Miller Elementary School

4343 Shields Street

School District

San Diego Unified
Grade

K-5
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:18
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 November 14, 2017

My experience has been amazing! As I stated above the special education department has been so amazing assistin with our sons IEP!
Submitted by parent on June 05, 2017

Horrible!!! I have no clue how this school is rated an 8.
Submitted by parent on May 16, 2017

Miller Elementary is the absolute WORST. From the moment you walk thru the office door the staff is rude rude rude. Not welcoming at all. My children attended miller for less than 1 year pulled them out just before school let out. They were assisted a multitude of times and absolutely nothing was done the principal and teacher made the bullies out to be the victims and while my kids aren't angels they have grown up with a loveing Christian background. They were terrified to go to school...their lunches were taken away by bullies, smashed into their faces, thrown on the floor and the first thing ergot was a call from the principal blaming our children. When my little girl was viciously assulted the school never bothered to call or give her medical attention. The teachers treat the kids like peasants and are so disrespectful and could care less if your child has an IEP. Please please please from one parent who absolutely loves and adores her children as I'm sure you do as well, please don't send your children to this school please look for other options even homeschool If your situation permits you to. It's heart breaking when you send your beautiful children to school to learn and they are being bullied and physically injured instead. It's not in my character to bad mouth other people but here it goes the principle there (female) is absolutely worthless she doesn't care she brushed everything off it's just another day to her how did she end up heading g a school and being in charge of precious children I don't know but she should be removed. If you love your babies do not condem then to suffer at this so called school!!!!
Submitted by parent on January 24, 2017

I have a granddaughter in this school and a little boy previously punched her in the eye after having already assaulted other students, but the school did nothing. Now, I just found out the little boy choked her and groped her through the clothes. Again, the school is refusing to do anything.
Submitted by parent on September 09, 2016

This school is TERRIBLE. It is mostly kids from military families, and the staff knows that most of them will move and transfer out of the school during the year, so they don't even try. I have over heard the VP saying as much. The two teachers my son has had here are unimpressive at best, and seem pretty checked out of their job, or maybe just life in general. They are very short on teachers and right now there is 35 kids in my son's class. No wonder the teachers are checked out. They are very under funded, and make pretty much everything about how they can get more funds from the state. the work is far too easy, and they don't challenge my kid at all. Also if there is a problem with bullying they shelter the bully and make excuses for them, and instead blame the victim. Our kids deserve better than this. The state needs to look in on this awful school. Send your kid to a charter school if you can.
Submitted by parent on July 30, 2016

The school is overcrowded which I know isn't their fault, it's actually the districts fault. The teachers have 24+ kids in a class and no aides. They depend on parents to volunteer in the classroom to help out. I don't think that is fair for the teachers or the students. If you have a kid with mild/mod special needs, this school is horrible! They have severe/mod special ed classrooms, and only if your child is 2-4 months behind academically, will they place them in a mild/mod pull out support class. Seeing that they are an elementary school in the largest military housing community in the world, that just so happens to be an EFMP Cat V area, you would think that they would a variety of classrooms to support all kinds of learning developments. Not the case at this school. Sad! I've watched children in the last 3 years get shoved in classrooms with kids who have severe behavioral issues, all because there is no other place to put them. My advice for any parent who is unhappy with the special education services at Miller, lawyer up! If more parents come forward with their concerns, then maybe the district will listen and fix what is broken.
Submitted by parent on October 05, 2015

I believe the principal is nice. Some not all of her staff are arrogant, quick to judge, and rude. Maybe that is why she may appear harsh at times.
Submitted by parent on September 18, 2015

