Hancock Elementary School

3303 Taussig Street

School District

San Diego Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:20
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 September 21, 2017

They do not help kids with special needs. This school is terrible.
Submitted by other on June 27, 2016

We transfered after an terrible experience at a near by school. It only took a week for my kids to be completely excited about school again. I was no longer dragging my kids out of bed and into their classrooms. As a military family their educators completely understood my kids needs. My childrens education was not limited to just what was in their text books, but learned so many life lessons.
Submitted by parent on January 12, 2016

We're not new to schools that are predominantly military, so we are accustomed to the unique challenges associated with the demographic that this school serves. However, in our short time at Hancock, I'm appalled by the amount of disrespect toward teachers and other students, as well as physical violence that I've witnessed by so many of the children at this school. More importantly, though the teachers may be good as other reviewers have stated, they seem way too tolerant of the behavior issues running rampant. Where does it stop and who is willing to enforce the "no tolerance" rules that are supposed to be in place? The code of conduct is an absolute joke and the kids take full advantage of that. In one week, I've witnessed more behavior issues being ignored than I have in all of the years at other schools. Instead of talking about what they did in school, my kids now come home with an endless amount of stories about skipping assignments because they have to play the silent game due to other students' behavior, teachers that spend the majority of their day making threats to call home or revoke recess because the classroom is out of control, and complaints about kids constantly and intentionally being disruptive. Oh, and there's no principal because apparently the last one resigned... I wonder why. This school is in desperate need of someone who has enough experience and an authoritative enough hand to get the behavior issues sorted so the teachers can get back to teaching and the children have a chance to learn. Good luck finding someone who is up to the challenge.
Submitted by parent on May 26, 2015

My experience with the staff and especially the teach is not very good nor pleasant to deal with. Ratio = students to teachers: 25:1 (no assistant aid)(i have request to move to my child to a smaller class but 25 is the minimum)two classes share a room so 50:2 Communication in helping your child - terribleAssistance for child's needs - badFund raising and volunteering- Exceptional, always continue to requesting for donations for raising money for the schoolAdministration Office- average but again short to the point answers or do it yourself actionsGrading & report Cards: Very Very Very broad, not specific nor clear what the child need to work on. The only proof is not by notes by teacher of what the child has done in class that week to prove something that she/he is currently is doing okay on. (like coloring, counting, ect~ again not very clear)Overall I highly recommended to look for another school.
Submitted by parent on November 16, 2014

Awesome school with great support staff. Highly trained professional staff members who motivate thier students to learn.
Submitted by parent on August 16, 2014

We have had a great experience with Hancock and look forward to our new principal at the school. As for the person who said they discourage parent involvement, I am sure you have the wrong school as there are over 50 parent volunteers at this school. Maybe you should join and involve yourself. The entire kindergarten staff is wonderful. I have never had a problem with the office staff. They have been very nice to me. Maybe your poor attitude can be seen from the moment you enter the door.
Submitted by parent on May 13, 2014

I am trying everything in my power to change schools, or I will homeschool. The teachers (the ones my kids have) are a joke. Teachers cant keep meetings, make kids feel bad about themselves, an over all crappy school.
Submitted by parent on February 26, 2014

This is not the type of school for family involvement. They actually discourage parental involvement. There is no communication from the school whatsoever about how your child is doing. My daughter is in kindergarten and I can not wait to get her into another school using school choice voucher. Another problem is the people who work in the office are so rude to the parents and the children. Just walk in on any given day and after you are ignored you will rudely greeted with can I help you. As if you are in the wrong for just walking in the office to ask a simple question. Lunch time for kindergarten consists of the kids getting screamed at with a megaphone, and whistles being blown to quite the kids. Very impersonal, it took until November for my daughters teacher to know who she was . If your moving to this area go to sandi.net and voucher to another school or drive your kids outside the district right down aero to angier elementary. 100xs nicer school. Hancock elementary doesn't even have a PTA. It's the worst school I have ever encountered.
Submitted by parent on November 15, 2013

I have children in kindergarten and 2nd grade and I am very please with their teachers. I have high expectations for schools as I am a student getting a degree in education. We live in the neighborhood and moved here after we had a chance to choice our kids to another school. I am glad we were able to give this school a chance and will continue to go there. I volunteer 4 days a week in the classrooms as well and I have seen nothing but greatness come from these teachers.
Submitted by parent on October 28, 2013

Prior to my children attending Hancock I had concerns in regards of the quality education my children would receive at a primarily military enrolled school but Hancock is one the best schools my children have attended. I have one child with special needs and one without and they are but receiving a high quality education. I am impressed with the professionalism and the range of services available. The staff and teachers are wonderful and our children are having an educational experience where they are both thriving in classrooms that teach to individual needs. We are one of the few officer families who choose to send their children to Hancock and I am amazed that more of our neighbors chose not to send their children to there. The teachers and staff are dedicated and thorough. The only difficulty I have run into is poor parental involvement, which is not at the fault of the school. With the teaching staff going above and beyond to ensure my children's needs are met, we are blessed to have found this wonderful school.
Submitted by parent on October 27, 2013

