Benchley/Weinberger Elementary School

6269 Twin Lake Drive

School District

San Diego Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:22
Type

public

School Map for San Diego 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 January 04, 2025

Our daughter is in 4th grade and has attended BW since Kinder. Of all those years there was only one year where the teaching wasn't superior. That teacher was only at the school for a year. The campus is wonderful and the after school programs are extensive.
Submitted by other on November 20, 2024

As someone who went to and knows many people with children who go to this elementary school, the sense of community is great. My biggest drawback with this school is the way the teachers interact with parents/staff from other afterschool programs. They are not very polite, and fail to understand that kids at afterschool programs have incredibly long days at school and their staff works extremely hard not only to take care of these kids, but regulate their emotions when they are tired and missing home.
Submitted by parent on March 08, 2024

My daughter is currently in 3rd Grade and has been at Benchley from the start. We are thrilled at the education she is getting and the community that she is with. I work in Real Estate and was surprised at Great Schools rating of this school. Teacher expertise, campus morale, safety, and parent involvement are all excellent. My daughter is performing at or above grade level yet is kept challenged by her teachers and peers.
Submitted by parent on June 28, 2022

We’ve had two children at this school and have come to know different teachers and principals. This school is not what it used to be and we are now hoping to be called from a waitlist at another school for our younger student so she can be better prepared for middle school.LEADERSHIP: Although the new principal seems to have good ideas and intentions, she seems to lack principalship experience. We can see she came in with a good plan, but because of her passive and conflict averse personality, she seems to have difficulty pushing back on other people's ideas even when they are absurd. I’m not sure if this is just a honeymoon period where she is still preoccupied about being liked or if this is the way she is. Either way, it’s not working for us.TEACHING: The amount of non-instructional time has increased so much that for two years my kids have not been taught the entire curriculum, which results in us having to supplement their education at home, so they won’t move to the next grade with gaps. In our own experience, this has been particularly true in the upper grades (3-5) when teachers started adopting ready-to-use packets anyone can buy online which are often filled with grammar errors and time-wasting activities. In addition, we felt that in 4th and 5th grades, some teachers didn’t even look at the kids’ works before grading them, as we are able to see who and when has opened their files. My oldest NEVER received any feedback on her essays in 5th grade, for example. Also, she was graded on topics that were never taught or concluded. Her teacher rushed on the last Math topics because they had SO MANY parties and events that it was not possible to cover everything. It wasn’t like that in the past and teaching at this school used to be above average. HEALTH: Too many classroom events filled with snacks and sugary treats. My children had never been exposed to so many sweets before! My oldest was given a can of soda and M&Ms on her first day of fifth grade without parents’ knowledge or consent! That is very stressful.OTHER: Room parents are always filling up our mailboxes with so many emails asking for donations and sending extremely repetitive reminders, putting pressure on parents and students to sign up for the numerous fundraisers this school holds throughout the year. CLASS SIZE: 24 students (TK-3) and 33 (4-5)All in all, in our opinion, BW seems to be a better school for lower grades (TK-2), but a weak school for upper grades (3-5).
Submitted by parent on June 09, 2022

It is apparent that the school used to be great, and people there talk a lot about the great community. However, that has not been our experience. The previous principal was a very strong leader and communicator. The new principal is kind, but does not seem experienced as a leader and communication has been terrible -- which is terribly unfortunate at a Communication Magnet school. What once was advertised as a "school with heart" is now full of bullies and an administration that does not know how to intervene and provide the resources the students need for emotional learning. There have been parent conflicts that have not been handled well and there is no sense of community since returning from COVID shut downs. Other schools have held events and encouraged reconnection, but Benchley-Weinberger seems to have no interest in re-establishing the community. There is very little communication about what is going on at the school, and unless you have inside knowledge, you are mostly left in the dark or on your own to find things out. Overall, it has been disappointing.
Submitted by parent on June 15, 2020

I have 3 children at this school and have nothing but greatness to report. The teachers go above and beyond the call of duty and principal is in the classrooms as push in support and also providing 1:1 support in reading to kids struggling in this area.
Submitted by other on December 09, 2018

Benchley is welcoming and faculty & administration energetic about helping kids succeed.
Submitted by parent on September 21, 2018

This school is incredible. We have 3 kids in here. We'll one has graduated. The main reason this school is so great is the leadership from Ms. Patton. The woman is a leader is so many ways. Her attitude and work ethic is amazing. She has great conflict resolution skills. If you can get your kids in here - do it!
Submitted by parent on April 16, 2017

A hidden gem in San Diego. The teachers and administration truly care about the students and our child loves going to school each day.
Submitted by parent on September 02, 2016

The parking and drop off for this school is ridiculous to be nice! How has a system not been worked out yet? Stagger the drop off times, Kindergarten and first grade drop at 8 a.m. The rest of the students left the same. Something? Anything?
Submitted by parent on September 24, 2014

