8482 Compton Dr
Huntington Beach, CA 92646

If you are looking for a supportive and fair school environment, this may not be the right fit. While there are a few exceptions, my experience with specific teachers for both of my children was incredibly frustrating.Both of my kids were high-achieving GATE students, yet their grades dropped significantly upon enrolling at Dwyer. For example, one teacher gave my daughter an 89.9% in a class and rounded it down to a "B," dropping her GPA from a 3.8 to a 3.6.Additionally, the school's handling of citizenship grades and disciplinary rules felt targeted. My daughter, who maintained a 4.0, received an "N" in citizenship—disqualifying her from honors recognition—on the exact same day her teacher chased her down the hall for dress coding, despite other students wearing the same outfit without issue.When we transferred my son to another school, he immediately returned to earning "A's" in harder classes. Unfortunately, attempts to resolve these issues with the principal and the school board were met with indifference, and I know many other families with similar experiences. It appears this school environment only works well if parents are heavily involved in volunteering, staff gifting, and willing to accept unfair treatment without pushing back, as teachers may take frustrations out on the students.

This school USE to be really good. My two oldest children attended this school for all grades, K-5. By the time my oldest was in 5th grade she was being bullied, the teachers and school have no preventive measure against this but it resulted in her having to work through a ton of mental health issues and we had to switch her middle schools because of this bully. A teacher called me to inform me that my child was speaking ill of her and using foul language (at recess to another student), when I asked the teacher if they had spoken to my child yet to confirm this was true, their response was "No." The teacher then proceeded to back track because they knew they were out of line and they should have spoken to my child, then reached out to me if it was not being handled correctly or to inform of the situation/consequence. Lastly, my children have seen other children bring vapes, USE the vapes at recess, bring knives and NOTHING happened to those children UNTIL it was their 5th offense so they have no desire to protect the children from other children who break the rules repeatedly! The principal always looks mean, teaches his staff to be rude and condensing to parents and doesn't handle anything that is required of him to be an effective principal. He is not approachable and the communication with this school is terrible! All the good teachers have left this school, minus 1-2. Most of the teachers are very short tempered with the kids, even yelling at them multiple times a day. My children and their friends would tell me who they hoped NOT to get the next grade because of this. I have had to sit a teacher down and tell her not to speak to my child that way and she lost ALL trust with my child because of how this teacher behaved and how poorly they knew how to regulate their emotions with these small children. Now that my children are out of this school they are THRIVING! Getting straight A's and actually excited for school! Before they never looked forward and never wanted to go to school and struggling in ALL areas of academic as well. Which shows how much these teachers do not care for these children. The younger of the 2, was getting D's and F's on tests, the teacher never scheduled a call with me to discuss the issue, not even an email! I had to reach out, after about 4 tests they totally failed and had to ask the teacher what we should do to help. The response was very short & generic which never helped my child succeed. DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE!

Daughter graduated in 2016 and got into top schools, went to UCSB. The model UN program finished first in the country her junior year! Great leadership in that program and the AP classes. Also she participated in APA freshman year which is top rated for theater and creative students. Unlike a prior review, sports are not heavily emphasized. If you just do a decent amount of encouragement, the fine staff will lead your child to greatness. What public schools should be.