Dapplegray Elementary School

3011 Palos Verdes Dr. N.

School District

Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:23
Type

public

School Map for Palos Verdes Peninsula 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 December 20, 2024

Like a few others, my criticism of Dapplegray relates only to the drop off/pickup sitiation. (The teachers, admins, families have generally all been fine.) We've had three kids attend DG and I can't wait for my last to finish. We live about 2 miles away and we have to budget 20 min for our drop off and 50 min for pickups. The majority of that time is spent sitting in a car, waiting in a line full of other cars. There simply is no way to avoid it. Look at a map and you'll understand the reason: the road/driveway is like the LAX horseshoe. Because this school appears to be the largest in the district, the administrators appear to have decided to jam the kids in. While the class sizes are large and still manageable, the traffic is not. The district dose not appear to care about the drop off situation jam-packs the school to the max. As a result you'll see the sheriffs allowing two lanes of cars on a single lane on PV Drive North (with one lane running onto the sidewalk). The administrators tolerate chronic tardies (on a daily basis), etc. All this is allowed simply because there is no physical way possible to jam all of the cars of all the families into the horsehoe and surrounding streets.It sucks badly enough to have to do this every single day - but consider those days when you have to pull a kid early: with the all the parents waiting in line, you basically need to arrange to pick up your child about 1 hour before the earliest dismissal times. Otherwise, you'll get stuck in the horsehoe, with no way, literally, to get out. So if you need to pick up your older child (1-5 grades) for an afternoon appointment, and the dismissal time is 3, unless you want to run the risk of getting blocked in, you need to pick them up before 1:40. If you go later than that, you'll run the risk of getting blocked in by the TK and K parents that have earlier dismissals. It is bad enough with appointments and family issues - however you need to also factor in the days where large portions of the school need to get there or leave at the same time. E.g., the first and last days of school, music programs or performances, promotion days, etc. It's a nightmare. With one child it's doable. But i'd strongly encourage familes with more than one to consider going to another school. After 3 kids and the countless hours spent waiting in the horseshoe, i regret not sending my kids to one of the other fine elementary schools in the district.
Submitted by parent on September 19, 2024

Teachers are all amazing. The parents thought are very selective and gossipy. If you don’t fit in their grove you out and your kid is excluded from all of it too. There is 25-27 kids per class not 22!
Submitted by parent on November 17, 2021

Horrible Horrible Traffic ! Think 4-5 times before making a decision about this school if you do have options. You have to spend at least 30 min in am and 1hr in pm even though you live 5miles away. The school is located on PCH N which has only one lane and campus is U shape. You have to go in all the way to drop off/pick up kids since building is located all the way inside. As you know, different grades finish at different time. So If you have more than one kid, you would get headache everyday. They don't let you get on campus more than 10 min. That means you pick up younger more than 10 min before your older kid finish, they yell at you to leave the campus and come back. I can't wait my kids graduate this school and don't have to deal with horrible and rude staffs and traffic.
Submitted by other on May 13, 2021

Dapplegray Elementary is an excellent school !!! Both our kids went there and we had nothing but excellent experiences there. Our kids had great teachers and had effective and efficient learning. They had a great time and loved it. The principal there was a no nonsense, old school leader with traditional values. All the rules were very clear and he would enforce them... no PC ridiculousness here. They had great programs, with dinosaur bone excavation, arts and music, so our kids really grew there. I would highly recommend Dapplegray to anyone moving to the area !!!!
Submitted by parent on March 27, 2018

This school is amazing and my children loved going there!
Submitted by other on June 10, 2016

Dapplegray is either a great school or a terrible school for you. it truly depends on who you are. If you are liked, you will have a good experience. But, if you have the unfortunate circumstance of being the object of bullying, then Dapplegray can be a nightmare. The principal and staff simply do not care. There is NO protection for children who are being bullied. There are some wonderful teachers at the school, however, there are some NOT so wonderful ones as well. My children had the experience of having both kinds of teachers. Unfortunately, the bad teachers left the strongest impressions. You can't learn when your teacher is too busy yelling. As far as academics, remember- Dapplegray is a very large school, and the class size tends to also be large. There is no time to help a student that needs a little extra explanation. Be prepared to do a lot of extra work with your child at home. Also, get ready t sit in the Dapplegray parking lot for many hours...the drop off and pick up is terrible! Parents are entitled and rude - they don't follow rules and they park in the exit lane despite being instructed not to. It is no wonder that their kids are entitled brats that go around bullying other kids.
Submitted by parent on October 13, 2014

