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Palmquist Elementary School

Oceanside, CA 92054

Phone: (760) 901-8500
Fax: (760) 433-6795
District: Oceanside Unified School District

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GreatSchools Rating

public • Grades KG,1,2,3,4,5 • 512 students

Palmquist Elementary School, a public school located in Oceanside, CA, serves grades K-5 in the Oceanside Unified School District.It has received a GreatSchools Rating of 5 out of 10, based on a variety of school quality measures.

Palmquist Elementary School is a public school located in Oceanside, CA. 512 students attend Palmquist Elementary School.

School Ratings

Category	Rating	Details
Test Scores	6/10	The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) data from California Department of Education, and using 2025 California Science Test data from California Department of Education.
Student Growth	4/10	The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2025 Student growth data from California Department of Education.

Posted: November 1, 2025

Palmquist is such a hidden gem. An awesome community full of great families and staff. We have loved watching our children learn and grow at this school.

Posted: November 1, 2025

Posted: October 11, 2025

We love Palmquist ! Great teachers, great PTO and my kiddo is learning well.

Posted: October 11, 2025

Posted: October 18, 2024

We just started going here this school year but so far blown away by this amazing school! The atmosphere is so friendly and welcoming! At first I was worried because the overall grade rating is low, but that doesn't match our experience at all! Fabulous learning is taking place and as a parent I'm super appreciative of the great after care program and even free meals provided at the school!

Posted: October 18, 2024

Posted: September 20, 2024

As a parent I have had nothing but great experiences with everyone at Palmquist! My son comes home happy and constantly tells me his teacher is the best. I feel so much comfort in knowing he feels safe and looks forward to going to school each day.

Posted: September 20, 2024

Posted: January 20, 2023

My children love attending Palmquist. The teachers are great and caring!

Posted: January 20, 2023

Posted: December 1, 2022

Palmquist is truly a great school! The parent community is warm and supportive, the teachers are extraordinary, and the students are AMAZING!

Posted: December 1, 2022

As a parent, Im impressed with the professionalism and expertise of the staff. My wife and I also love the welcoming, caring and inclusive environment. There are a variety of resources to meet the unique social/emotional needs of individual students, as well.

Posted: December 1, 2022

Both my children have gone here. Great teachers, lots of fun activities.

Posted: December 1, 2022

Posted: November 4, 2022

Our daughter is in the 4th grade and has attended Palmquist since kindergarten. We absolutely love this school! All of her teachers have gone above and beyond to create a positive learning experience. From art to music to gardening to student ambassadors, the programs offered are great. The PTO is active and creates a welcoming and engaged community. My daughter is very happy here and loves going to school every day. Highly recommend.

Posted: November 4, 2022

Posted: September 17, 2022

Nos gusta esta escuela , los maestros que han atendido a mis hijos son muy profesionales y respetuosos con los niños , su atención es muy amable y es por eso que yo he decidió ser voluntaria.

Posted: September 17, 2022

Posted: December 4, 2019

This is a difficult review for me. I really do like my child's teacher. I feel that she's doing the best she can with the limited resources she has. It's the overall structure of the school and the many troubling (and expensive!) programs that they implement that are the problem.

First, the kindergarten half-day schedule really and truly is detrimental to the health and learning of children stuck in the PM class. They are forced to change their schedule drastically on Wednesdays and it's jarring for my child that strives with consistency.

Second, this school really pushes the Accelerated Reading (AR) program. There is plenty of evidence that the AR program doesn't encourage literacy. Instead of letting children explore reading and develop a natural love of it, it gamifys reading; instead of reading for joy, they read for cheap trinkets. Also, the AR program only allows children to read at their tested level. This really limits the books available to kids and, again, works to take the joy our of it. It's also a very expensive program.

Third, this school utilizes Class Dojo as a behavior tracker. It would be one thing if this was done in private, but it is done with clip charts displayed at the front of the class. Only a few months into the school year and my child already labels kids as "the bad kid" or "the one always in trouble because his clip is always in red." This is troubling. Again, there is plenty of evidence that Class Dojo used in this way increases anxiety and doesn't do anything to change unwanted behavior long term.

