Dana Middle School

Posted: March 5, 2026

This school sucks the bathrooom had graffiti over flowed water in the toilets and cockroaches pepole ripping their shirt the staff is not nice people don't care about learning at this point this school should get demolish of how bad there staff is to each other the primetime staff is ok 4.3/10

Posted: March 5, 2026

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Posted: August 11, 2025

only about two teachers were nice and made me feel safe while others didn't.

Posted: August 11, 2025

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Posted: March 28, 2024

Was a bit skeptical about sending my child to the PL cluster for Middle School. (Current 5th Grader.)

I have been amazed how well my child has done. The changes in leadership were a bit scary at the beginning of the school year, however the team they have in place for long term is going to be great! Excited to see how they shape the next version of Dana. John is a caring and great leader. With his experience and vision, I see this becoming an even better middle school experience for the 5th & 6th graders in PL.

Posted: March 28, 2024

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Posted: May 26, 2023

My 5th grade son has had an amazing experience at Dana this year. We were apprehensive at first having him go to a school where he had 6 different classes. His teachers truly went the extra mile to make sure he felt comfortable in class. He favorite class is his elective with Mrs. Bastani where they learn how to film and edit videos and now creates videos for my husband and I at home. In addition to the teaching staff, the administration is also hands on and I found them to be easy to communicate with. We love this school!

Posted: May 26, 2023

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Posted: October 22, 2022

This school has really turned it around. The teachers are friendly and experienced. Mr. Simon the new administrator has helped my son out several times with incidents at school and even with his math homework. Highly recommend this school.

Posted: October 22, 2022

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Posted: December 3, 2021

Posted: December 3, 2021

Posted: December 3, 2021

Posted: December 3, 2021

The school overall is bad, the teachers are good, the prime time staff are the worst when I went there, the bathrooms looked bad, the history teacher litterally went in a investigation, we knew he was guilty, the school kept the teacher, the PE is bad, there is no renovations that occur, and the outside bathrooms look like it is from the 1940s, and further worse the school gives you less rights as a student.

Posted: December 3, 2021

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Posted: September 22, 2021

My son was a student at Dana a few years ago, and now my daughter is in her second year there as well. We love it! The teachers are so enthusiastic and clearly love what they do. Before attending Dana, we were hesitant to send our son to a school that was just 5th and 6th grade, but we could not be happier with it. I highly recommend Dana to anyone!

Posted: September 22, 2021

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Posted: June 21, 2021

My experience is that despite my daughter's teachers working 4 three hour days per week with all of the lessons plans and homework grading being via online services; they do not respond to email inquiries from parents nor contact you if you child is struggling with something.

My child had almost all A's on the work that she turned in. I am an involved parent and helped her with her homework where the online courses and teaching were not helpful to her.

However, I didn't see that she hadn't completed a significant number of assignments. She missed most of the online assignments and online quizzes in a language arts class. Rather than let me know, they preferred to let it go unchecked or contact me that there was a recurring problem. Instead, they just gave her F grades through the course of the semester. She ended up with a C in Math and an F in language arts.

Posted: June 21, 2021

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Posted: April 27, 2020

There was not any homework given to students, except for practicing an instrument for Band.

Posted: April 27, 2020

There was not any differentiation in instruction to meet the individual students needs (this is a component of basic teaching). In English, my son had no improvement in his writing throughout the year, nor did I see graded material come home so I could help him. In SS, my son's teacher was absent every Friday, and usually, more often than that. And in Math, my son was very far from challenged, even after I had a conference with the teacher outlining my concerns. Also, the best teachers are placed in the gifted classes.

Posted: April 27, 2020

Neutral. I'm sure some of the teachers help model good character strengths.

Posted: April 27, 2020

Mr. Irwin is an extremely ineffective, inept administrator. He avoids parent meetings like the plague and will NOT meet with you to discuss concerns about the teachers. He is also not establishing a high educational bar at the school. If he doesn't listen to concerns, how can he properly address them and know what exactly is happening at the school?

Posted: April 27, 2020

Posted: April 27, 2020

Dana has the potential to be a great school. It falls very short of this stature, mostly due to the awful administration who does not hold teachers accountable.

Posted: August 25, 2019

My student always finishes her work at school, she is not challenged and the school will not address this.

Posted: August 25, 2019

Our student is going into 6th grade now. For 5th grade she had mainly good teachers, however she had one really bad one. This teacher NEVER came to school on Fridays, repeatedly lost students' homework and gave them a zero while admitting to being responsible for the loss, read students grades out loud, refused to teach the the school stated curriculum despite the students being tested on it, and had students stand so she could publicly shame them. Our student still received an A in both classes with this teacher, and exceeded expectations on state testing. However, the administration would not address our concerns.

Posted: August 25, 2019

The principal states that these are his number one concerns but he actually does nothing to make it happen.

Posted: August 25, 2019

The principal is 100% disinterested in the students needs.

Posted: August 25, 2019

I have a GATE student, the school does nothing for my student.

Posted: August 25, 2019

We have not dealt with bullying (other than the stated teacher, and the school did nothing. When our daughter arrived five minutes late to this class after getting her braces on the teacher had her stand in front of the class and mock her for being irresponsible and stated she will amount to nothing. Our daughter then handed the teacher her note, and said, "I just arrived from getting braces." The teacher did not apologize and told her to sit down. The principal and the school counselor never responded to our request for a meeting. Our daughter is a 4.0 student.)