The academic programs and play space are good. The behavior of the students and parents, however, is sad. A community lacking in morals and ethics. It is easy to see why even 2nd graders are bullying and mean -- they have terrible examples for parents. Sad. Something every day at this school. Sad.
Submitted by parent on July 22, 2013

Dapplegray is a great school. The focus on education is always evident. Expectations for students are very high, which is necessary for success. The strong educational program thrives on innovative techniques for learning, which are endorsed and encouraged by the leadership and teachers. In addition, there is emphasis on the arts, science, field trips, etc. which supplement the students learning and allow for a complete learning experience. In addition to what is provided during the regular school day, Dapplegray offers fee-based after-school enrichment programs and a structured child-care program for working parents. It is no coincidence that this school has a 10 out of 10 GreatSchools Rating and a 936 API score. The teachers and administration offer a solid program based on what is proven to result in student success. It is truly a privilege for each and every Dapplegray student to have the experience of attending this outstanding elementary school.
Submitted by parent on July 22, 2013

My kids are having a great experience at the school. It's supported by a great community and the teachers are really engaged. Recently, we've found that with funding cuts our class sizes continue to creep up. More disturbing though is that Dapplegray has set acceptable class sizes to max at 36. That means it is acceptable for the school to have classrooms that size. This is incredibly disappointing and had we known this, we may have made a different decision to go here. The California education system is troubled and this year our school has received the brunt of it. I'm hoping these problems are resolved for future students as there is great potential here.
Submitted by parent on February 04, 2013

I have two children at this school 2nd and 4th graders that have been there since Kindergarten and it has been great. There is so much parent participation that sometimes it is difficult to even get into the rotation to help in the classroom because so many parents are volunteering. The Art at Your Fingertips and music are great programs in the school and allow the children to not just focus on the tests and scores but to explore the artistic creative sides of themselves. Mr. London is not warm and fuzzy but my kids think he's great so I'm happy. We've had great teachers every year. The grading is a bit weird because in general you get proficient all the time even when you know your child is doing above the bar but I'm actually okay with them not focusing on grades yet. There is an expectation that your child can read at the start of first grade but that's because they teach them in Kindergarten. My son was not interested in learning to read in Kindergarten and I knew the expectation for first grade. I didn't talk to Mr. London but did talk to his teacher and she was very supportive and worked with me to get my son up to speed. Now in second grade he's doing great.
Submitted by parent on September 10, 2012

The education my three kids have received at Dapplegray has been adequate though not impressive. I am not crazy about their approach to reading, it seems like there are a lot of worksheets and not a lot of quality reading going on to prepare them for work they will be doing in middle school and high school. At the high school level thank goodness, there are few meaningless worksheets. I think the reason they are so heavy on the worksheets is for testing purposes. Everything seems to be about getting high test scores and not to to attain a joy of learning. However, the parent participation is wonderful. If you want to volunteer, there are are many good opportunities. Grading is interesting. On a five point scale, my oldest kids always received 4s which meant they were "proficient." Interesting, when they got to middle school (and now high school) they have received all A's with the exception of a couple of B's. Worst part of the school by far is the parking situation. To pick up your child is the biggest ordeal at Dapplegray. Plan on spending 30 minutes a day in line to pick up your kid and be at times be yelled at!
Submitted by parent on May 15, 2012

Not all that shines is made of gold. Unless you're child is able to read by the START of 1st grade, you're going to have issues. On the 1st day of orientation, we're told your child is expected to write a book report each night as part of homework... the best part? Your CHILD is the one that's supposed to do the reading. Seriously? Get ready for TIMED TESTS including for reading/spelling which is absurd when they're just LEARNING to read. It's like throwing a stumbling toddler into a relay race and expecting them to do well. God forbid your child fall from their "average" learning curve because you'll get NO WHERE with the Principal. He's dismissive and will ignore you until you go away (or pull your kid from the school). The one great thing about the school is the parental involvement (you'd think it was a requirement). MOST of the teachers here are amazing but the CORE STAFF (office/administrative/principal) are RUDE. Ask them a question and you'd think they were doing you a favor by bothering to respond. I wish they'd clean house at this school... there'd be a lot of parents celebrating if they would.