Spreckels Elementary School

6033 Stadium Street

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 September 03, 2024

This school has been a fantastic experience for my children. They thoroughly enjoyed their time there and still talk about it fondly. I highly recommend this school for its engaging and enjoyable environment!
Submitted by parent on June 12, 2023

This school has a way of addressing bullying issues that I have seen to be inappropriate. In my opinion they do not care as much about the kids being bullied and their safety and emotional support as would be expected of people caring for young children. My child had some issues with bullying at the school and they were never addressed and in fact ignored.
Submitted by parent on May 31, 2023

Spreckels is a great school you can trust. My two children both just spent six years at Spreckels, and I have waited to write my review. If I were putting a third child in kindergarten today, I would choose Spreckels again. The teachers bring a lot of heart to helping every child learn, and Spreckels distinguishes itself by successfully working with students on community values and character formation. My children learned their reading, writing, science, and arithmetic, often above grade level, but they also learned about taking care of classmates and the community. Spreckels provided Spanish, technology, art, and physical education lessons, in no small part thanks to the PTA. Principal Cazary sets a tone of care, discipline, and a love of learning; "culture eats strategy for breakfast."
Submitted by parent on February 23, 2023

AMAZING SCHOOL! this school is so diverse and the teachers are amazing! :)
Submitted by parent on September 01, 2021

I would not recommend this school. If you have been tracking, the rating has been going down yearly and there is a reason. Sent my child to this school for diversity, but the way the classes are separated, it’s almost like segregation. If you have an ethnic last name, be prepared to be sent to English learner class. Teachers are mediocre. I assume because there is no help for troublemakers (who also get bunched up to disrupt an entire class). Try a different school if you choice in or go private. Additionally, this school does not teach Spanish at all. They asked for funding for new Spanish book and curriculum years ago so not sure where that went.
Submitted by parent on June 10, 2021

My last review was not posted. This school has a lot of issues and most of the teachers dont care. None of the bad reviews for this school show up. I saw them after trying to post my last review but now they are all hidden, missing, or taken down? Do not trust the reviews on this site. They are obviously working with some schools.
Submitted by parent on October 16, 2019

I love the way the school community approach students for character building skills. Kids are encouraged to be kind and contributing members of society. I have to give credit to both seminar teachers for the job they did. My kids were taught to think in a broader sense and has become a self directed learner. They continue to succeed both in the classroom and out side of the class room.
Submitted by parent on June 23, 2019

Excellent. Spreckels rocks! I really love this school. There is such a strong sense of community here!
Submitted by parent on March 06, 2017

My daughter is now a 2nd grader in her 2nd year at Spreckels. We came in as a new family at the same time as the school got a new principal, Ms. Cazary. Our experience so far has been very positive. The staff is so friendly and caring of the students. The parent involvement is very high and the PTA is very active in creating fun events as well as funding important programs. Both my daughter's teachers have been great, attentive and caring. Her 2nd grade teacher in particular is really wonderful. She has a class with some challenging attitudes and behaviors to deal with, but manages to keep the peace as well as teach the kids effectively and with a great deal of attention and care for each student. The Spanish program is being expanded with new workbooks and we look forward to seeing the benefits of that. Overall, we are very happy to be part of the Spreckels community!
Submitted by other on November 01, 2016

Both my sons have attended Spreckels. What drew our family to Spreckels is it's diverse community. What's kept us at the school is competent & loving teachers. Parents are involved. The PTA does a great job fundraising. This school has great selection of after school programs.
Submitted by parent on September 29, 2016

We live in the neighborhood and we are very pleased with Spreckels! The new principal, who started last year, is very good - caring, knowledgeable, energetic and enthusiastic. Our kids' teachers have been amazing. We like that the student population is diverse, and we appreciate the values that are taught to the children. Although the school name includes "bilingual magnet school', it does not offer a truly bilingual education (and there is no funding for magnet programs in San Diego anymore), but there are Spanish classes 3 times a week (Spanish as a second language curriculum sponsored by the PTA). There are lots of fields trips, opportunities for parents to volunteer, and fun activities (like running club in the morning). It's a wonderful school!
Submitted by parent on January 21, 2015

My child is in kindergarten at Spreckels and it has been a wonderful experience. The teaching staff is involved, passionate, and innovative. I have spent many hours volunteering at the school and am continually impressed by the teachers and parent involvement on campus. The PTA is AMAZING.....they organize and support countless programs and events throughout the school year. The majority of students appear to be choiced in from nearby neighborhoods like Clairemont, many others live in the immediate neighborhood, and a portion are bussed in from more disadvantaged areas of San Diego. The student body is diverse and and multi-culturally rich. Several of the reviews mentioned a sub-standard spanish program which is no fault of the school itself; magnet funding was cut several years ago throughout San Diego. Despite the lack of funding, staff has continued to teach a spanish curriculum which is sufficient for elementary school. All around, I highly recommend Spreckels and encourage parents to take a tour of the campus.
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2014

