James Dougherty Elementary School

5301 Hibernia Drive

School District

Dublin Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:24
Type

public

School Map for Dublin 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 August 29, 2023

Frustratingly Ineffective Elementary SchoolI am disappointed with the education provided by JDS. Despite my hopes for my son's learning journey, it's clear that he is not gaining anything substantial here. I haveve encountered unresponsive teachers and a general lack of enthusiasm among the teachers.Sadly, JDS has proven to be a regrettable choice for my son's education (We recently changed city for education only). His potential remains untapped, and I cannot recommend this school to any parent seeking a quality learning experience.
Submitted by parent on August 28, 2023

Overall, School has exceeded my expectations in providing a positive and enriching learning experience for my child.
Submitted by parent on June 14, 2022

My son just finished kindergarten here and I was very pleased with how the year went. My child had not previously attended pre school and while I felt like he started out the year behind other kids I am very please with the progress he made. His teacher was really great at addressing his specific needs and provided a really fun and welcoming environment for his introduction to school. I felt really good about how his teacher handled COVID and even after the mask mandate was lifted I think 22/24 students + the teacher continued to mask. I'm confident that he will continue to grow and I look forward to future years where I can be more involved (per COVID guidelines)
Submitted by parent on April 19, 2022

While test scores are high at this school, it has nothing to do with the administrator or teachers. Families in this area push their children to study at Kumon on private tutoring. What's left are bored children during class causing distractions and teachers who have no idea how to actually teach.The administration quagmire in process and district drama, while the classes get bigger and teaching quality drops. The only option for you child to learn is afterschool programs.Demographics at this school lean largely to a specific race who discriminate others based on class or race.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2021

This is my experience sending my kids to Kindergarten. I felt let down by the school. I think my girls could have learnt so much more had they been elsewhere and certainly when you compare it to private schools. It was certainly complicated by the fact that we were in a Covid era and things were virtual but I think the teacher could have done so many things that she didn't. I would blame the teacher more than the school as I am sure the experience of 1 teacher is not reflective of the school. We have moved to Green this year as we shifted houses and we made every effort to buy a house outside of the Dougherty boundaries as we were almost ready to send the kids back to private school. I have to say that our kids used to go to Challenger in pre-school so we certainly had high expectations and we moved to Dublin because the school were great and we didn't feel we could afford private school in the long run.
Submitted by parent on February 25, 2021

This is a wonderful school. All 3 of my kids went to Dougherty and they all have fond memories of the teachers and friends. It is academically challenging and kids are given extra help when needed.
Submitted by parent on March 13, 2020

The school and district are not handling the Coronavirus well. They are not letting parents keep their kids home when they are not comfortable exposing them to the virus, even after other districts are letting parents decide.They also have no online learning set up so when there is a fire or another emergency happens they try to keep the kits in school.
Submitted by parent on October 04, 2019

I dont really suggest this school for 2nd and 3rd grades. To accommodate they pushed 1st grade teachers to 3rd grade with out any experience.
Submitted by parent on June 08, 2014

No school is perfect, but Dougherty comes pretty close. With all the changes/challenges that are happening with common core, the teachers here have been doing a great job with the transition! Yes it is unfortunate that tests are not sent home, but this is a district wide policy that teachers at all schools were told to follow. Our child's teacher shared this information with all of the parents at Back to School Night. Whenever a test was coming up she always sent home a reminder ahead of time. She also sent home the test scores so we knew how our child did. If there was ever any concern about grades all we had to do was ask her if we could see the test. We went over the test with our child in the classroom after school and it was no problem at all. The teachers at Dougherty truly do all they can to help our children succeed. We are extremely lucky to live in Dublin and have access to so many great schools. It's a great city no matter what part you live in!
Submitted by parent on April 27, 2014

Dougherty elementary school is a great place to be for our kids , the teachers are awesome , the staff is really friendly and helpfull , and most of all this school has got the greatest principal of all time . I have 2 girls , my first one graduated from Dougherty last year and she is doing great in middle school . My second daughter is in Kindergarden and I can't believe how quickly she starts reading and writing by her self . Thanks to her great teacher . Thank you Mr. Nelson , you made this school one of the greatest school in our area.
Submitted by parent on April 17, 2014

Very disappointed in this school. All class work is kept in lock and key. Any tests that are completed are kept under lock and key. We have to make an appointment to see the work but we cannot take it home. In my day, tests and work went home. My parents would show me what I did wrong and would have me retake the test and see if I could do any better. We do not know anything other than a score. We cannot even work with our child/children as we do not know what they need work on. I got a tutor for my child and she asks what parts does my child need help in and I cannot tell her. I am paying money hoping that the tutor is working on the stuff my child needs help on. How can our children improve if we cannot see the results of papers, tests, math, science until the end of the semester. It is a nightmare.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2014

Both my children attended this school, as a whole experience we liked the teachers and administration, nothing is perfect but my kids got a great education and life experience.
Submitted by parent on January 20, 2014

The principal Mr. Nelson is outstanding. He is very energetic and very nice to kids. He has brought great activities for the students in school. The teachers are great !! Only issue is with the staff in the school office who are very rude.
Submitted by parent on September 26, 2013

My school has a great principal that does great activities for the students and the surrounding community. I really like the running Dolphins program to encourage running at an early age.
Submitted by parent on June 15, 2013

I would have rated the school five stars but didn't because my son's 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Molzen wasn't very good. She was absent multiple times which had a detrimental impact on the students. This resulted in her rushing at the end and finishing the syllabus just a few days before the STAR test. Additionally, she seems sometimes unfair in her grading. If the school wants to keep the high standard and continue to impress with increasing API scores, some changes need to be done and teachers need to be more highly qualified.
Submitted by other on September 29, 2012

Pleased with progress after kdgn and 1st grade. School selected as one of the Distinguished Schools. Reserving opinion this year. Some changes, some concerns--time will tell .
Submitted by parent on August 13, 2012

My son went to Dougherty only for kindergarten. So my opinion is only for a year and should not have the same weight of other opinions. My son was assigned to a classroom with a teacher with two great defficiencies. First, she wasn't a nurturing teacher. Second, she had the habit of speaking very fast. She had some other good qualities, but the two problems above can make a lot of damage in a K-student, especially when English is not the language spoken at home. We tried to fix this issue by bringing it to the attention of the principal, who clearly took the position of the teacher. That's fine, that's her job. What really bothers me of the whole thing is that the burden of the proof was placed on us. No follow ups about the teacher's peformance. No performance improvement plan for the teacher, despite the fact that she, in my opinion, is not the best qualified teacher for that age range. Maybe for older kids. I didn't get the feeling that the school's community is as strong as others. Best of the school: the extended day care program has very commited and nurturing teachers. Thanks to Mrs. Colleen, Miss Kathie and Miss Amy.