Palmquist Elementary School

1999 California Street

Oceanside, CA 92054

School District

Oceanside Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:23
Type

public

School Map for Oceanside 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 18, 2024

We just started going here this school year but so far blown away by this amazing school! The atmosphere is so friendly and welcoming! At first I was worried because the overall grade rating is low, but that doesn't match our experience at all! Fabulous learning is taking place and as a parent I'm super appreciative of the great after care program and even free meals provided at the school!
Submitted by parent on September 21, 2024

As a parent I have had nothing but great experiences with everyone at Palmquist! My son comes home happy and constantly tells me his teacher is the best. I feel so much comfort in knowing he feels safe and looks forward to going to school each day.
Submitted by parent on January 20, 2023

My children love attending Palmquist. The teachers are great and caring!
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2022

Palmquist is truly a great school! The parent community is warm and supportive, the teachers are extraordinary, and the students are AMAZING!
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2022

As a parent, I’m impressed with the professionalism and expertise of the staff. My wife and I also love the welcoming, caring and inclusive environment. There are a variety of resources to meet the unique social/emotional needs of individual students, as well.
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2022

Both my children have gone here. Great teachers, lots of fun activities.
Submitted by parent on November 04, 2022

Our daughter is in the 4th grade and has attended Palmquist since kindergarten. We absolutely love this school! All of her teachers have gone above and beyond to create a positive learning experience. From art to music to gardening to student ambassadors, the programs offered are great. The PTO is active and creates a welcoming and engaged community. My daughter is very happy here and loves going to school every day. Highly recommend.
Submitted by parent on September 17, 2022

Nos gusta esta escuela , los maestros que han atendido a mis hijos son muy profesionales y respetuosos con los niños , su atención es muy amable y es por eso que yo he decidió ser voluntaria.
Submitted by parent on December 04, 2019

This is a difficult review for me. I really do like my child's teacher. I feel that she's doing the best she can with the limited resources she has. It's the overall structure of the school and the many troubling (and expensive!) programs that they implement that are the problem.First, the kindergarten half-day schedule really and truly is detrimental to the health and learning of children stuck in the PM class. They are forced to change their schedule drastically on Wednesdays and it's jarring for my child that strives with consistency. Second, this school really pushes the Accelerated Reading (AR) program. There is plenty of evidence that the AR program doesn't encourage literacy. Instead of letting children explore reading and develop a natural love of it, it gamifys reading; instead of reading for joy, they read for cheap trinkets. Also, the AR program only allows children to read at their tested level. This really limits the books available to kids and, again, works to take the joy our of it. It's also a very expensive program.Third, this school utilizes Class Dojo as a behavior tracker. It would be one thing if this was done in private, but it is done with clip charts displayed at the front of the class. Only a few months into the school year and my child already labels kids as "the bad kid" or "the one always in trouble because his clip is always in red." This is troubling. Again, there is plenty of evidence that Class Dojo used in this way increases anxiety and doesn't do anything to change unwanted behavior long term. Third, despite the mounds of evidence that Nancy Regan's "just say no" program was ineffective at best, Palmquist still hangs on to Red Ribbon Week and abstinence-only education. They also use stigmatizing language like, "On Tuesdays, wear neon to show that you're to bright to use drugs!" The thing is, intelligence doesn't have anything to do with drug use. My brother had his Masters in psychology and his MFT liscence and still passed from a poly drug overdose. Many of my friends send their kids to schools that have turned Red Ribbon Week into an anti-bullying week. It would be great if Palmquist could do the same. I have other issues with Palmquist; but for the sake of brevity, I won't expand on them. I feel that a STEM school ought to do more to follow the evidence. I do like my daughter's teacher, though.
Submitted by parent on June 13, 2018

We just finished our first year of TK and had the BEST year! My son’s teacher Mrs. Flanagan went so far above and beyond for the students. She made learning fun, while challenging. Was very willing to let parents come and help, and hosted lots of special occasions where we were invited! My son is now entering Kindergarten and able to read on his own and already working on addition! Beyond that, they have an exceptional after school program called PREP where students can take fun classes like Dance, Musical Theater or Mad Science (The selection changes every semester). It’s a great way for kids to make friends out of their classes and try something new without the huge commitment these activities usually take.There are also lots of events the school puts together for Halloween, Valentines Day, movie nights, etc. to bring the school together and create community! Palmquist is a safe, fun, and encouraging school. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and can’t wait for the next 10 years ahead with my 3 kids!
Submitted by parent on June 27, 2014