Third, despite the mounds of evidence that Nancy Regan's "just say no" program was ineffective at best, Palmquist still hangs on to Red Ribbon Week and abstinence-only education. They also use stigmatizing language like, "On Tuesdays, wear neon to show that you're to bright to use drugs!" The thing is, intelligence doesn't have anything to do with drug use. My brother had his Masters in psychology and his MFT liscence and still passed from a poly drug overdose. Many of my friends send their kids to schools that have turned Red Ribbon Week into an anti-bullying week. It would be great if Palmquist could do the same.

I have other issues with Palmquist; but for the sake of brevity, I won't expand on them. I feel that a STEM school ought to do more to follow the evidence. I do like my daughter's teacher, though.

Posted: December 4, 2019

I feel that teachers would be more effective if the administration would stop pushing programs that are not evidence-based and sometimes harmful.

Posted: December 4, 2019

The school claims to be a STEM school but doesn't follow evidence-based practices in many of the programs they implement.

Posted: December 4, 2019

Posted: June 13, 2018

We just finished our first year of TK and had the BEST year! My sons teacher Mrs. Flanagan went so far above and beyond for the students. She made learning fun, while challenging. Was very willing to let parents come and help, and hosted lots of special occasions where we were invited! My son is now entering Kindergarten and able to read on his own and already working on addition!

Beyond that, they have an exceptional after school program called PREP where students can take fun classes like Dance, Musical Theater or Mad Science (The selection changes every semester). Its a great way for kids to make friends out of their classes and try something new without the huge commitment these activities usually take.

There are also lots of events the school puts together for Halloween, Valentines Day, movie nights, etc. to bring the school together and create community!

Palmquist is a safe, fun, and encouraging school. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it and cant wait for the next 10 years ahead with my 3 kids!

Posted: June 13, 2018

Posted: June 26, 2014

Great school. I have very high expectations of the education, but I did not get discouraged by rank number 6, since I have heard only positive reviews. The School is newly remodeled ,the principal worked hard to turn this school into a distinguished CA school. School has a STEM-E program and is a leading school in Zero Waste Program. Palmquist is absolutely sought after school in our community. Parent`s are often choosing this school as their school of choice.

Posted: June 20, 2014

After one year at Palmquist I cannot sing its praises enough. Stellar programs & staff. We came from another school in the district that looks like it now has the same API score (835) but Palmquist stands out in many ways. iPads immediately got my son more engaged in learning. They encourage and incentivize reading with a well tuned AR (Advance Reading) program. Their STEM-E distinction isn't some bogus status they've bestowed on themselves either. Science, Technology, Engineering, Math AND Environment are subject matter I've seen injected not only in the classroom but into everything from a field trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano to required Science fair projects. Students, staff and stand-out parents run an amazing ZeroWaste program. They recycle like I've never seen before, they compost and they have an INCREDIBLE garden! They even sell some of their produce to the cafeteria and sometimes put a cart out on Wednesdays to sell produce to parents. The 8-week long "prep" after school programs include things like piano and guitar lessons to Lego engineering, aquaponics, ceramics, art, hula, karate, tennis, football and even etiquette class.Excellent elementary school environment!

Posted: June 5, 2014

My son attended this school in his K-grade. If we would not have been moving, we would stay here 100%. I have pretty high expectations of the education, but I did not get discouraged by rank number 6, since I have heard only positive reviews. In my opinion this school deserves a much higher score. School is newly remodeled, principal worked hard to turn this school into a distinguished CA school. School has a STEM-E program and is leading school in ZeroWasteProgram. Mrs. Schrom was my son`s teacher and she was more than just amazing! Palmquist is absolutely sought after school in our community. Parent`s are often choosing this school as their school of choice. Again, number 6 does not reflect the reality. Fantastic place.

Posted: January 17, 2014

I love a school where the Principal, teachers, staff, and parents are so involved! This school really is an awesome community public school with so much to offer with all their great programs and STEM-E projects. And I just found out they are the first Zero Waste School in their district! Great job to everyone at Palmquist!