Posted: August 25, 2019

This is tough. Our daughter is not unhappy at this school, most of her teachers have been exceptional. However, if you get a bad teacher the administration does not care, the principal and the school counselor really do not care about the students in any form. The Vice Principal does, and should be your go to if you come to a problem.

Posted: May 16, 2018

NO development for students in this area at all.

Posted: May 16, 2018

Vice Principal tries but is hampered by teachers and counselor, much talk little action

Posted: May 16, 2018

Not at all, some talk no plans. They only want to kick the can down the road.

Posted: May 16, 2018

Such a good neighborhood with such a poor school is a disgrace. The staff just wants to move the students along no real education but a lot of talk.

Posted: May 16, 2018

Homework is assigned through Google Classroom with very few instructions for assistance at home.

Posted: May 16, 2018

Poor classroom management, ineffective approaches for struggling learners and lack of empathy for students with social interaction issues. Teachers do not try to get to know or understand their students.

Posted: April 9, 2018

Most teachers don't even give homework at all.

Posted: April 9, 2018

Of Course there are some good teachers and some bad teachers, but there are no great teachers. There are teachers that don't bother teaching their subject matter for the entire hour because they just decided to do something else. There are teachers that don't post grades until the grading period is closed. There are teachers that wait until the student is failing with no way of coming back before they even say anything to anyone. Most of the teachers clock in as the bell rings at 7:35 and clock out at that last bell at 2:25, even though they are supposed to be on campus "working" until 3:00 or 3:30. They are just there collecting their paychecks.

Posted: April 9, 2018

Posted: April 9, 2018

Mr. Irwin is a sales person not a principal. He doesn't return phone calls, emails, or anything else. He spends so much time trying to convince everyone why you should like the school that he can't even see what is going on around him.

Posted: April 9, 2018

Posted: April 9, 2018

Posted: April 9, 2018

This school is not for someone that may need help or can't basically learn on their own. The teachers really rely on the fact that most students will get the concepts with or without them there. The principal is such a joke that if you ask anyone int he community about the school they comment on what a poser the guy is.

Posted: May 11, 2017

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Posted: May 11, 2017

I remember being really worried about my students going here. It was not bad at all. I felt that most all of the teachers cared and really tried. The principal was always out and visible to parents and students if they needed anything. No it's not elem. school but my kids did just fine and thrived!

Posted: January 19, 2017

I'm so disappointed to live in such an amazing community with amazing elementary schools, and then our children have to go to Dana. I heard many great things in the past, but it seems that the school has greatly declined under the current administration. Many of the teachers are ineffective. I had several meetings with teachers and administration about concerns regarding my child, yet nothing changed and my concerns were disregarded. With that being said, at all schools there are some amazing teachers, but unfortunately we were not lucky to have them. My son had no homework for 2 years, his test scores went down, and I feel that he is unprepared for seventh grade.

Posted: January 19, 2017

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Posted: January 12, 2016

Bad idea!
Not wise to run a middle school for 9-11 year old children. The teachers have over a 150 students, so if your child struggles in any academic area, they will fall further behind. Sadly, the teaching staff at this school label children "Not diploma bound", which means DO NOT help this student as they are not on track to graduate high school. Many teachers at this school need to retire and should not receive a pension, as they did not teach, but simply passed everyone on down the road!

Posted: November 18, 2015

Unfortunately the new principal has sunk this school. He is extremely difficult to talk to and spends a great deal of effort to avoid talking with parents one on one. He does not appear to have concern for individual students. He is dismissive, and I found him not truthful. The class sizes are extremely large. Some programs like the music and theatre are wonderful.

Posted: May 4, 2015

This is one of the worst schools I have ever been to. Some reviews say the academics are too rigorous. Those people must have the minds of some primitive cave man! There is little to no homework, and a very small percentage of teachers are reasonable and expand from the moneyless void Common Core brought them into. The administrators are not helpful with conflicts, they simply give you a detention or Friday school (it's like a longer detention that's worse and is before suspension). If you want the real math experience or a decent science class, or any class for that matter high in quality and expectations, you'd best scrimp and save for private school!!

Posted: April 7, 2015

Well i am a 6th grader at Dana and it has been a really good experience. My teachers will take you for after school tutoring if you need it. They try to work with your schedule, and they keep your children well behaved. So I recommend this school very much. It will give your child a challenge.

Posted: November 9, 2012

Fifith grade is not too young for the middle school experience at Dana! They rise to the challenge quickly. Each of my kids at this school have had mostly innovative, wonderful educators. Science is disappointing (not hands-on, just textbook), and rotates weeks with physical education. Students get only one elective (non-core) class for the entire year (art, music, drama OR tech). No foreign language, sports, or elective choices on a semester basis. This is probably budget- and testing-related, but sadly, it results in less well-rounded students. The school is doing very well with incorporating student technology in the classroom. When attending orientation and open-house events, it was assumed we knew how things worked here, but we were new to the area. For those not coming from one of the feeder schools, attending the parent association meetings is the best way to meet some wonderful, energetic parents at Dana and to get information. Overall, a pretty great school considering the confines of being in the San Diego public school system!

Posted: October 11, 2012

My son is now in 6th grade at Dana and I really don't have one good thing to say about this school. The student to teacher ratio is ridiculous. They push the online correspondence yet it is not updated so it is little to no help. If your child is having any issues regardless of what they are and you need to speak to a councilor or teacher, GOOD LUCK. Both my younger children will not attend this school!