Del Rey Elementary School

We had two children graduate from Del Rey, one from K-5 and the other from TK-5. The younger had their last few years there during COVID-19. We feel very fortunate to have had caring teachers who truly love what they do for both our kids. They all were very supportive and helped our children establish a love of learning that has stuck with them in their years into middle and high school. It is true, that the schools do rely on community support to help them maintain the small classroom sizes and other activities that are important to their education. Plus, the kids can walk or bike to all schools until 12th grade, which is a rare find in this area. We couldn't be happier living in a community that knows how important having access to excellent public education is and are truly grateful to have had our children go to Del Rey.

We have been in this school for 6 years now(I have a few kids). All the teachers who we met are very helpful and professional. They spend so much time for class prep, and look each child very carefully. Parent community is great. The school has so many great extracurricular program too - art, choir, musical instrument, musical theater, Spanish, gardening...During pandemic, the school provided amazing online+hybrid class, which kept my kids engaged in academic without falling behind. We are immigrant and racially minority, but we never encountered problems at this school. One thing I want to say is, this school's concept is 'co-education'. It's not type of the school you pay the tuition and expect the teacher do everything. You are expected to be engaged in the school, and work with teachers/staff as a team to make a school better. So, if you are looking for a well-rounded education with great parent community, I highly recommend Del Rey.

Our experience at Del Rey is mixed. While my son (2nd grade) has had wonderful teachers, a supportive environment, and overall wonderful experience there, my daughter's (Kindergarten) was absolutely devastating! I understand COVID has presented many challenges. We transferred my daughter mid-year to another public school nearby and it is a 180 turn-around. Thankfully, she has an amazing teacher (I never even knew there could be this much difference) and is away from the toxic environment and support she experienced while at Del Rey.

At first we were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of parent involvement expected and the continuous fundraising efforts, but then we quickly realized how important it all is in maintaining such excellent standards. Thanks to the strong community commitment Del Rey has maintained low student/teacher ratios, produces excellent test scores, provides a fabulous healthy lunch program, and offers wonderful enrichment programs around languages, arts, science, music and sports.