Bonsall High

7350 West Lilac Road

Bonsall, CA 92003

School District

Bonsall Unified
Grade

9-12
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:24
Type

public

School Map for Bonsall Unified School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on March 11, 2024

I have three children and they've all attended Bonsall High School! My first graduated and got accepted to UCSD. My second child got accepted to SDSU but decided to do the Palomar Promise instead. My youngest, a current sophomore, is planning on doing the Early College Program for his junior and senior year. It's an amazing partnership with Palomar; BHS is leading the way in preparing our kiddos for career/college depending on a the student's individual goals. I don't believe anyone else is doing this. My son enjoys his classes and teachers. He plays volleyball too! I'm an active parent so I know the admin, administrative staff, counselors and many of the teachers. We feel blessed to be a part of Bonsall High School. Go Legion!
Submitted by parent on February 29, 2024

Bonsall School District has a small town community mindset, but is also doing some amazing next generation programs. As a freshman my son is already starting college with the Bonsall Early College program (with Palomar College.) He is so excited at all the choices he has for electives and that he is already earning transferable credits at 15 years old! It’s also a school where you aren’t locked in to just one road - he’s trying baseball and speech and debate and theater! If kids can’t explore and try different things in high school, they won’t ever get the chance. We are so happy that we chose Bonsall High over Mission Vista where his friends are stressed out and locked in to one path. Teachers are amazing - they treat every kid like it was their own kid. Love that small town aspect!
Submitted by parent on January 20, 2024

We're pleased with our child's first year as a 9th grader at Bonsall High School. The communication from teachers and the principal has been consistently positive. They've actively encouraged our child to explore new opportunities, such as joining the improv club and taking college courses. We're equally impressed with the Palomar Community College program, in which our child is enrolled. Anticipating with enthusiasm the diverse opportunities and experiences that Bonsall High School and Palomar College will provide.
Submitted by other on February 01, 2022

I am thankful for being a Bonsall High graduate. My teachers help me accomplish stepping stones in order to set myself up for future success. Overall I feel that with their help and some motivation I was able to soar through my classes and it put me on the right track for my university classes.
Submitted by other on January 31, 2021

I attended Bonsall High School all four years and it was a down hill slope from freshman to senior year. Our previous principal was amazing and actually cared about her students and our education. The new principal however, doesn't seem to care in the slightest. The staff here, while a few are amazing, the rest are more interested in getting involved in petty drama then actually educating. I can confidently say that not ONCE my ENTIRE senior year, did the college counselor Kyjelland help me in anyway even when I asked for it. It's not the school itself that's the problem, it's the principal as well as various staff members. I used to look forward to waking up and going to school but my senior year that all changed.
Submitted by parent on March 26, 2020

Our experience at BHS has been empowering and inspiring. It has been one of partnership with the school to solve problems and make it better each year for all students. We are involved parents and we really appreciate the opportunity with a small and new school to be able to actively take part in the direction of the school. The school leadership and staff has listened and partnered with my wife and I the whole way. Regarding education and engagement, my son is a GATE student but was underperforming in middle school. He did ok during his freshman year at BHS, but he took a college class between his freshman and sophomore year at Palomar College with a few friends. This was supported and encouraged by the high school and was a major turning point for my son. While this might not be the best choice for all students (if they don't take it seriously, they can end up up with bad grades on their college record, so make sure you discuss this with your student) it was fantastic for our son. Seeing how students behaved in college and the challenge of college level biology set him on a course to get thrive in school ever since. He currently has a 4.6 weighted GPA his junior year and is on track to graduate early, and this was totally generated by him. We did not push him. We listened and supported him to take initiative. We have been so impressed with he quality of his work, his thinking, his caring and insight -- which is due in large part to the partnership between the high school, the college and us. BHS was the right choice for our son due to the personalized and family environment that supported him to flourish.
Submitted by parent on October 01, 2019

Fantastic experience with school and district as a whole.
Submitted by student on September 28, 2019

The only thing remotely "good" that has come out of my BHS experience, is the college courses. I took the time & effort to take as many college courses as possible to get a head-start on my college career. But even then the teachers get grades wrong on transcripts, they lack the motivation to make sure college & high school transcripts match, it was very sloppy. The school is only 5 years old, but that gives them no excuse to slack on their work. As I mentioned plenty of times before, the school lacks a structural punishment system. This leads to students pushing the limits & seeing how far, is too far & then doing everything that wont get them expelled. Even if their was some kind of system, the counselor at the school does a very POOR job of keeping tabs on all of the students & making sure that they are on track to graduate, that they are physically & mentally comfortable at school, & that the student feels safe to go home after school everyday. When applying to college last fall, I received very little help from the counselor & the teachers because I wanted to apply to out of state colleges. Without the help of teachers, I had to turn to my parents for help, who have very little knowledge on the common app, WUE rates, admission fees, etc. This made my college application process MUCH harder. Even on the last day to submit my application, the teachers AND our counselor failed to help me. For most schools, a counselor report is required & on the very last day, my "counselor" failed to complete it. That may or may have no effected my application but its little things like that, that make me wonder how disrespectful that was to completely disregard students who are looking into something different, who are looking for different opportunities. With this school, I would say I have been put at a disadvantage, compared to students who when to the surrounding high schools. If I had to rate my experience, I would be hesitant to even give it a 3/10. My advice as a graduate from this school, EXPLORE YOUR OPTIONS. BHS IS NOT THE RIGHT ONE. If you are looking to go to a 4-year/private,out-of-state university, then you NEED to explore other options. For the sake of your academic future you NEED to choose a different school.
Submitted by parent on July 23, 2019

