Don Callejon School

4176 Lick Mill Boulevard

School District

Santa Clara Unified
Grade

K-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:17
Type

public

School Map for Santa Clara 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 February 17, 2024

We appreciated the teachers during our time there. They were instrumental in my child’s learning and development. My child enjoyed her time at the school K - 6.
Submitted by other on January 29, 2024

A former student here, the school is okay-ish but it could do a lot better, especially in teaching, in english the assignments were easy but very repetitive, science was the same thing but the teacher seemed like he was making no effort to teach us. All he did was sit on his computer and assign Edpuzzles and nothing more (it basically felt like a free period). In 1st period at least. I really hope this school improves more as time passes.
Submitted by student on August 03, 2023

I am going into my last year at Callejon and overall my time here since Kindergarten has been pretty good. If you are looking for a super academic school, with minor wants in bettering the Middle School sports teams this school is perfect. As for the Elementary the P.E. teachers push the kids to better them, encouraging them in a super effective, fun way. While a may admit that there are 3-4 bad teachers (depending on how you count) throughout the whole school the rest of the teaching staff is great. In Middle School once a month they come and do mental health check-ins and it is great for anyone going through anything. Callejon mostly has super welcoming kids in all grades willing to welcome anyone. Callejon also has a tight knit community around it in the neighborhood usually planning events such as Spring Fling, the Walkathon, and the weekly food truck nights in the summer. Overall I have loved my time here and would recommend to anyone in the area.
Submitted by parent on December 12, 2022

its goodits really greatits the best
Submitted by parent on September 15, 2022

Our child is bi racial in the last 3 weeks her hair has been cut twice by the same teacher, unexplained hair cutting during time at school and unexplained scratches during time at school we have voiced our concerns on multiple occasions met with personnel and each time our child's allegations were gaslighted and discredited. From my experience here what is being fone in the dark has been brought to light as there are a few bad apples in tight nitched circles on campus targeting certain ethnicities and races falsifying truth and labeling children as defiant to cover up the ill will towards children that cannot defend themselves.
Submitted by parent on January 11, 2022

My child has been 6 months into Kindergarten. She is very happy. The Teacher(Ms.Melissa Le) is super caring and passionate. Parents are connected and feel like included and informed. Not very aggressive on academics, but it is rather self paced. If you are ready to spend time(1-2 hours daily) to make your kid do the reading, writing and math work suggested by teacher for each day you would see good progress. Only thing I felt concerned was (Santa Clara School district)use lots of online game based learning. It was having slightly detrimental effect, than positive impact on academics.
Submitted by parent on March 22, 2021

My 2nd grader has been in Don callejon from Kindergarten. All the teachers till now have been wonderful. School has a strong parent volunteer community and has various programs year round. Even in the pandemic, they are doing very good with planning and teaching in a fun way! They have special emphasis on reading and writing. They also started giving homework from last year which is just the right amount and not a burden. Overall Don Callejon is a wonderful school with great teachers and community spirit.
Submitted by parent on May 06, 2019

Switching schools was the best thing we ever did. Our experience at Don Callejon was definitely not pleasant or memorable (in a good way). The teachers and staff were cold and often rude to students and parents. Our child was struggling with the material. At our new school, our child's test scores have dramatically increased.The new school has a more challenging curriculum but also teaches through a variety of methods and encourages all kids. It's not one size fits all. Additionally, we didn't like the open campus. The school assured parents that kids were safe because of the cameras. However, another parent was able to come on campus and talk to my child. This parent was upset their child traded Pokemon cards and wanted my child to give back the card. My child said this parent was angry and felt threatened by the parent. It is so easy for outsiders to walk on campus during drop off. During the chaos of kids playing and running to class, it would be very easy to overlook someone coming on campus that didn't belong, because there are so many ways for them to enter the very open campus. While nothing terrible happened, another parent shouldn't be able to come on campus to talk to someone else's child.
Submitted by parent on April 25, 2019

It is really good. My son has attended Kinder to 4th grade so far and each of the Teachers have been great.
Submitted by parent on February 21, 2019

I did not find my experience at this school to be a good one. We moved into the infamous "Rivermark" neighborhood based on everyone's rave reviews about this school, and now we regret doing so. The school has some major issues and most of the revolve around the lack of a basic solid education for the children that attend. One should not have to send a KINDER-aged child to tutoring in order to have them function properly in class!
Submitted by other on March 11, 2018

it sucked, really bad to be honest
Submitted by parent on February 01, 2018

My son is going to this school for an year now and the teacher is very hands-on and prompt in feedback. The homework seems to be a little laid back.
Submitted by parent on October 15, 2017

My daughter loves to go to school everyday and goes with a smile. She has supportive teachers and also got to do some music concerts and overall had no trouble adjusting to the school when she moved here in first grade.
Submitted by parent on April 11, 2017

Very disappointed considering this school is in Santa Clara. I expected more from the teachers and staff. Too many non-educational distractions and focuses.
Submitted by parent on October 12, 2016

Great school with awesome teachers, my kids love their every day at Don Callejon school.
Submitted by parent on January 14, 2016

This is very good school in great neighborhood but the biggest problem is with school principal. She is very arrogant and unprofessional and very biased. Because of her behavior, some residents sold their house and moved to different school district. Some of the teachers here are very educated and they are great in teaching. I think if they change the principal, this school could be the best school in Santa Clara..
Submitted by parent on September 11, 2015

We liked the infrastructur,teachers,the overall curriculum,the effort of each and every staff member.Our daughter is going to this schoolfrom last 2 years.We have seen the sincerity,patience and hard work of all the teachers.They create an atmosphere in the class that encourages all the students to study and understand the curriculum better.They do social study projects practically so that students can go through a hands on experience. They encourage students to participate in all extra curricular activities International day,sports,art exhibition, young author contest etc.Overall we have a very good experience in this school.
Submitted by parent on June 02, 2014

My kids have been in the school since it opened 8 years ago so we have gone through both the elementary and middle schools. Fantastic teachers along the way. They have had many opportunities to connect with teachers and create a sense of community they would not have had in a bigger school. Their individual test scores and academic achievements have been stellar. We don't worry about the school test scores as a group. There are too many variables which contribute to high and low scoring. We all embrace and appreciate the socioeconomic and ethnic diversity. Music and arts program could use attention.
Submitted by other on February 08, 2014

I've been going to this school since it opened, and it's my last year at DC. Although I will admit that it's not perfect, it is not as bad as others are making it out to be! If you are judging a school based on test scores and certain students' behavior, I can't try to change your opinion. But I can tell you that not every kid at school is a good test taker, and not every kid acts like a saint every second of the school day! Especially at our age, parents, peers, and other adults can't expect perfect, smiling students in class every morning. Everyone slips up, and you can't blame that on Don Callejon alone. So for those who don't like the middle school because of rumors they've heard, I will tell you, it's going to be like that at every middle school you go to, and will only get worse in high school. If anything, this diverse school prepares kids for the real world more than any charter or private school.
Submitted by parent on October 01, 2013

I have 4 boys attending DCS from K to middle school. The teachers are great, they actually care about their students and teaching. They communicate with you. We as parents have to be involved in our kids education, and ask questions or any concerns you may have, and reach out to teachers. They are great at getting back to you with and will address them as need be. Glad to see the API score go up..