My son has attended the school since kindergarten and is currently in 4th grade with an IEP. We love the principal! She is great and the resource teachers and speech specialist have been great in meeting his needs and making proper accommodations. Unfortunately and surprisingly, not all of his classroom teachers have been accommodating.
Submitted by parent on August 15, 2014

We could not be happier with this school. We have had the opposite experience of the parent who wrote in June 2014. Our child needed extra help learning to read and he received it. Ms. Patton, the principal, worked with him personally to build his skills and his confidence. She also helped us to develop a plan with his teacher and arranged for a tutor to help meet his needs. The parent involvement in this school is exceptional and helps to make this school so very special. I feel that all around the expectations are high, but not to achieve high test scores. It seems clear to me that the goal is to foster a love of learning, to provide a rich learning environment and the great test scores are a the result. I also have to say that I see the school going well out of their way to needs of children with special needs, even having a health aid go on the field trips to make sure that children with health needs are not left behind.
Submitted by parent on June 01, 2014

Scores aren't everything. If you have a child who's above average, this may be a good fit for your family. However, if you have a child who needs extra guidance, there are too many staff members here who don't want to tolerate with it or "waste" their time. There are a handful of wonderful teachers who are nurturing and encourage a love for learning. However, all-in-all, the school is not well-balanced. Too much time is spent on test pressures, moody staff members, and a lack of tolerance toward children who are outside of the "norm". If a child has a lot of energy, the suggestion of medication is given rather than classroom modifications. Young students have hours of homework every night, get their behavior pins moved down for having to go to the bathroom, are not allowed to drink water throughout the day, and are constantly reprimanded for the silliest of reasons. Children with special needs are excluded from field trips and other school activities. This creates a tense learning atmosphere. It's difficult to imagine putting my child through years of this which is why we are considering leaving the school and so many other nice families have already done so.
Submitted by parent on April 17, 2014

This school is amazing! The teachers are fantastic, Mrs. Patton is fabulous, and I think the PTA is very hardworking, and they supervise a lot of school events and fundraisers to help our school and community. The students are, for the most part, friendly and helpful. I love this school!
Submitted by parent on March 19, 2014

2/3 of the way through our 2nd year at this school and I'm ready to say we made a good choice sending our son here. I understand he reads better than most kids while math comes easy to him, but his writing is a little behind his peers. Had we NOT sent him to a school with higher standards, or if we as parents were not as involved in his educational journey, this would be more of a concern. But I am encouraged that the extra work we put in with him at home along with the higher expectations of the teachers and the performance of his peers will lead to better results. My wife and I work our butts off to balance work, school and family. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for struggling kids to get the help they need when that combination of factors mentioned above is hard to come by at other schools, in other families, in environments where life brings so many welcome and unwelcome distractions. Is BW a 5 star school?. Maybe. I'd give it 4.5 stars if possible...because I always feel there's room for improvement. It's not perfect. There's no way all 550+ kids/families are going to be completely satisfied. But we feel we gave our little student the best chance to succeed.
Submitted by parent on March 10, 2014

There is a good reason this school has a10/10 rating. The teachers are top notch, the principal is amazing and the parents are involved. This school found the formula for success and we are thrilled to have our children attending here.
Submitted by parent on November 07, 2013

The principal is amazing (Mrs. Patton) and the teachers are great so far. I have made many friendships with other parents and we are all very involved.
Submitted by other on October 24, 2013

My school is the best and our granddaughter loves it. This silly rating system has a fifteen word minimum requirement to post when five says it all.
Submitted by other on September 26, 2013

I love this school!!! I attended this school for all of elementary!!! This is a wonderfuo school to attend!! The teachers are loving && they really do care about your child!!! Your child will never be left out
Submitted by parent on July 31, 2013

Not what it used to be! As a parent active with the school, the classroom and the PTA - I can tell you that if you disagree with the powers or offend the highly inflated ego - you will be treated poorly. We enjoyed our first 3 yrs, but-this year It was made clear to me not to question authority. For a communication magnet - there is an extreme lack of communication! When questioned why my kid was taken out of "math" and sent to a counselor (without my knowledge), I was told that "school sees things parents don't". Yet they couldn't tell me what they saw - Shouldn't I be informed if there is a problem, the clever response, "we don't need to tell you every little thing". Yes-Exact words! The rest of the response was "the school doesn't have account for the time of each student to the parent" And when I said, "well, why did I choose Benchley, what benefit am I getting" instead of justifying my choice like I wanted, I was told (again exact) "if you feel that way, you shouldn't come back, I think you should find a new school." I know there have been other parents who were told "not come back" and I can assure you none of us are extreme, overly emotional or unreasonable.