Robert Down Elementary School

485 Pine Avenue

School District

Pacific Grove Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:15
Type

public

School Map for Pacific Grove 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 other on October 10, 2024

If you can imagine being a person who uses an assisted device, such as a wheel chair, needing equal access to this campus. Upon arriving at the main entrance, the only way through is to climb two flights of stairs. Now imagine being a person who will utilize the stairs. So you climb the stairs, and enter the front door where the front office staff greets you. Where strait ahead there are two large, blue handicap signs. One that points left and one that points right. Imagine the school consistently explaining how inclusive and accommodating they are to people with disabilities. Let their signs be the measure of their inclusivity, not the stairs. Ponder the many different walks of life and their various needs. Instead of a wheelchair, maybe your child is a person living with ADHD. Understand that your child will receive the same consideration as the person at the bottom of the stairs. They will receive the same supports and listen to the same explanation of how inclusive the school without having equal access. And they all say Welcome to PGUSD.
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2024

A traumatizing experience for our child, who had previously loved school before attending here. In my opinion, Robert Down is not up to date on best practices for learning differences and special needs. There was no bullying from students, however -- they were kind and welcoming.
Submitted by parent on April 15, 2022

All three of my children have thrived here. The teachers and staff have all been excellent.
Submitted by parent on August 12, 2020

The principal, teachers and IT staff are useless. The Distance Learning rollout today was a complete joke, nothing works, the instructions are wrong and are way too complicated for a young child, the teachers don't know what they are doing, the principal doesn't know what he is doing, and the IT specialist for the school doesn't know what he is doing. Robert Down has earned an F-
Submitted by parent on June 08, 2020

Having moved around the country a lot, this is by far the best school my children have ever attended. It isn’t just a school, but a “community”. Everyone from the principal to the custodian and everyone in between is phenomenal.
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2020

The principal and teachers at Robert Down receive failing grades, as do the school district IT employees. While school districts in the Bay Area and throughout California rapidly adjusted to the Covid 19 outbreak by implementing well conceived, high functioning remote learning programs, Robert Down and the school district have completely floundered in their attempt to set up an online programs for students. The principal and school district keep sending out annoying emails with lots of useless rah-rah language. But what they have failed to do, every step of the way, is send emails which clearly and concisely state the steps the parents need to take to give their children access to the online learning programs, in a simple A, B, C, D format --- e.g., "Click on ****** in the upper left corner of the screen", etc, etc. Even when the parents figure out what steps to take to get into a particular program (no thanks to Principal Keller or the teachers) the online material often freezes up or runs slow. Our children are falling behind the children in other school districts. I am pulling our kids out of Robert Down at the end of the year and enrolling them in a private school that takes learning seriously.
Submitted by parent on September 30, 2019

My older daughter had 6 wonderful years at RHD. Great school with extraordinary teachers. Waiting for my younger one to start next year in Kindergarten.
Submitted by parent on April 16, 2017

Robert Down School is exceptional. Two of my children attended Robert Down and received excellent education from dedicated teachers.
Submitted by other on February 11, 2016

I enrolled a 4th grader and a kindergartener at Robert Down last year. We moved from a very rigorous academic school in Virginia, ranked 10 on Great Schools. While the academics at RHD are good (maybe a 4/5), they are not as rigorous as our prior school (5/5). However, school is more than just academics. RHD does an excellent job at instilling independence and a sense of community in the students. I love that the older grades are paired with a "buddy" student in a younger grade (5th paired with 2nd, 4th with 1st, etc.). Another positive aspect is the significant parent volunteer opportunities in the classroom, from reading to small group instruction. The students have two 10-min recess periods AND PE every single day and music once a week. The learning Garden and the STEM opportunities are very good, and this year we have started a 4-5th grade robotics team that will compete in a regional competition. The administration is strong and incredibly caring. When I brought to light my concerns regarding the district publicity policy, the principal took it up with the school board and it was changed for the next school year.I would like to see improvements to the afterschool and enrichment offerings. For example, I signed my son up for after school chess (for an additional fee) assuming he would improve his understanding of the game with a short strategy lesson, but the students simply sit down and play. Likewise, the school could stand to build a stronger gifted and talented program. Overall, I have been incredibly happy with our experience at RHD. My family will move to another state for the next school year and I'm sure that we will miss RHD very much.
Submitted by parent on August 24, 2015

I move to pacific grove from France with my son hardly speaking English and could not write or read in English. Within 6 months he was up to grade level thanks to an amazing team.,Amazing teacher that cater to every child individually. They have great resources to make your child's year as successful as possible.
Submitted by parent on April 19, 2015

Overall this school lacks innovation and creativity because the leadership is shortsighted and unwilling to take risks. After school math program is not much more than a babysitting program, at the very least. The Resource Program is stuck in the dark ages to the point of being oppressive and children with learning disabilities do not receive equal curriculum opportunities as do students without special needs. Children with learning disabilities are often given assignments within the classroom for drill and kill work in outdated paper/book programs. Teachers teach children to read mainly through repetitive, visual learning modalities which works for some students, but not for many, especially students with dyslexia. I knew of one parent whose child had been in the same resource program using the exact same materials for years with little progress but the school did not try to use alternative programs with this child for success. Sometimes, one size does not fit all. This school will benefit from taking risks including trusting that children with special needs grow from challenging and diverse curriculum that engages rather than bores students to tears.
Submitted by parent on December 16, 2014