This school is by far the worst I have ever seen. It seems that since there is a large concentration of military in this area that the district feels it can let this school slide to ruins. The teachers for the most part do not care about your children, however, there are a few stars in the bunch. My children were constantly late for lunch (not being allowed to eat) by fault of the teachers inability to manage her time properly. My son who is learning math at home is two full years ahead of his peers because his teacher uses a dvd to babysit and teach math while she does only god knows what. When handing in assignments he is constantly reported as delinquent or missing because his teacher refuses to flip the the assignment over to look for a name and just throws them away or in a basket she doesn't look in. Most of the teachers are just plain LAZY, RUDE or ignorant to what children need. If they are burned out then move on!!! The principal is never available to handle issues and allows her bully front office assistant to intersect and act on her behalf. The stars of this school are Ms. Effron, Ms. Cutler, Ms. Craig and Mr. Steel. If you need to go here then ask for these guys.
Submitted by parent on May 17, 2013

Hancock Elementary: If your kid goes to Hancock then you DEFINITELY are a military family. Keep in mind: military schools typically come with a host of unique problems - parents serving deployments which can be disruptive to home life, family moves frequently, Parents less-well-educated than other mainstream schools (ceterus paribus for same socio-economic strata), etc. However, they also have a greater sense of shared community and a more-diverse student body, which has its benefits (though these don't typically come out in standardized testing). Wife and I live on the Officer side of the neighborhood and our daughter attends Hancock, 2nd grade. Her assigned teacher, Ms. Doran, could not be a more attentive instructor. She is professional, wise, kind and maintains a great learning environment for the children. She is the best teacher our daughter has had in 3 different states. Teachers should not be held responsible for the education of children, only the instruction (some persons fail to understand this, I know...) of said kids. Hancock is a safe, organized school, even considering the scene at pickup everyday is a big CF, but due to the parents not the administration ;)
Submitted by other on February 28, 2013

Well apparently half of my review dissappeared - basically my 9 yr. old granddaughter who is new to this school is failing math - has ADD and altho she's in 4th grade is only working at a 3rd grade level in math due to her previous school. So after several attempts to get help for her and trying to get the school to accept her into an afterschool math program (they have the program available for all grades except 4th - so her mom tried to get them to accept her into the 3rd grade program since she's working at 3rd grade level anyway but it's full) but apparently they would prefer to see her fail than add 1 more child to the program. How ridiculous is this !!
Submitted by other on December 24, 2012

i go to to this school and im a fifth grader so i have to say to give it a five. one because my brother threw up in the bathroom and when he went to the nurse my mom wasnt told about it till after the day was over and she started to make a fuss about it. over all i love the school, it was where i met my best friend and we both excelled in the fifth grade so we are both hoping to go to the same middle school and i owe it all to my teachers who have brought me to the top and my best friend would probably say the same thing.
Submitted by parent on June 03, 2012

This school is a big disappointment. Having come from IL, my son, who just got out of kindergarten, was on the same level as their 1st graders. I have family in VA and NY. I have family in both places have children in the same grade as my son. Both elementary schools in IL and VA are doing what Hancock is doing a year in advance. Knowing this depresses me because my son will be very behind when we move back to our home state of VA. I feel that they so not push children to excel. They just expect the bare minimum and that is what the children put out. I feel it is not the teachers fault. They are really good and caring teachers. As soon as I can, my child will be out of this school
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2011

If another child injures your child you are not told about it. The principal doesn't return e-mails or phone calls until she is told her supervisor's will be notified. They give preferential treatment to special needs children. One such child was allowed to tear apart a classroom while the other children watched. This happened not less than five times and he never received detention or suspension. He also tormented my son and nothing happened because he was special needs. The special needs staff are great but there is no discipline or standard for which the children are set to behave so lots of things go on in class. After talking to other parents they too had problems with destructive behavior as well as disrespectful children after school. It is a horrible school so make sure before November 1, you fill out an application to apply to a better school like Kumeyaay.
Submitted by parent on August 31, 2011

Great school. You can't blame the school for parents who don't care about their kids education. You only get out of a school what you put into it. The teachers at the school do an amazing job considering they have kids coming and going throughout the year. The new principal has done an amazing job getting it back to where it needed to be when the last one didn't care about anything. If you aren't pro-active in your kids education you can't expect the school to be anything less than horrible because your kid is probably a flake who doesn't do anything in class.
Submitted by parent on December 12, 2010

Before my family (military) moved to San Diego, our daughter (who is in 2nd grade now) had been to 2 different schools in 2 years--this is her 3rd school since starting school. This is also the VERY BEST school I have seen since she started!! The principal--well I cannot say ENOUGH good things about her--she is AWESOME and she DOES care about the kids! My daughter's teacher has made the comment that "her students become HER kids while they are at school"--she cares so much. I have tried to get my daughter into speech therapy (she stutters) in her past 2 schools and NOTHING ever happened! It took LESS than a month from the time school started to get her into speech and she is doing SO much better because of it!!! Overall, this school has got the BEST team, they communicate with each other, the principal KNOWS her kids by name. There is nothing I have found negative about this school and I would consider staying at a San Diego command for ANOTHER 3 years JUST to stay at this school!!!!!
Submitted by parent on March 09, 2010

my son just started half way through the school year and i already don't like the new prinicpal!! i've never met her. i have ran into a couple of issues at the school and the front office and teachers are very helpful but when i asked for the principal to call me about my issue the vice principal called me instead!! and now i'm finding out that she had a bad habit of doing that at other schools she's been at also!!! the school overall isn't that bad the principal is terrible!!!