Pepper Drive Elementary School

Amazing school! I researched a lot before decided on a school for my kids (we live in a different district) and chose this school for their Mandarin program. I have two kids in 1st & 5th grade mandarin immersion program. They learned so much at school and the teachers are so great! They also have cultural experience, performance during Lunar New Year festival, International Fair, etc. My kids now can understand, write and speak in Mandarin! Learning a second language from a free public school is a very rare opportunity here in San Diego. Not a lot of schools offer this. They also have Spanish immersion program. I recommend this school!

Absolutely love this preschool. Our daughter has been attending for a little under a year. She had some difficulty adjusting at first, but the teachers and staff worked closely with her and US to help her feel comfortable. Now she’s thriving and truly enjoys her time there. Every day she comes home excited to tell me about the new friends she’s made, what she’s learned, and the fun interactions she’s had with her teachers. I would highly recommend this school to friends and family!

While the quality of teaching may be strong, our family had a very difficult experience when our child was bullied at this school. We felt there was limited empathy or meaningful engagement from the administration regarding the bullying itself. Instead, the focus of our interaction with the principal was largely on criticizing my reaction, rather than addressing what had happened to our child.When I discovered my child sobbing on the floor during the after-school program, I was understandably upset. Despite later being told that I was perceived as a "danger" to other members of the school community, staff members did not handled in accordance with their own school safety policies regarding such a situation, so obviously there was no danger. The most memorable outcome of the situation was a reprimand from Dr. Belcher regarding my behavior, with comparatively little discussion of the bullying or steps to prevent it from happening again. Ultimately, we felt our concerns were not adequately addressed.As a result, we made the decision to withdraw our child from the school and received a partial refund of tuition. I am sharing this experience so other families understand that while academics may be strong, support around student well-being--particularly in cases of bullying--did not meet our expectations.