Canyon Crest Academy

Posted: July 9, 2025

My daughter goes to CCA currently and has had wonderful emotional support from her teachers and fellow students. The school is known for its academic, but they have an amazing art conservatory program as well. I feel she will be well prepared for college.

Posted: July 9, 2025

Posted: July 9, 2025

Posted: July 9, 2025

Posted: July 9, 2025

Posted: July 9, 2025

Posted: July 9, 2025

Posted: July 9, 2025

Posted: February 24, 2024

For parents of special needs children: San Dieguito school district will fight you tooth and nail for accommodations, and your child will get burned. They will promise you things that they will not do, and basically leave you with the option of suing the district.
Be aware.

Posted: February 24, 2024

Posted: February 24, 2024

Posted: February 24, 2024

Posted: February 24, 2024

Posted: February 24, 2024

Posted: February 24, 2024

Posted: October 25, 2022

Amazing teachers. Dedicated Administrators. Top notch education. Students excel academically.

Posted: October 25, 2022

Posted: October 25, 2022

Posted: October 25, 2022

Posted: October 25, 2022

Posted: October 25, 2022

Posted: October 25, 2022

Posted: October 22, 2019

Wow-CCA is an amazing school. I have ever seen a culture that is so inclusive and the academic performance of the school and its students speaks for itself. There are so many options and offerings, I was blown away at back to school night. My son is thriving here. The arts programs are phenomenal.....WAY above average for a high school. Truly exceptional-

Posted: October 22, 2019

Posted: October 22, 2019

Posted: October 22, 2019

Posted: October 22, 2019

Posted: October 22, 2019

Posted: October 22, 2019

Posted: October 15, 2019

This school is excellent! The 4x4 system requires a lot of academic discipline though. All of his friends are great kids, and thrive in the school.

Posted: October 15, 2019

Posted: October 15, 2019

Posted: October 15, 2019

Posted: October 15, 2019

Posted: October 15, 2019

Posted: October 15, 2019

Posted: January 31, 2019

As a second semester senior at this school, I would say that my experience at CCA has helped me grow as a student and find interests in areas I never thought I’d be a part of. The teachers at this school have been amazing, supportive, and thoughtful of the stress that we students had to go through. It truly has been a phenomenal experience to learn with such brillriant students and to be taught by such committed teachers.

Posted: January 31, 2019

Teachers acknowledge that students have a lot on their plates and try to limit their stress levels.

Posted: January 31, 2019

Teachers have students actively engaged in discussions, love to see students make mistakes in order to improve, and work deligently with students to make sure they understand the material.

Posted: January 31, 2019

The school has various events and clubs to get students involved with their community. They’re encouraged to be thoughtful and respectful of their peers. Community day is a great example of an event that promotes student wellness and forming new friendships.

Posted: January 31, 2019

The staff is amazing. They prioritize students wellness and safety on campus. Staff members love to interact with students to get to know them a bit more.

Posted: January 31, 2019

Teachers expect students to be responsible for their own learning but provide plenty of opportunities for support inside and outside of the classroom.

Posted: January 31, 2019

There is zero tolerance for bullying. Teachers consistently emphasize student wellness and tell students to speak up when something is not right. Staff takes bullying seriously and appropriate measures will be taken if bullying happens. The student body and PALs are also involved in various campaigns to stop bullying and promote a positive learning environment.

Posted: June 14, 2018

I'll give this a neutral because I do think that there is a strong presents of inclusiveness unless you are different then forget it...and isn't that the point?

Posted: June 14, 2018

They are not supportive to the students individually and they definitely don't deal with confrontation from a concerned parent well.

Posted: June 14, 2018

My daughter has a 504 plan and has been told more than once that they don't care and tough....against the law btw

Posted: June 14, 2018

Never seen any action taken to prevent and in fact the policy seems to be an expectation that all kids rat eachother out and are punished if they don't. Any anonymous tips are not kept so leaving the child open for more bullying

Posted: June 14, 2018

Overall it's a good school with a good reputation. Academically it is very difficult which is yet a bad thing but I believe students should have more support to succeed in this environment.

Posted: June 14, 2018

The Amount Of Homework Given Is Ridiculous. 5-6 hours a night is too much

Posted: May 16, 2018

The principal is 100% ineffective. The Assistant Principals are partially clueless.

Posted: May 16, 2018

Posted: May 16, 2018

Posted: May 16, 2018

Not all English teachers give written feedback on papers. It’s crazy.

Posted: May 16, 2018

Study skills teachers focus on the few kids needing a higher level of help, and predominantly ignore the others.

Posted: May 16, 2018

It’s gone WAY downhill over the last decade.