It's about time I rate this school. My son is now a 3rd grader at Spreckels. We live in the neighborhood, and decided not to choice into the neighboring "higher rated" elementary school. I cannot say enough about the parents and PTA. They run the school. And that is a good thing! The parents are highly involved and will fight for the success of their kids. The API scores overall don't look as impressive as they are..if you look at the break downs by ethnicity and demographics, they are no different then the neighborhood schools. I love that my child has diversity and no biases towards different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. No complaints at this point!
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2014

I know the story with the kindergarten teacher referenced in the other reviews. She was definitely a problem and caused a lot of unhappiness for parents and kids. The good thing...she's gone and will never return. So there's that;). Anyway, love the school overall and the parent involvement is amazing. I wish I had more time to volunteer but I knows my kids are well taken care of and their best interests are considered. Lots of great programs, running club, free before/after school Primetime program which is fantastic.
Submitted by parent on September 03, 2014

I am a parent of a 4th grader. This is my sons second year at Spreckels. So far this school has been great. My sons grades have improved greatly. Communication with the teachers is excellent. PTA is very active. There is also a lot of parents that volunteer. I love this school!
Submitted by parent on June 22, 2014

We had a great first year at Spreckels. My son's kindergarten teacher was wonderful. As a teacher myself, I'm amazed at how much reading he is doing after a year here. This was our neighborhood school and some of our neighbors had told us to choice into a another neighboring school. So glad we didn't as we loved it! We liked that this school has a diversity of cultures and socio-economic backgrounds as we want our son to be grounded. We found the other parents to be involved. Do wish the Spanish program was a little more developed as others have noted. I was also surprised by how little time they had for art but wow, I was impressed by their music/dancing program. Obviously I realize that a teacher can make or break your school year so I'm hoping that he gets more good ones.
Submitted by parent on May 01, 2014

So saddened by the events that took place in my daughter's kindergarten class this year. We choiced into this school because we had heard good things and we wanted our daughter to receive a bilingual education. The issues started day one when the class she was in originally was changed and the teacher had no knowledge of our daughter being in her class. As the year progressed the problems increased. There was limited supervision at lunch, children were left on the playground without teacher supervision as the teacher was late, my daughter had snacks and parts of her lunch stolen, She was spit on and things were stolen from her backpack. There were about 12 different substitute teachers in and out of the class, no joke. My daughter's class had multiple children that had behavior issues and the class was contstantly in chaos and being yelled at. My daughter was constantly stressed. It took almost 2 weeks, emails and visits to the office to get and appt with the principal who offered no solutions to the problem until multiple parents complained and the district was notified. The final straw for us, the teacher was removed from the class in the last 6 wks of school. Very disappointed.
Submitted by parent on October 31, 2013

To the Parent who posted yesterday's comment. Your facts are just not accurate and you should get them straight before making such a public comment. It is absolutely false and reckless for you to say "Many, if not most of the kids are bussed in from far-away disadvantaged neighborhoods". Spreckels' enrollment numbers have dwindled over the past 2 years because, in fact, the number of busses have been decreased by approximately 150%. We have less kids today than we did 2 years ago, because over a hundred kids who were getting bussed in no longer have that option. I'll refrain from commenting on your ignorant referral to a group of partents as "this cohort". I actually agree with your assessment of the Spanish language program but unfortunately your good points are lost with your inaccurate, overbroad, and frankly offensive comments.
Submitted by parent on October 30, 2013

My child attended the Seminar program at this school, which seems to have been placed at this school only to bring up the dismal performance of the broader school population. The Seminar program was, in itself, great. However..... Many, if not most of the kids are bussed in from far-away, disadvantaged neighborhoods, with little parental school involvement by this cohort. The Spanish language focus is a sham - weekly Spanish lessons, our kid was never tested for Spanish proficiency, no grade was issued, and, as far as we can see, little was learned. Frankly, this school should be closed, and the local population folded into Curie, to create a true community school. The money that is now spent bussing kids all the way across town should be spent on their education in a school closer to their homes, not spent on bus drivers, gasoline and buses.
Submitted by parent on September 26, 2013

Absolutely love this school. I have a Kindergartener and a 2nd grader and both have excelled in their academics since starting here.