Corona Del Mar High School

Posted: January 12, 2025

This school's academic standard is excellent. The offerings of sports and extra curriculum are fantastic. Mr. Ball choir program is a very special program and he cares so much about developing his students, mucically, profesionally and personally. Mama Mary Russell is a treasure for all kids that prepapre to go to college. Our two children are thriving in this school and we are very grateful.

Posted: January 12, 2025

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Posted: July 5, 2024

Average part: As in any school district, the administration is powerless to remove notoriously poor teachers. There are a few, so epically horrible, that the tutors exist just to serve the student population who got unlucky enough to be in their classes. Parent community is involved, but mostly a select group, who seem to be generational CDMers.
Good part: Very well funded sports, theatre, music programs. Lots of colleges come to visit. Counselors can be effective and helpful if parents are a “squeaky wheel”.
Worst part: Students. Did I say students? What an entitled, poorly behaved, and hypocritical bunch. Unless they go work for a family business, they’re up for a very rude awakening once they enter adult post-college world. Girls are insanely clicky, and find a specific pleasure in cruelty of cancel culture. Catching one of my own doing this was a huge disappointment, and we had to undo a lot of peer pressure damage. It’s not a healthy environment for the popular ones, and a miserable four years for the ones who end up being outcasts.

Posted: July 5, 2024

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Posted: May 3, 2024

The high school and middle school have some bad teachers. They have nothing to motivate students. The school has no punishments for any kids who do anything, and they do nothing for academic kids.

Posted: May 3, 2024

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Posted: October 8, 2021

CDM HS is a very good school. I had four children graduate from CDM HS over the last 15 yrs.

CDM HS is unique in that it offers excellence in many areas. The academics are very strong and offers kids wanting to get a good preparation for college and be competitive to enroll at top schools the opportunity to do so. The athletics programs are shocking good despite being a smaller HS with many student athletes earning D1 scholarships. The performance arts department is exceptional with an outstanding venue and well supported.
This school offers every student the opportunity to succeed but not all take advantage.

In my opinion the real negative issues concerning CDM HS center around the parents with over inflated opinions of their self entitled children. This is really a manifestation of living in Newport Beach. Newport Beach can be a very competitive environment with many falling prey to comparisons of successes. The HS reflects this characteristic as a microcosum of the area which can seem harsh and unfair to teenagers.

Sometimes it can seem harsh to adults.

If you have a particular sensitive child and you can afford to live in the area, you should probably consider a smaller private school.

If your your child can work hard and take advantage of all this school has to offer, I don't think you or your child will be disappointed.

Posted: October 8, 2021

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Posted: January 4, 2021

The lasting educational and social impacts upon my life after high school at Corona del Mar have proven invaluable. CDMHS is one of the top rated public schools in the state for both education and athletics. My experience after graduation is that more people have stayed connected to CDM, their classmates and community than any other high school I know of. Being a Sea King was a privilege I still thank my parents for today.

Hail Corona Hail.

Posted: January 4, 2021

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Posted: November 29, 2020

Multi-generations in OC and settled on Newport Beach to raise our kids in hopes to give them the best opportunities. Unfortunately this was a big mistake, mostly due to CDM environment. What a disgusting environment!!!! From the administration to the parents to the students. Some teachers are great, but the majority of them do not care about their students or education. The biggest concern is for the students, they form clicks (more than any other school) where bullying and exclusion is encouraged. It doesn't matter if you have a social or shy student, we have both. If you ever have problems, you would hope the school Principal or administration would like to correct problems and support their students; but no they don't. The counselors are horrible and don't care about the students either. Although it's a Public education, they act like it's Private since most of the parents can afford any Private institution; but there's no perks like a Private school where they actually care about their students well--being and education. Despite cheating scandals, or the 'prom lottery' tradition, and many unfortunate tragedies this school continues to turn a cheek and refuses to change. Stay away from CDM high school (and middle school).

Posted: November 29, 2020

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Posted: November 9, 2020

The leadership has been downhill in this school. The new principal is useless in resolving any issues. No point in talking to him. They handled the pandemic school situation while other schools were more effective given the circumstances.

Posted: November 9, 2020

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Posted: June 7, 2020

I honestly loved being at CDM. While it's not flawless it's a great public school where students can be challenged academically and discover passions whether in sports, academics, music, or theater. School spirit is one thing I love about CDM. I mean who wouldn't have school spirit when your mascot is literally the king of the sea? However being a Sea King is not just a name but references the community that everyone is a part of. I look back at CDM and I made so many amazing memories including meeting friends and so many other amazing people that I will never forget. I also developed so much as a person and as a student. What I accomplished at CDM shows me how much I can accomplish and inspires me to continue reaching higher.

Posted: June 7, 2020

I think the school has a very good approach to homework. Having assignments to complete at home based on what was learned in class is an effective way of mastering new material, and all the classes that I had gave homework that directly applied to what we were learning. Having homework for each class also helped me to be a more productive person because the busier I was doing things the more I got done in a day.

