Ada W. Harris Elementary School

1508 Windsor Rd.

Encinitas, CA 92007

School District

Cardiff Elementary
Grade

3-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:16
Type

public

School Map for Cardiff Elementary 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 02, 2024

This is a fabulous school. We have two kids that went there in the past few years.
Submitted by parent on September 10, 2019

I went here and have been lucky enough to send all three kids through, too. All three have different learning styles and personalities. There is a teacher and style for all the kiddos regardless of these traits. Most notable is the attention given to one who has needed reinforcement most. He was at a first grade reading level in second grade. The intervention by the school all of third grade year has just returned CAASPP testing results of a 4 (Standard Exceeded). I'm not a big one on test, but this says something. The improvement is credited to early intervention by K, 1 & 2 teachers and 3rd grade language arts help. Really incredible. The staff and admin are just wonderful people in general. Can't beat the support of parents either...raising and funding teachers in music, Spanish, PE, science and technology among so many other things. Love our community and school. First one off to college this year and her love of learning started here.
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2018

This school has been awesome! Our child has attended 3rd-6th. Teachers are great and staff is always a pleasure to interact with. Compared with other schools along the coast, this one has been the best about everything: i.e. keeping costs of lunches practical, fund raising within reason, fun after school activities, and music is still being taught! Best of all our child is excelling in all subjects. No complaints here!
Submitted by parent on April 25, 2015

I have had a one child attending for almost 10 years now. I've been heavily involved in the PSO/Cardiff SEA and not involved at all. We've gone through ups and downs, IEP testing, disciplinary issues, and just like a family, the staff, administration and especially the teachers have always worked in my kids' best interest. Every aspect from the people, the academia, the healthy options food, the playtime, the technology, the fund raising events, and the district's policy to focus on the "whole child" are greatly respected and always a work in progress. The community's and parents' participation to keep these kids aware and provided for abundant. People just care here. Of course, there will be grievances and discrepancies, it's a public school, and no one situation is always a good fit, but there's no other school we would rather work with or have my kids attend. They are safe, well educated and nurtured to be themselves. I am lucky enough to have just lived here for so long and we know it's hard to move to Cardiff at all because of soaring home prices, but if you do, you will be as blessed as we are to attend this school family.
Submitted by parent on September 29, 2014

This is an awesome schools. The teachers are great the principal is great and even the office ladies are great. The have schools activities, and the classrooms on have twenty to twenty four students , besides the 4-5 class. The school only goes 3-6 so they have more areas to learn that they can control. The principal is awesome and the teachers let you know about everything that is going on in class. It is just so open. They never get mad at you if you have to be out for the day. I love that. All the equipment and iPads are nice, plus every classroom has a patio. If you are looking off a school this is deffennetly the place to go. I would deffennetly give it a thumbs up.
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2014

My reviews of this school keep getting removed. This site is filtering honest reviews from parents. Ada Harris is NOT a safe enviroment for children PERIOD!
Submitted by other on April 29, 2014

This school is as close to perfect as an elementary school can be. I deeply disagree with other reviewers in that the staff/the teachers are very knowledgeable and communicate well. There are MANY opportunities for parents to volunteer, like tutoring struggling students or choosing to teach an art class. In addition, the so called "May 2012" incident was actually handled quite well-discipline was swift, and the main problem was really the media, who blew up the story before administration had a chance to react. As someone who attended the school during this period, I can assure you that the response from teachers and students was fair and supportive towards the victim and his family. Standardized testing *was* very important, but the majority of the school year was creative and fun; I didn't feel that it was geared too much towards the test. The new 'common core' system being implemented by the nation is also improving AH in this aspect. Overall, the school was amazing, my teachers were knowledgeable and nice, parents are welcome, the campus is beautiful, and the students love it. I will stand by this school to the end, because it truly helped my beginnings.
Submitted by parent on September 03, 2013

My child went to AH for 3rd grade. Little communication from the teachers+low parent involvement+one oblivious principal=BAD NEWS! Spent more than one occasion fighting for my child's rights and protection. One example-my child experienced an onslaught of verbal abuse from an older kid (I'm talking graphic stuff here-out of nowhere), to which the issue when reported fell on deaf ears. Principal does not enjoy conflict, so when conflict inevitably arises, he is not well-equipped to handle it in a serious/fair manner. I would like to add that I am not one of those "copter moms" or a busybody who enjoys complaining/drama/ferreting out teachers' weaknesses. We all know there is always "that parent" out there who thinks their child can do no wrong. This is coming from a more mellow mom who loves her kids and just wants them to be happy and protected at school. I had to enroll my child in a private school this year because of these conflicts, which was sad because friends were left. But this was undoubtedly the right change. One example-new school is starting work that is review from 3rd grade and my child has to play major catch-up, as it wasn't yet covered at Ada Harris-hmm-not good!
Submitted by parent on May 19, 2011

We pulled our child out of Ada Harris this past year and it was the best thing. The teaching style is archaic, non- differentiated (although they describe it is) and the teachers are burned out. The school suffers from bullying and has very little supervision outside of the classroom. Big focus on STAR testing, not learning. It was quite a change from the experience we had at the sister K-2(3) school- Cardiff Elementary. Our child is much happier and motivated to learn after attending a new school this year. We were amazed at how oblivious most of the families are to the poor teaching methods used here. I think it relates to a blind trust of the education system, which is not acceptable anymore. See the movies: The Race to Nowhere and Waiting for Superman and please take action to make the change our schools need.
Submitted by parent on August 25, 2009

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Submitted by parent on June 07, 2009

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