doctor at 33 rather than 34".

I would not recommend this school, multiple kids carry drugs and smoke at school and crafty harmful things around, they give too much homework to my daughter and half of the time she’s complaining about her some of her teacher are treating her like trash probably because of her race, always complaining about people cussing and the principal does not care about anything except for if they’re doing as little as skipping class, when I went for back to school night everything looked dirty and gross so I have already switched my daughter out but I would NOT recommend