This school is the worst...kids are on their own for learning and the school doesn’t keep track of failing students before they fail.
Submitted by parent on January 11, 2019

We are a military family who moved a high-achieving and very disgruntled 10th grader to the area a couple of years ago. Prevailing wisdom (Facebook groups, parent gossip, great schools.org) told us that if we lived in this area we should send our son to MVHS. That was exactly what we intended to do...until my son met the principal and some of the staff and students of BHS. We fervently tried to talk him out of BHS, but he insisted. We agreed to give him a year and said we would reconsider our options then. It has been a little over a year now and while there have been ups and downs we now expect our son to graduate from BHS.Like:The community. As stated above, we moved a 10th grader into a small public school in a district where most of the kids have been in school with each other for years. That could have been a recipe for disaster. However, the staff and students of the school have warmly welcomed my son. They accepted him into their school and helped ease his transition. It’s size! It is a small school and as such lends itself to intimacy. Everyone knows everyone else, which makes it hard to slip through the cracks. In addition, it allows for some interesting projects and other applications of the curriculum that would be hard, if not impossible, to execute at a larger school. Collaborating Classes and Projects! I definitely did NOT like projects when I was in school, but I don’t think they were designed or managed as well as MOST of the projects my son has been assigned. Palomar Community College. One of the reasons we did not want our son to go here, was their apparent lack of advanced courses. Our son was planning on taking AP courses at the high school we left and we did not want him to miss out on that opportunity. While it is true that currently BHS has no AP courses, they do offer several dual-enrollment college courses on campus. In addition, you have the ability to register for other college courses on the evenings, weekends, or over the summer. Don't Like:Limited class offerings: This is a product of being new and developing and is getting better every year. In addition, their growing partnership with Palomar will continue to provide even more opportunities. Physical distance from my house: It is 7 miles from my home and takes about 20 min to get there. This would be a bigger issue if there was not a bus available.
Submitted by parent on March 04, 2018

Great school great staff project based my boy is more than ready for college!
Submitted by student on January 11, 2018

Bonsall gets a bad rep for being so small, but I believe that is its strength. Students have a personal connection to teachers, and teachers genuinely care about their students. We are very much a family and look after each other. Upperclassmen have little to no tolerance for bullying, making it "uncool" for underclassmen to do so. There is a senior friends program to help freshman's transition into high school. There is an agreement with Palomar that we get classes on campus so every student will graduate with college credit. Overall, there is a small amount of students, but our quality of education is high and continually growing.
Submitted by student on January 02, 2018

As a Student, I have had experience here that the parents cannot get. The kids here are weird, which is one of the main choices parents choose to send their kids to our neighboring school despite it's bad record of poor academic support. If your child is uncomfortable with homosexuality, it is very common throughout the school, and is supported. It may seem like "Oh, that's just high school," but every single kid here acts like they never left elementary school. I believe this comes from the culture of the school, which is influenced based on our small size, and small space. (We are currently within a middle school, and we are treated like middle schoolers.) If you want your child to have a normal high school experience, and be surrounded by normal, mature, people. I would suggest another option.
Submitted by student on November 16, 2017

As a parent, I've enjoyed having my daughter attend BHS. She loves the school and has great friends who also attend. She's excelling and I couldn't be happier.
Submitted by student on November 15, 2017

My experience at this school was less good and more bad that's all i can say. It wasn't a very great school for me but if yo choose to go that is your choice. This school is not suitable for me.
Submitted by parent on November 15, 2017

Me personally, I sometimes just have to much work to handle which makes some students hit their breaking point. Their stress levels go up and they break down mentally.
Submitted by student on November 07, 2017

I care very deeply for my high school. I can tell the teachers care for the students equally and the amount of thought put into our projects is astonishing. Although we have only been around for about 4 years we are distinguished from other high schools and I know that my school is preparing me to have a successful future. We are much more advanced in how we teach and work with students than the other high schools in our area and we are a family. The lines between classes are rather blurred for we all collaborate together and we all know each other since our school is so small. Bonsall High School overall is an amazing school that I would recommend any parent enrolling their child into.