El Marino Elementary School

11450 Port Road

School District

Culver City Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:20
Type

public

School Map for Culver City 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 October 22, 2024

This school is exceeding my expectations. My son has autism and they are working closely with my son and his dad in providing everything for his needs. The staff and teachers really care about their students. I love the community of parents as well.
Submitted by other on July 14, 2024

I taught at El Marino. There is a Spanish Immersion Program, as well as a Japanese Immersion program.
Submitted by parent on May 22, 2023

Our son is completing Spanish immersion kindergarten this year. With a closed campus, we drop off and pick up without much interaction with teachers, but our kid comes out and in happy everyday. He has made friends easily and the kids and families are generally kind. There is gardening, cultural assemblies, music and singing, art and library each week. They have PE everyday. There is a ton of dedicated parents and people lottery in which means it’s a community who all want to be there and look out for each other. I’m grateful to be in the community.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2020

Fantastic! We love the diversity and overall vibe of this amazing immersion program. I do need to make one note though. I see reviews where folks 'moved' to the neighborhood or area for this school. It is NOT a homeschool for anyone. You either test in as a native language speaker OR you go into a lottery. There is no 'guaranteed' spot by living in any specific area.
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2017

We moved to LA three years ago and found this school. I feel so honored to be a part of such a great community of parents, staff and teachers dedicated to educating whole people who can navigate themselves and the world. We are on the Spanish side but my children experience Japanese language and culture as well as the many educational and social experiences going on at school day in and out. A magical example of what is possible in public education.
Submitted by parent on April 21, 2016

We moved to Culver City for El Marino Language School and it was 100% worth the effort. School adminstration is strong, including leadership of the principal. In addition to the main teacher, each classroom also has a native speaking adjunct teacher to help out, and those salaries are funded by donations. Parents who elect to send their children to the school are educationally focused as it is a commitement for the parents to send children to an immersion program. Level of academics is high, but not overwhelming or cut throat. It has a small school feel where people know each other and parents get involved in school activities and fundraising. The parent booster clubs (Advocates of Language Learners El Marino and PTA) help to bring interesting cultural and educational programs and funds field trips.
Submitted by parent on February 11, 2016

My son is in K, Spanish Immersion. So far so great. Love the school and the community!
Submitted by parent on April 27, 2014

We moved to this neighborhood to attend this school. Besides the languages the attitude towards learning and studding in general is what important in this school.
Submitted by parent on April 02, 2014

Great Immersion school with very high API score. My kids attended Japanese program and they speak/write Japanese fluently. It's a very small school and teacher/students have close connection. So bullying is really rare (or doesn't exist at all). Compared to other school, EM have lots of homework. Teachers pushes your kids to study/learn. So be prepared, you'll be fine!
Submitted by other on November 30, 2013

I consider my self one of the luckiest children in the work, to get so immersed with a culture and language at such a young age. I am SO proud to say that I'm from El Marino. If it was't for this school, i would't be the fluent spanish speaker I am today. The experience I had at elementary school was like no other.
Submitted by parent on September 21, 2013

We have a 3rd grader and a Kindergartener at El Marino and feel very fortunate to be able to send our kids to such a great school. The teachers and parents work very hard to provide a level of excellence year after year. Lots of great cultural events each year on top of excellent arts, music, daily p.e., and academic instruction. And small class sizes!
Submitted by parent on September 20, 2013

My son loves going to El Marino. His teacher, Nagumo-sensei, is awesome. If you are lucky enough to live in Culver City and want your child to participate in a language immersion program (Spanish or Japanese), this is the place.
Submitted by parent on September 20, 2013

El Marino Language Immersion School is an amazing institution for anyone who is supportive of the dual language immersion experience. The child who is immersed in the target language will learn it here. The administrative staff and teachers are extremely competent and the community of supportive cooperative parents makes this school a model of how all our public schools should operate. The community of families and the teachers take great pride in the school; it is demonstrated by all of the administrators, teachers, and families who are vested in the child s education through language immersion. The academics are age appropriate and challenging for the students, the expectations of the students and families are high but reasonable, the teachers are dedicated to academics and making students proficient in one of the two languages taught at the school. There are good channels of communication with the administration and the teachers. Internet communication with the teacher facilitates direct communications with her/him without disrupting the target language the students are learning and using at school throughout the day. However, it can be overwhelming to new parents.
Submitted by parent on September 20, 2013

We have a 5th grader and a 1st grader at El Marino, and in our opinion, it is a fantastic school. It is amazing to see the kids thriving in their core subjects - exceeding their grade level expectations - while learning in a foreign language to boot! El Marino is also such a supportive community of like-minded parents focused on education. In fact, one way I think about El Marino is that it boasts the cultural and socioeconomic diversity of the great public school that it is, but because it is an "opt-in" school, it also boasts the primary advantage of good private schools: every family at El Marino wants to be there and prioritizes education. Best of both worlds!
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2013

Lots of parent involvement, high API score, wonderful teachers, and immersion in either Spanish or Japanese. My child is very excited about learning Japanese and enjoys going to school here. Everyone I've come across here (staff and parents) has been just great. An amazing school!
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2013

El Marino has been such an amazing school for my daughter. I'm so impressed by the commitment of the teacher and staff and other parents. After speaking with many of my friends with children at other schools, I realize how lucky we are to have field trips, anti-bully week, computer labs, art, special cultural events, etc. Additionally, I think given the long history of El Marino with language immersion, it is one of the best options if you are interested in exposing your child to a second language.
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2013

This is a great school. We have great teachers, nice staffs and a lot parent volunteers.
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2013

I was nervous about the language immersion at first but have loved this school. We are in year two and feel like we are getting a private school education at public school costs. What I mean by this is that the sense of community at the school is great, every one is working together to make it the best.
Submitted by parent on January 22, 2013

El Marino is a gem! Our son loves this school and is thriving. Overall, the students are motivated and attentive. The parents are very involved in every aspect of school life and that is why El Marino maintains a tradition of achievement.
Submitted by parent on January 02, 2013

The great: Parent involvement throughout the school, rich cultural diversity. I also LOVE that every student is learning a second language. My 2nd son is currently in kinder and I have more time to spend on campus, leading to... The not so great: Classroom instruction - I'm concerned with our students limited creativity. Examples include art projects that all look the same, writing journals and math problems where students have drawn the same pictures and ideas...in other words, too many dittos, and copying the teacher from the overhead as the main route of instruction. With our API scores, I expect teaching to go beyond test prepping, and instead promote life long academic skills: student centered/differentiated activities - literature circles, inquiry based science, writer's workshop; not just as special occasional activities, but embedded throughout the daily curriculum. Most of his day is doing dittos in math and letters! Our teacher also has a habit of translating, which goes against all of the research of effective 2nd language acquisition. We shouldn't be lucky to get good instruction - critical thinking should be the foundation. There's much room for improvement.