Posted: June 7, 2020

The students that I have met at CDM are some of the nicest and most hardworking people that I know. I think clubs like Human Relations Council, PAL, and Peer Tutoring help students foster kindness, respect, and empathy. Advanced Placement classes help students to learn how to work hard and be determined.

Posted: June 7, 2020

CDM does a great job with leadership. There are many great leadership opportunities available to students every year through creating and leading their own clubs, or leading one of the various established clubs on campus like the Associated Student Body, Humans Relations Council, Pal, Youth in Government, and so many more. Sports provide good opportunities for leadership experience through being captains.

Posted: June 7, 2020

I definitely think CDM supports students with learning disabilities. A group of faculty is dedicated to helpIng students with autism, there is a club where students befriend and eat lunch with autistic students, and there is a club where autistic students can join the cheerleaders for practices and football games.

Posted: June 7, 2020

I think the school does a very good job in regard to bullying. The school uses its counseling department to address bullying issues and I definitely have seen how students' behavior have changed for the better. I was never bullied but when anyone was getting bullied I always tried to stand up for the person the few times I did see it happen. It was never violent bullying just disrespectful teasing. For the most part everyone is very respectful.

Posted: April 26, 2020

I went to CDM all 4 years and I had a great experience. i learned about being on a team and knowing that sometimes you need to follow before you can lead. A majority of my learning was on the football field rather than in the classrooms. The teachers did their jobs decently well, or well enough for me to skate by with C's and B's. But this campus will teach you to find what you are pationette about fast. There isn't enough time for teachers to tutor individfually so they reccomend programs outside of the school to help you. They are great about helping you find your college of choice as well. The football program shaped me to be who i am today, and helped me in my time in college ball. All in all, a great school.

Posted: April 26, 2020

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Posted: February 6, 2020

Amazing, very great and outstanding school with some of the best academics in the area

Posted: February 6, 2020

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Posted: June 24, 2018

Teachers seem to not teach. They will give you this self discovery worksheet that you have to drive an equation in or come up with all this information and then test you on it. Some common examples are POGILS and PhNet. Additionally, since the classes are so big and many students tend to be confused, when you come in for their very limited office hours, the teacher never has time to help you because they are so busy helping other students.

Posted: June 24, 2018

Posted: June 24, 2018

The students in the special education program seem to have a ratio of two (or more) helpers to one students when there are classes of over 30 students struggling. I feel like the school’s resources should be more evenly distributed.

Posted: June 24, 2018

Bullying occurs all of the time, but yet she goes unrecognized or unnoticed by teachers and staff. At CDM, bullying is more in the form of teasing and exclusion etc. rather than physical punching, kicking, etc.

Posted: June 24, 2018

I absolutely did not like my experience at CDM at all. If you have a choice to go to a different school, please take it. The teachers will not around your grades even if you have an 89.99% and they will test you on information that they never taught. You also won’t be able to get help because your teachers are never free to help you. Be prepared to be environment with many kids who are heavy parties. Additionally, if you want to get into a decent school, you’re probably have to get in for sports.

Posted: June 24, 2018

Many teachers, especially AP teachers, give you random vocabulary terms that you must do for homework just in case it comes up on the AP exam. Additionally in many subjects, especially math, teachers give their students homework problems with topics that they never taught. The students are not even lucky enough to have a textbook to look up the problems in.

Posted: November 3, 2016

My family and I moved to California from another state. I moved to Newport Beach , Ca and enrolled my scholar student to a school of which I thought would do the best to enrich my child. She came to school with a extremely high GPA. Upon enrolling her they were excited to have her and said all her classes would be transferred. After four months attending there and receiving two awards, one of which " the most up and coming student". They told her that some of the classes were not going to be transferred and GPA would drop to 3.7. Do NOT transfer to this school!! It is extremely unethical. VERY large classes and the teachers are sub standard. So if thinking of moving to Newport Beach CDM High School. Please beware!!!!

Posted: November 3, 2016

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Posted: September 21, 2016

Our daughter is in 9th and just completed 7 & 8 there. Its such a mixed bag. Our daughter is outright gifted as well as very well adjusted so she does fine (straight A+'s in their most advanced classes) but we are constantly appalled at the lack of recognition and encouragement by the teaching staff. As an example; at the 8th grade promotion, they didn't even bother mentioning the "Honors", or even print it on the diploma. Instead, she quietly got a metal she picked up following the ceremony.

In fact; their actions are often outright discouraging! We can only imagine how difficult it must be for the "regular kids". I swear; they hand out zeroes like candy, sometimes unwarranted, often un-reconcilable.

There are a few stand-out exceptions such as Mr Ball (Choir - a treasure of a teacher), Mr Brudy (English, what an inspiration), and I forget her Science 7th grade teacher's name, endlessly encouraging.