Posted: December 23, 2016

Posted: December 23, 2016

Posted: December 23, 2016

Posted: December 23, 2016

Posted: December 23, 2016

Posted: December 23, 2016

Posted: December 23, 2016

I love CCA. The culture of the school is extremely kind, accepting, and welcoming, albeit competitive. All of the teachers I have had have been kind and open to questions. CCA is my literal dream school.

Posted: October 19, 2015

Posted: October 19, 2015

Incredible academic environment and welcoming and accepting culture have made this school extremely popular. If you are looking for football, cheerleaders, and cliquey rich kids, look elsewhere. High demand has led to some growing pains in terms of school population but my freshman daughter loves it here.

Posted: October 15, 2014

CCA is one of the most wonderful high school's in this country. The academics are competitive but the spirit and fun levels are incredibly high and everyone is really close on campus. The school events keep everyone very connected and make students proud to go to CCA.

Posted: October 11, 2014

The huge influx of freshman is really annoying, and frankly unfair to those who didn't get in during other years. The school is merely attempting to milk as much funding as they can while sacrificing learning experience. The large influx of freshmen has even affected the classes of sophomores, juniors, and even seniors because many of the teachers have been forced into teaching lower level classes. This years massive freshman class has been a huge hit to both school culture and learning experience.

Posted: October 2, 2014

SO many people are complaining about the lottery system being stopped, however, I am one of the many students who was allowed in off of the stopped lottery system. I've had so many students come up to me knowing that I got in off of wait list and telling me to my face that it was a mistake. This school is amazing and it really is a shame that it has been bumped down to 4 stars by complainers whose kids don't work hard enough to keep up with the 50 other kids in their classes. Don't go to Torrey Pines, this school is accepting of anyone. There are always groups of people but nobody allows people to be rude to each other. I hope you don't believe those lousy reviews below because it really would be a shame to miss out on all the great classes and experiences this school has to offer.

Posted: September 28, 2014

This school used to be really great. I enjoyed last year a lot and the amount of people there was one of the greatest qualities. Now that they stopped the lottery the school is so overcrowded. And the other students also are not happy with this influx of freshman. In fact many of the other students are resentful at the ridiculous number of freshman. It used to be a great school but now with such large class sizes it becomes impossible to do anything. Let alone parking or drop off. Don't send your kids here. We really can't handle anymore

Posted: August 27, 2014

Our son graduated from this school in 2014. It WAS such a great place. Our daughter just enrolled as a Freshman lottery enrollment for Fall 2014. No one told ANY of the parents that they abandoned the lottery system and let what was normally a 400 person freshman class increase to a 700 person class. My daughter is devastated and so are we. She has 50 kids in her classes. We were NOT GIVEN THE CHOICE to know that the district had planned to let all of the kids in without the proper infrastructure or else we would have elected for our boundary school. We pay plenty in property taxes and we have NO INTENTION now of giving to the CCA Foundation. The district is playing a game to get all the funding they can while sacrificing our children. SHAME ON THEM. All this information should have been made transparent but it has not been communicated especially on the district WEBSITE. Politics as usual.

Posted: April 16, 2014

Sure to be one of the top public schools in the country! Great parent partnership with school district and education foundation.

Posted: April 16, 2014

CCA is simply an amazing place. The teachers and staff are dedicated and the kids are incredible.

Posted: April 3, 2014

Canyon Crest Academy If you have a child with an IEP you will have a difficult time having the staff comply and the administrators will not help or support you in any way. If you file complaints of non compliance some of the staff has been known to take it out on the student. Great school but know what you are getting into if you have a student with an IEP. There is definitely an attitude there that they are above it all and do not need to comply.

Posted: July 21, 2013

I am not associated with this school. Therefore I do not ahve anything to write about thsi aschool.

Posted: May 1, 2013

Great public high school. High graduation rate and college acceptance rate. Fortunate to have three kids go to this high school.

Posted: March 5, 2013

I currently go to Canyon Crest Academy. Compared to Torrey Pines, it doesnt have as many bullies (none at all, actually). It's culture is more mellow and it isn't as stressful as other schools. Virtually all the kids here graduate, and it is currently the 97th best high school in America. It has the 4 by 4 schedule (4 classes in fall, 4 classes in spring), and allows students to double up in courses such as Spanish. Overall, if you are a high schooler seeking a challenging academics, excellent sports program, and no bullying, choose this school. However, there is a lottery, so you may have to go to Torrey Pines or LCC.