Posted: January 12, 2014

I was concerned when my daughter's transferred to this school from a distinguished school in Los Angeles. I was especially concerned since the school did not have great look and in a bad part of Oceanside. I almost pulled the girls out but learned the school was under construction and the one they were in was temporary. I was also put at ease with the great teacher and administrative involvement. I had several one on one with the principal and teachers. My daughters continued their love for learning in the school's environment. The school is STEM and holds up to the qualities needed to continue STEM learning after Elementary School. The school also has a great after school PREP program with music, art and sports classes. I believe the only reason the score is low on this site is the low amount of responses and the fact most are old.

Posted: December 31, 2012

I am a serious momma and I began searching for a diverse, innovative, and creative school with excellent leadership when my daughter was only 2-years-old. Palmquist has everything I was looking for: bleeding edge reading and math programs, extracurricular activities for a nominal fee, and a HIGHLY involved and active PTO. The principal is awesome, the teachers are creative, and everyone plays as hard as they work--adults and kids alike. I love Palmquist and feel 100% satisfied that my research brought me this school.

Posted: November 15, 2012

Also, forgot to add in my last reveiw, I love the homework schedule, they get a packet on Friday and its due the next Friday. Great for kids in all grades!

Posted: October 25, 2012

These reviews made me laugh, I thought for a moment that they were fake, but then the dates confirm that they are just mostly old. Palmquist is so highly regarded in the district that they had to cut off enrollment when it climbed over 700! Other schools in the district are copying the great programs we have and we have the most technology in the district. We just received California Distinguished school award, of which our awesome and ambitious principal, staff, parents and students are very proud. We wouldn't want to attend anywhere else.

Posted: February 15, 2012

Classes are over filled, the teachers (at least the one my son has) don't give that one on one time he needs. He went from an amazing school and excelled, to this one where he has not learned one thing! If you can put your kids in another school I would very much recommend it!

Reviews provided by GreatSchools^™

#	Name	Type	City	State	Distance
1	Mira Costa Estates	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Oceanside	CA	2.7 mi
2	Palisades Pointe	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Carlsbad	CA	2.9 mi
3	St. Cloud	Condominium/Townhouse	Oceanside	CA	3.6 mi
4	Montecito village apartments	Apartment Complex	Oceanside	CA	3.6 mi
5	Shadowridge	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Vista	CA	6.4 mi
6	Windsor at Aviara	Apartment Complex	Carlsbad	CA	6.7 mi
7	La Costa	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Carlsbad	CA	7.8 mi
8	Rancho Carrillo	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Carlsbad	CA	8.2 mi
9	Torrey Highlands	Neighborhood/Subdivision	San Diego	CA	18.7 mi
10	Whispering Winds Apartments	Apartment Complex	San Clemente	CA	22.8 mi
11	Redhawk	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Temecula	CA	24.3 mi
12	Amberwalk Townhomes	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Murrieta	CA	26.7 mi
13	The Ranchos	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Murrieta	CA	27.2 mi

#	Name	City	State	Distance
1	Downtown Oceanside	Oceanside	CA	1.7 mi
2	Carlsbad	Carlsbad	CA	2.1 mi
3	Encinitas	Encinitas	CA	10.9 mi
4	Lake Rancho Viejo	Fallbrook	CA	15.1 mi
5	Torrey Highlands	San Diego	CA	18.7 mi
6	Downtown	San Clemente	CA	22.4 mi
7	Mira Mesa	San Diego	CA	22.4 mi
8	La Jolla	La Jolla	CA	23.9 mi
9	University City	San Diego	CA	24.2 mi
10	Wine Country area of Scripps Ranch	San Diego	CA	24.7 mi
11	Temecula, California	Temecula	CA	25.5 mi
12	West Side	murrieta	CA	26.9 mi

Base	Distance
Camp Pendleton	11.9 mi.
Miramar MCAS	25.1 mi.
MCRD San Diego	32.2 mi.
San Diego Naval Medical Center	33.9 mi.
North Island NAS	34.8 mi.
Naval Base Point Loma	35.3 mi.
Coronado Naval Amphibious Base	37.1 mi.
San Diego Naval Base	37.3 mi.
March Air Reserve Base	48.9 mi.

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Palmquist Elementary School

Oceanside, CA 92054

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