Jamul Elementary

Living out in the middle of nowhere is no small task. There are really no other school options besides Alpine if one wants to drive 30-45min,. It's a lifestyle living in Jamul and with that come sacrifice. If we lived closer to town there exist far better options. Hopefully in time this school will get better. My main concern is challenging my child. I feel like it's too easy for him.

We’ve had a great experience at JPS. We moved from another, much larger school, and I couldn’t be happier with the individual attention my child gets. The teachers really know the kids and their families, and that helps my son build longstanding relationships with them. Teachers have been very accommodating to some of his more unique needs, and he is a totally different kids-confident, outgoing, and happy every day. I am incredibly grateful for this school and their staff!

My son (5) is only in transitional kindergarten and I've already had it with this school and district but I am determined to make a change in our community! I am not the only parent with a difficult child who has been bullied and alienated from this district. The difference with me is I refuse to be ran off. I pay property taxes that support this district and I will be the squeaky wheel! They do have some great staff like the school psychiatrist (Margaux Merziotis) and special education teacher (Carolyn Knowlton) but for the most part they just continuously write up bad behavior and try to send the kid home. I was getting called 3-4 times a week, having to leave work early because my child was supposedly "out of control" only to get there to a 5 year old sitting quietly in the office. They would also call as late in the day as 2pm (school gets out at 2:30) so the school was getting funding for my child's attendance. They were denying me after school care because the Vice Principal deemed it a reward for my son but really it was punishing me and his father because we were losing hours/pay at work and losing the money we had paid for Kid's Club. We were finally forced to initiate an IEP in hopes of finding other ways of teaching our son how to assimilate and keep him in school until he could go to Kid's Club where he seems to behave with no issues. The amount of homework for his age is unreal and his teacher even gave him "timeout" for missed homework without discussing it with us.After tons of research I found, their policies are out of date from Fed Education Code AB 1729. The school district Superintendent is not only the Super but Principal of both the Primary and Intermediate schools plus the Compliance Officer reporting to the state of California. She is rude and even tried to call the sheriff's on me. I've been told that she has put restraining orders on parents so that they can't come on campus. Problems like this having been going on since the late 1990s. Not to mention the test scores for this district are awful and they have ZERO accreditation--now I realize accreditation for lower level schools is optional but to see that they won't try and know they would never get accredited speaks volumes to me!!!!!

Our family has had nothing but great success at this school! Our children who have been at this school for 3 years now (currently 2nd & 3rd grades) both test well above state averages in all subjects. The teachers are the same great teachers that have been there for years, the same ones everyone used to rave about. Great PTA, garden program, PE and beautiful property. I LOVE the small town aspect of the school. I do not have much interaction with the admin but I dont have any complaints from my experiences.

Jamul Primary School - This is a wonderful school with the best teachers - my children cumulatively have over 8 years in this school system. The teachers all give individual attention to the kids. We have never felt like a number like other schools. The management is very involved. Great community! Love the parents that are engaged and involved - wish even more parents were involved!! Mrs. Frey - Love her...even though my kid can be a challenge, she knows how to connect with him and help him focus. Mrs. Bennett - she is involved in the community and knows all the kids. Would love to have more teacher to student ratio - but hey....that's why you should vote and not complain. They are nothing like the San Diego school district - this district operates within their means and their budget, which you certainly can't say for others. I respect and that's a great model for my kids.