Paul Ecke-Central Elementary School

185 Union Street

Encinitas, CA 92024

School District

Encinitas Union Elementary
Grade

K-6
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
Type

public

School Map for Encinitas Union 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 June 26, 2023

We have had a wonderful experience at Paul Ecke. My son is in the dual language immersion program and it is amazing to see his progression with learning Spanish. The parents are very involved and the principal has been great (especially during Covid). This is a great neighborhood school!
Submitted by parent on September 05, 2022

Paul Ecke is is nice neighborhood school. All of the teachers that we have had have been excellent and the specials are great as well. It is a nice community of families. If you have a child who is academically advanced there is not much support. The English and Spanish programs are basically siloed, the kids and resources don't mix for the most part. If you child is in the English program they won't get any exposure to Spanish. Class sizes also tend to be larger for the English classrooms because there is attrition in the Spanish program as the the kids get older and they do not admit past 1st grade, I think. The principal seems to be doing a good job with the school as a whole but does not really seem to care about the individual social/emotional needs of children.
Submitted by parent on November 17, 2019

Both my kids graduated from the Spanish immersion from here and a good experience. I do wish there was more Spanish spoken in class more often. Overall, the school really improved with new principal.
Submitted by parent on June 14, 2019

We have had an excellent experience at PEC. The overall score and reviews on this site are completely inaccurate and dated! The only low scoring areas appear entirely related to socioeconomic disparities. There are many wealthy families but also many that are not or for which English is not their first language. While that can impact the state test scores for the school, the majority of students are academically advanced. One of the best things about PEC is it’s not a completely homogenous group of kids living in a bubble, but students building relationships with friends who are not all the same. Additionally, the principal listed has been gone for over 2 years and the current principal is excellent.
Submitted by parent on April 12, 2017

Awful. This school is the worst in the district and people in the neighborhood know it.
Submitted by parent on August 19, 2016

We are in the Spanish immersion program entering first grade. So far the community, the teachers and the school in general has been great for our child.
Submitted by student on May 01, 2016

It is like a prison. They have some good teachers but others are terrible, and our principal didn't listen to what our parents had to say about our opinion. Further more most of the lunch/recess security system is badly developed and kids find it very uncommoforatable.
Submitted by other on October 16, 2015

So far this school has been great! My daughter tested into the dual immersion spanish program, of which we were very happy to make a reality. So far the teacher mrs. Lopez has done a lot of fun projects, and the kids have so many fabulous after school and during school enrichment programs. The only thing my daughter hasn't liked is going to the after school program. I will most likely switch her to the ymca one I instead.
Submitted by parent on October 09, 2015

My daughter attends PEC and loves all of her teachers and friends. It provides a wonderful community and learning environment for our young daughter.
Submitted by parent on February 06, 2014

We were lucky to get into PEC's Dual Language Immersion program via lottery. We could have gone to the La Costa school (ranked 10/10 on this site) just up the street from us, but are incredibly happy with the decision that we made. The Spanish program is phenomenal - our 1st grader has an accent that is indistinguishable from a native speaker - and all the teachers that we've met have been fantastic. Beyond the DLI program, PEC has a great music program, art program, yoga program (SO happy that this program will live to fight another day), and it's famous School as a Garden program. The community and parents are wonderful, the administration knows everyone's names, and everyone is constantly striving to do better. This year's 100 Mile Club program has been particularly wonderful for my daughter. Over 300 students at the school have signed up to attempt to run 100 miles over the course of the year, and there's a crowd of kids running around the track every single day. I highly recommend PEC (I'm Berkeley educated, have a master's degree and teaching credential, and I'm not a tattooed surfer.)
Submitted by parent on August 25, 2013

My son's favorite part of school is the amazing gardening program. The school has a wonderful community spirit and we are really happy with my son's teacher this year.
Submitted by parent on January 25, 2012

To echo a previous post, I'm a well-educated (B.A., M.A. and J.D., all from Ivy League schools) parent sending my children to Paul Ecke. I'm excited about the prospect of my children attending their local school, with local children, in a diverse environment. After some research, I'm not worried about my children falling behind academically, developing poor morals or social skills, etc. I think they'll thrive. I urge local parents to give it a go and support our community, what I view as the best community in San Diego County.
Submitted by parent on January 09, 2012

We were initially impressed by this school's sense of community, parent involvement, amazing art program and laid- back feel. But as the years passed, the negatives began to outweigh the positives: low test scores,unruly/ disrespectful kids, hit-or-miss teaching abilities and the parade of principals took its toll. Lewd comments/ crude behavior in the upper grades, bullying and a dire lack of a working program to instill good social /moral ethics made the school an unacceptable choice. We pulled our child and are very happy we did.
Submitted by parent on July 22, 2011

RE: review below . Well, my "smart" child is coming to the school and we are looking forward to her attending a community school where she can make friends with kids in the best laid-back beach neighborhood in San Diego County! She could learn anywhere, especially considering state standards are in place at all CA public schools. I am so glad the Principal has a global perspective and realizes the importance of children learning Spanish. -Submitted by a parent with a tattoo that surfs (see below), has a master's degree in education, and two teaching credentials.
Submitted by other on July 02, 2011

This rating is from a former student. I attended this school when it was just "Central School" from 1981-1983. I had the same teacher for both grades and I remember feeling very embraced and eager to learn, which was something she fostered. I sure wish I could remember her name, but she was a pretty amazing teacher, especially coming from a student who is now pushing 35 years old! I remember enjoying my time at this school. I'm not sure what the atmosphere is like, but it still looks very much the same as it did when I attended so very many years ago.
Submitted by parent on August 26, 2010

3 Principals in 4 years. Current principal is out due to baby. Too much resources spent on spanish programs. EUSD is "free choice" district so transferred to another school and was shocked how behind my child was -- at PEC, he was top in class. School has no clue all the "smart" kids are leaving. Principal addresses parents in spanish and english. Small school and cool area but that's about it for the positives. A few awesome teachers and some aweful ones too. A lot of surfer/tatoo'd parents.
Submitted by parent on March 16, 2010

We have two sons that attend Paul Ecke Central who love the school and their current and past teachers. As a parent you are conscientious of a public school and how they operate with limited public resources. I would have to say that this school does a great job with what they have. They seem to make a real effort to know each kid as an individual. Most importantly, we like the community atmosphere with the very strong parental, PTA involvement.. They have a lot of functions as well- Farmers market, carnivals, and well organized fundraising events that are fun for the parents. So far, we have been happy with the school and plan on sending our youngest child as well starting next year.