Posted: November 12, 2011

I love CCA. As a student here I excel in everything I do and I am constantly encouraged by their wonderful staff. I am incredibly proud to be a raven. Here at CCA a variety of extracurricular choices are offered particularly if you are interested in the Arts, where CCA has quite a prowess. The academics are outstanding and the teachers make learning fun. At times the homework load can be intense and rather excessive but only if you have selected a challenging course load. We also have a unique and accepting culture. For example if you walk around campus you are likely to observe that most students are smiling. Contrary to popular belief, we are not a school full of misfits and weirdos most students are primarily normal but those who aren't are lovingly accepted all the same. So at our school students regularly observe homosexual couples openly holding hands and students dressed variety of ridiculous outfits and no one objects to this. The students here are very used to weird, to test this I once brought a rainbow lightsaber to school just for fun. I didn't get a single strange look, only comments on the awesomeness of my lightsaber.

Posted: October 23, 2011

CCA is unbelievable school! My daughter absolutely Loves her school and looks forward to it. The kids are all accepted for who they are no judgement what so ever. Everyone is very friendly and if anyone has a question you can just come and ask any kid on the campus and he/she will be glad to help. The program 4x4 really works. It's outstanding and intense but kids who want to achieve high results do well. They study a lot but it pays off at the end. My daughter is taking 11 AP courses and 5 honor. She is busy but kids are always rewarded for their achievements by teachers and administration. Yet it's not for every child. As a parent, please, evaluate carefully if your child will be capable of such intense load.

Posted: September 14, 2011

My daughter loves her school so much, everyday she has a lot of home works to do but she can handle it quickly. Especially she likes her Conservatory program very much.

Posted: September 8, 2011

I cannot say enough great things about CCA. My daughter absolutely LOVES her school and looks forward to it. The kids can 'be themselves' and are accepted for whatever they want to be. They don't judge each other. My daughter said kids walk around playing accordians and ukuleles between classes. She had one teacher last year that used to make homemade cookies to bring in on exam days. The API score tells the story - this school is doing something right. To the mom who said they didn't support her daughter with LD/ADD - not all schools are for all kids and have programs available to support every type of student. CCA is an accelerated academic school and she should be glad they were honest with her so her daughter could get the type of education she needs.

Posted: September 6, 2011

This school is definitely the right school for your kid, the CCA experience is like no other school. Your child will fit in and succeed in every possible way, as long as they can deal with the work load.

Posted: August 27, 2011

I can not say enough good things about CCA. I wanted my daughter to go here because of its excellent academics and its one of a kind arts program. Now that she has completed two years and is a junior I can say that the school exceeded my expectations. Perfect - no. Next best thing to perfect - YES. She loves her classes and teachers even though many of them pour on the homework. She loves the art Conservatory program and says that Conservatory allows her the creative and 'self' time to balance out the rigorous academics. Moreover I have met most of her teachers and many of her friends and it seems everyone at the school - teachers and students - are good people. The only shortcoming I have seen is that the CCA Foundation, the non-profit that raises money for the school - is very cliqueish and somewhat disorganized. I think the Foundation's strong personalities renders it less effective. However, the Foundation does a lot of good for thes students. As a parent of a student attending CCA you will be asked to make annual donations of about $1000. The money is a good investment, the school is worth it.

Posted: April 16, 2011

Great campus, kids seem diverse but accepting. The classes are larger than expected in some cases, but only 12 kids were in my son's algebra class, so it averages out? He is very happy there, making progress and friends in a safe environment; as a parent, what more can we wish for?

Posted: February 26, 2011

This school is FABULOUS. I'm a freshman here at CCA and I love every minute of my experience. I love the 4x4 (it gives you so much breathing room) and I love the mellow enviornment. Everyday I see kids walking around doing things they would never be able to do at Torrey PInes. Kids wearing things, making music, ect. Everyone at CCA accepts that. They know that if they don't accept those kids for who they are, then CCA is not the school for them. CCA actually (believe it or not) has outstanding athletics. Even though chances of making Varsity as a freshman are still slim (like torrey pines), the enviornment is sill so non competative that you can focus on being the best player, and teammate you can be rather than just looking good in front of everyone else. The 4x4 is really useful if you take advantage of it. By sophmore year, i'll be done with AP spanish (6 years of language). Outstanding school, outstanding people, outstanding teachers, best school EVER.

Posted: January 9, 2011

Canyon Crest is the right school for me!!! I love their schedule and it's teachers are excellent. I am currently a student there and I have loved every day. It has a beautiful campus and classes that are extraordinary and spectacular that no other school around offers. It is challenging but yet offers offers hope to those who struggle. I have met four of my best teachers at this school and I have failed to see or get any teacher that is below average. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS SCHOOL FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN A SERIOUS SCHOOL CAREER!

Posted: December 17, 2010

Amazing school! Professional staff, challenging environment, and well-rounded opportunities. It has been a pleasant reintroduction to public schools for our family.