Overall this school lacks innovation and creativity because the leadership is shortsighted and unwilling to take risks. The Resource Program is stuck in the dark ages to the point of being oppressive and children with learning disabilities do not receive equal curriculum opportunities as do students without special needs. Children with learning disabilities are often removed from the classroom for drill and kill work in outdated workbook programs like Reading Mastery, a program the school has used with little change for more than 15 years for K-3 students. Reading Mastery teaches children to read mainly through repetitive, visual learning modalities which works for some students, but not for many, especially students with dyslexia. I knew of one parent whose child had been in the same resource program using the exact same materials for over 4 years with little progress but the school did not try to use alternative programs with this child. Sometimes, one size does not fit all. This school will benefit from taking risks including trusting that children with special needs grow from challenging and diverse curriculum that engages rather than bores students to tears.
Submitted by parent on August 28, 2014

My family moved here from SF specifically to attend Robert Down. My wife is a teacher and we are both Ivy league educated so we understand the value of education and how difficult it is to create and maintain a great school. I have friends w children attending SF private schools paying $40k per year who have stated they are jealous of our school and community. RD may be the best value on the planet. Supply and demand dictates many things. Try to rent a 3BR home in the Robert Down district, its nearly impossible because so many want to attend the school.
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2014

If I could give less I would.Teachers kids get preferred treatment when they get in trouble.If your not in the right social circle, it's definitely your kids fault.The budget, the school scores have nothing to do with making it the best school for your child, rather stress the kids out and spend much needed funding on landscaping when there is clearly not enough manpower in the classroom.All seems to be a big scheme because the higher ups have real estate in the district.But you'll enjoy the parade.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2014

Robert Down Elementary school is truly excellent. The principal is great, very reasonable and no-nonsense. The teachers are very experienced and handle children of all types with ease. The school has great learning facilities and approaches to teaching and learning. They have plenty of very well organized fun events for the children and parents and it really brings people together to feel part of the community. If you work in the Monterey Peninsula area it is worth moving to Pacific Grove just for your elementary school age kids to go to this school
Submitted by parent on December 01, 2013

My child attended RHD for all 6 years and we couldn't have been any happier. We had excellent teachers, great admin support and the principle is top-notch! I volunteered in class every year and was always greeted warmly by the staff! My child had outstanding grades every year and is now in middle school continuing to have outstanding (4.0) grades. I recommend this school to anyone living in our district! Keep up the great work Otters!!!!
Submitted by parent on October 06, 2013

I like the School in particular. I am very dissatisfied by the politics of the Administration. Which is supported by the Administrations Superintendent and his Assistant Superintendent. They do not truly encourage parental involvement, as they claim like many schools want parents to participate. They have gone out of their way to knock down one individual who was very interested in the Kindergarten Program and its overcrowding. The Principle has since the beginning of 2013 -2014 school year to banned him because he has a supportive but non-participatory group of parents listening and expresses his thought in a group e-mailing. I was not interested in being involved, as I had heard from previous teachers that they (The School District) will drag anyone down that stands up to them for the students entire school years at PGUSD. Their agenda is not the same as the parents they represent in all cases. If I were to do it again I would have gone to the school board meetings and spoken up, as he did. Then again would I have been banned as Disruptive or Assertive? A parent in the middle at RHD
Submitted by parent on August 26, 2013

Amazing school with great parent participation. Had a horrible 5th grade teacher which is now teaching second and hoping that they'll figure out to be rid of her after this year. Principal is great and overall it is a wonderful school. Seems like there is always one bad apple...
Submitted by parent on August 25, 2013

This school is a wonderful place! Our child attended RD for almost three years. When an issue arose, the staff and principal were wonderful. The community is a nice blend of locals and military. The teachers are committed to their students and welcome a parental partnership. I can't say enough good things. Even a "weaker" teacher is superior to where we moved. When we discovered we had to move early, our child's 2nd grade teacher (Mrs. Johnson) looked up where her new school was to make sure the transition would go smoothly. We miss it dearly and wish our child's new school was as warm, welcoming, professional and committed to an excellent education as RD.
Submitted by parent on May 05, 2013

I love the small town feel of this school. Parents are welcomed on campus, and even drive on field trips. Tons of hands on learning and outings. Very relaxed atmosphere. Teachers are extremely willing to work with individual needs and learning styles. (And, I don't simply mean IEP, I mean each and every student!) Negatives: My kids have attended 4 different elementary schools, and I have never seen such "clique-i-ness" in this age group, as I saw here. Similarly, I noticed the administration was very quick to label students, and definitely "played favorites." Overall though, without hesitation, I would recommend this school to my closest friends.