Great school. I have very high expectations of the education, but I did not get discouraged by rank number 6, since I have heard only positive reviews. The School is newly remodeled ,the principal worked hard to turn this school into a distinguished CA school. School has a STEM-E program and is a leading school in Zero Waste Program. Palmquist is absolutely sought after school in our community. Parent`s are often choosing this school as their school of choice.
Submitted by parent on June 21, 2014

After one year at Palmquist I cannot sing its praises enough. Stellar programs & staff. We came from another school in the district that looks like it now has the same API score (835) but Palmquist stands out in many ways. iPads immediately got my son more engaged in learning. They encourage and incentivize reading with a well tuned AR (Advance Reading) program. Their STEM-E distinction isn't some bogus status they've bestowed on themselves either. Science, Technology, Engineering, Math AND Environment are subject matter I've seen injected not only in the classroom but into everything from a field trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano to required Science fair projects. Students, staff and stand-out parents run an amazing ZeroWaste program. They recycle like I've never seen before, they compost and they have an INCREDIBLE garden! They even sell some of their produce to the cafeteria and sometimes put a cart out on Wednesdays to sell produce to parents. The 8-week long "prep" after school programs include things like piano and guitar lessons to Lego engineering, aquaponics, ceramics, art, hula, karate, tennis, football and even etiquette class.Excellent elementary school environment!
Submitted by parent on June 06, 2014

My son attended this school in his K-grade. If we would not have been moving, we would stay here 100%. I have pretty high expectations of the education, but I did not get discouraged by rank number 6, since I have heard only positive reviews. In my opinion this school deserves a much higher score. School is newly remodeled, principal worked hard to turn this school into a distinguished CA school. School has a STEM-E program and is leading school in ZeroWasteProgram. Mrs. Schrom was my son`s teacher and she was more than just amazing! Palmquist is absolutely sought after school in our community. Parent`s are often choosing this school as their school of choice. Again, number 6 does not reflect the reality. Fantastic place.
Submitted by parent on January 18, 2014

I love a school where the Principal, teachers, staff, and parents are so involved! This school really is an awesome community public school with so much to offer with all their great programs and STEM-E projects. And I just found out they are the first Zero Waste School in their district! Great job to everyone at Palmquist!
Submitted by parent on January 13, 2014

I was concerned when my daughter's transferred to this school from a distinguished school in Los Angeles. I was especially concerned since the school did not have great look and in a bad part of Oceanside. I almost pulled the girls out but learned the school was under construction and the one they were in was temporary. I was also put at ease with the great teacher and administrative involvement. I had several one on one with the principal and teachers. My daughters continued their love for learning in the school's environment. The school is STEM and holds up to the qualities needed to continue STEM learning after Elementary School. The school also has a great after school PREP program with music, art and sports classes. I believe the only reason the score is low on this site is the low amount of responses and the fact most are old.
Submitted by parent on January 01, 2013

I am a serious momma and I began searching for a diverse, innovative, and creative school with excellent leadership when my daughter was only 2-years-old. Palmquist has everything I was looking for: bleeding edge reading and math programs, extracurricular activities for a nominal fee, and a HIGHLY involved and active PTO. The principal is awesome, the teachers are creative, and everyone plays as hard as they work--adults and kids alike. I love Palmquist and feel 100% satisfied that my research brought me this school.
Submitted by parent on November 16, 2012

Also, forgot to add in my last reveiw, I love the homework schedule, they get a packet on Friday and its due the next Friday. Great for kids in all grades!
Submitted by parent on October 26, 2012

These reviews made me laugh, I thought for a moment that they were fake, but then the dates confirm that they are just mostly old. Palmquist is so highly regarded in the district that they had to cut off enrollment when it climbed over 700! Other schools in the district are copying the great programs we have and we have the most technology in the district. We just received California Distinguished school award, of which our awesome and ambitious principal, staff, parents and students are very proud. We wouldn't want to attend anywhere else.
Submitted by parent on February 16, 2012

Classes are over filled, the teachers (at least the one my son has) don't give that one on one time he needs. He went from an amazing school and excelled, to this one where he has not learned one thing! If you can put your kids in another school I would very much recommend it!