In sports. They only care about winning. Period! If your kid made the team but isn't on the A list, prepare to have them "excluded" (benched) a lot! That's not what cherrished memories are made of.

The Accelerated Math is run by a guy who scoffs at all existing text books and therefore, there are none! Yes, they are expected to learn 2 years of advanced math in one year without a text! If our daughter weren't IQ 165 with a perfect memory, I really don't know how she'd do it. He actually reprimanded her once for taking a photo of the white board prior to class ending (when its blocked).

All that said; they have some fantastic pluses.

They do have great sports facilities and opportunities. Many graduates get full sports scholarships. We hear track program is more about participation than win at all costs.

Their online homework and grade monitoring solution is a dream come true!

The area is very safe and the PTA is highly involved. Many perks come from the huge donations.

Some of their teachers, as mentioned, are just exceptional. The kind that movies are made of.

I think these are all typical of any high school so I rank it 3 stars, "average".

Posted: July 24, 2016

Our two kids went to CdM the entire way through and both hated it. Cruel, clicky students who only care about social status, narrow-minded teachers who could care less about students wholistic well-being and are only into testing and grades, many drug abusing, entitled students driving BMWs and MZBs, etc. Avoid at all costs.

Posted: January 11, 2015

I am a senior of CDMHS, thankfully have only been here for 3 years instead of the regular 6 years at this school. There is no diversity, the students are cruel evil creatures and will do anything and everything to maintain their social status. Academically very challenging because the curriculum is so much more advanced than other high schools around the country. The news is always here covering the cheating scandals, prom drafts, etc.. Terrible high school coming from a student who isn't socially challenged or a 'Narnian' as called by other students from all high surrounding high schools including CDM. Go to harbor, it's better. Socially and academically. You won't be sorry.

Posted: September 3, 2014

The school is great. I enjoyed going there. I was really saddened when I was transferred to Etiwanda High school. CDM is academically high compared to other schools. The teacher are great. They help you any time you ask for it. They are really proactive they hate it when students are not doing anything. At first I though of it as an announce but after coming to Etiwanda high school I understand why they did. I highly recommend this school.

Posted: September 10, 2013

I love CdM, because it's a community school, and living in Newport Beach, the kids that I've grown up with on my street are the kids in my classes here. Sports are a big enough deal to be really fun if you're interested, but there are lots of other ways to get involved, like clubs (Best Buddies!) and the four leadership groups. Academics are good, but not great. Freshman year is pretty rough. It goes uphill from there, but the freshmen and middle schoolers generally get stuck with the bad teachers. And insider tip: if you're planning on taking honors bio, try and get in with janet dichiro - over 90% of the class does her study group, and it fills up really quickly! You'll want it, because the teachers have no clue what they're talking about. Most of the classes are pretty good, but there are little tips like the honors bio study group for everything. If you put in the effort, you can get what you need. That said, you can also skate by pretty easily if that's your objective.

Posted: September 5, 2013

i think this school gets a superficial rating based on it's location. I warn parents of children entering from many of the really solid elementary schools into this program. the touting of their academics is based on a philosophy of teaching by fear rather than teaching by encouragement. This may be a wonderful school if you have a child with disciplinary issues however if you have a child that generally follows rules and behaves they will be subject to the harsh scare tactic methods. The teachers are sub-standard and the students are generally out of control.

Posted: July 12, 2013

I graduated from this school, and now my daughter is entering 9th grade, after 2 years of (same campus) CdM Jr.Hi. academically, it is great, however a child's "education" is not all about grades. the school is RUN by parents who are wealthy & as spoiled & undisciplined as their kids. There have been numerous scandals (check the news) resulting in NO (or minimal) consequences for the serious offenses committed by popular or athlete students. teachers who are expect discipline & accountability are bullied by the parents, while lazy ones lauded. We just had BOTH the principal & VP give notice, in the same week. you need to seriously weigh your priorities before choosing this school...

Posted: June 2, 2013

We have never been so disappointed by a public school before. We have lived in many different states and thought that Newport Beach, California would offer our daughter a decent education. We were so wrong. Please note that we are talking about the Middle School here. The teachers are uncaring and unprepared. The principal never responds to our issues, despite endless letters and e-mails of complaint. From the very first day at the school, Ms. Bloomfield (Algebra) was purposefully unhelpful and unkind to our daughter. It was such a negative experience for us at CdM that we withdrew our daughter before the end of the year was over. Not only that, but we've all decided that she is not ready for high school and so we will do 8th grade all over again (with a mix of homeschooling along the way). By trade I am a public school teacher and I have never been so confused by the actions of the majority of adults at CdM. Let's just say that they are all too happy not to be able to help you in any way. A grave mistake we made choosing CdM. Would not recommend it for any Middle School aged child.

Posted: April 3, 2013

Horrible acidemics and unfriendly students. Citizens of Corona del Mar couldn't be any more socially uninviting, and the cost of living is way too high. Stay away from this area if possible, it may as well be in hell.