This is an underfunded school. Almost exclusively for children with military parents. The academics is lacking and we, my child included, find the ciriculum too easy. The office staff are impersonable. They won't even greet you when you walk in door. The PTA is unable to get past their social issues to be be professional and make things best for the students. They are, In fact so cheap, that if your kid comes in mid-year, they won't be in the year book. This school has no grass for the kids to play on at recess, no shade to keep them cool in the 80-90 degree weather. They have to take turns by class on the only play structure they are allowed to play on or forgo social play with their peers for a cooler tempt in the computer play room. They teachers, just like anywhere, are some great, good, not so good and horrible. We've been very lucky the past few years in that department. I highly recommend, should you be able to either pay the $ for a school bus or be able to take your child to and from school, exercise you opportunity to apply for a charter school instead. Your kids deserves better than Miller elementary has to offer. Mine sure does. I wish we had better options for him.
Submitted by other on August 16, 2015

I'm so disappointed in this school! From their office staff to the 1st grade teacher my child had. The teacher was unprofessional and rude. At one point my child asked me why the teacher didn't like him. As a mother to know your child knows he's not liked by the teacher is awful. The VP tried to help but by the time things got really bad it was the end of the year. She at one point told me she showed more love to the children she thought didn't get love! She favored the girls! She ignored the boys and enjoyed trying to make parents feel stupid! I hope 2nd grade and Kindergarten goes better!
Submitted by teacher on June 18, 2015

I am a new teacher at Miller Elementary and I have found it to be a very supportive environment. I have never been at a school where the administration is more committed to all students. When a problem arises it is handled in a nurturing and professional manner. We have an amazing counselor who puts forth a lot of effort to teach and ensure a kind environment at our school. I feel very lucky to work with such an amazing staff!
Submitted by other on June 10, 2015

This is my child's first year at this school. Her teacher is great as well as the counselor and vice principal. The front office staff is the worst I've seen since my kids have been in school. They regularly ignore you, and are pretty unwelcoming. I'm unsure why they are working at this job since they have to deal with the public and don't seem to enjoy it. Aside from that I have no complaints.
Submitted by parent on June 05, 2015

My children have attended Miller for the last two years and I have been very pleased by our experience thus far. There are some great teachers, the new vice principal for the 2014/15 year is wonderful and the school counselor goes above and beyond for the students. I have to agree with a previous reviewer about the office staff though. They don't exactly offer the warmest reception. They have been rude and snippy with me on numerous occasions. Miller has many unique challenges to face with over 95% of the children military affliated. I believe they meet these challenges to the best of their ability. I know my children are safe, valued and are receiving a quality education.
Submitted by teacher on April 05, 2015

As a former teacher at this school, I will say this school is by far one of the worst schools I have ever worked for. The support staff and most the teachers were fine in my opinion. This school is filled with children with special needs (at least 1 out of 5 children) with the lack of staff members and classrooms to support all these children's needs. There was allot of bullying going on at this school with the lack of punishment when caught bullying. I defiantly did not agree with how the principal handled certain issues at this school which made me leave this school and find an allot better school in the district of San Diego.
Submitted by parent on November 20, 2014

i have no problem with teachers but they didn't inform me there would be no gate programs continued this school year. I had transfered my son from another elementary school 2 years ago because miller was providing gate programs. now my son is still there but no gate programs he deserves to get. school failed to inform parents who has children in gate programs in advance, so we didn't have time to check or transfer kids to other gate schools available. And, a lady in the front office is VERY RUDE and not helpful at all.
Submitted by parent on May 29, 2014

As an active parent in my children's education I like to be involved with teachers principals and office staff. So far in the 8 months my boys have gone to this school I'm very dissatisfied. Office staff is very disrespectful mainly the front office lady she makes me feel like a criminal every time I set foot into the school. My boys are uncomfortable in their classes my youngest was the friendliest and a thrill for other teachers to have in class but in this school he is scolded by his teacher for actions of his classmates that he has nothing to do with he is bullied by kids and every time I go to the office with an issue its swept under the rug. I'm sure these are fine teachers but classes seem to be out of control, more time is spent stopping the entire class to scold one child. The principal does her rounds but I'm not convinced she cares about the well being of these children. She comes across judgmental and unprofessional. Over all I believe the majority of the staff have given up the kids are responding to lack of authority and the parents are walking away because honestly they don't even want to deal with it. This isnt an environment for learning this is a daycare.
Submitted by parent on January 20, 2014

My child goes to Miller Elementary. I was worried with his school due to having three different teachers within the first few weeks of school, he has now settled in with this last teacher I hope and has gained massive ground. She truly is a great teacher and helpful in all facets of her job. I am not fond of the front office lady, and go out of my way to not interact with her at all, vry nasty attitude she always has. The principal is very nice and friendly, I like seeing her walk the grounds and be available to people and kids a like. The lunch room guards need to be more watchful of the kids than each other, things have happened to my son and when he tries to explain he gets brushed off
Submitted by parent on November 19, 2013

My son was bullied by the same two kids for the first half of his first grade year. This wasn't just name calling and what not, my son was being hit and kicked and the teachers were witnessing it! 1st problem: I had to find all this out from my son, not the teachers. 2nd problem: When we complained to the Principal, not once but TWICE, nothing was being done in this "No Tolerance" (which is a policy you have to sign every year) school. 3rd problem: nothing was done until our THIRD meeting with the principal and son's teacher and we threatened, no, PROMISED if something isn't done and the issue does not stop then we will go over their heads and take it to the school board. So far we haven't had any problems this last week and a half, which I am grateful for, just completely upset at the lengths we had to go to, to protect our son. Absolutely ridiculous!
Submitted by parent on November 18, 2013

I have four children that have been going to Miller since 2008 & have put in enough volunteer hours to see what really goes on behind closed doors. The full three stars goes to the teachers of this school. Being a military school with children rotating in and out all year, plus class sizes of 30-40 (of which, many have learning & behavior issues - with NO extra help/support provided to the teacher), and very little parental involvement, I feel that the teachers are the ones who make the experience tolerable, sometimes at the expense of their own sanity. They are doing their very best with the resources they are given. My biggest concerns are that meal times and recces are mostly unsupervised, with many children being verbally and physically bullied (no staff anywhere to be seen). The times when children tell the supervisors, it's dismissed without any consequence to the bully or notification to either parent. Behavior issues need to be taken much more serious than they currently are. This boils down to leadership and lack of disciplinary actions enforced when issues arise. Behavioral issues are now taking priority over learning, which is unfair and unfortunate.
Submitted by parent on June 04, 2013

This school is average in terms of academics, but they have the worst approach to bullying imaginable, and it's made my daughter's two years here a nightmare. They claim to be a zero tolerance for bully school, even advertising their "No Place for Hate" campaign. But the reality is very different. My daughter has been bullied throughout the year, and every time she has come home with bruises or claw marks (yes, bleeding claw marks) on her, I bring her back to discuss it and find out that, yes, she told her teacher, and SHE was punished for being a tattle-tale. They have made reporting bullying a punishable act. As a result, my daughter is just as afraid of the bullies in her class as she is getting in trouble for being bullied. This policy doesn't get rid of bullying. It's just another form of victim-bashing, and the teachers at this school should be ashamed of themselves for not only failing to protect the children in their care, but for causing additional emotional harm.
Submitted by parent on April 24, 2013

My children, I have four, have been attending this school for three years and since we are stationed here again, will be continuing for another three years. We have had the opportunity to send them to other schools, as this is a choice district, but liked this school so much that we opted to keep them at Miller. I have heard that the upper levels aren't the best though, we'll see. I see the administration walking the campus daily. Several reasons we have enjoyed this school, other than the great teachers my kids have had, are the extra programs they have designed for kids of deployed parents and after schools tutoring. Parents, you need to understand that this is a year round school, ie a month off for winter break, spring break and summer break. Also, if your child needs to miss a couple days of school due to your spouses deployment, etc., the school offers a contract for your child to make up the work missed on those days. This school is VERY understanding about military life, "short term" single parenthood, its quirks and ever changing lifestyle. The PTA is always looking for help, they are always doing fun things for the kids, ie weekly, monthly, and quarterly.