Museum School

Posted: July 29, 2026

Posted: July 29, 2026

Posted: July 29, 2026

Posted: July 29, 2026

Posted: July 29, 2026

Posted: July 29, 2026

Posted: July 29, 2026

Posted: July 29, 2026

II enrolled my children at Museum School because I was excited about its arts-based curriculum, small classes, and inclusive environment. The teachers are caring and supportive, and those strengths are real. However, serious administrative and communication issues have made the experience frustrating.

The school lacks follow-through and basic organization. Important information often arrives at the last minute, and there’s insufficient support for students with IEPs and for teachers who have to balance classes with multiple students with special needs. Academic rigor feels inconsistent, and the aftercare program is disorganized, with no accountability or professionalism. Parent engagement is low, with only a few dedicated PTA members consistently involved.

Museum School has a strong heart but weak systems. With earlier, clearer communication, stronger administrative support, and improved aftercare oversight, it could truly live up to its promise.

Posted: June 1, 2026

This is the worst school I’ve ever enrolled my child in. The principal is a bully and doesn’t care about the safety of students. He only cares about funding and meeting the bottom line. He’s extremely immature and unfit to be a principal. The classes are also not rigorous. Math and science are fine but there is no social studies or language arts classes. I also agree that 30 mins is no way for kids to retain anything in a Spanish class. I think the teachers care deeply about the students but the administrators are terrible.

Posted: June 1, 2026

Posted: June 1, 2026

Posted: June 1, 2026

Posted: June 1, 2026

Posted: June 1, 2026

Posted: June 1, 2026

Posted: June 4, 2024

We have had a great experience at Museum so far and we’re so lucky to have found this special school. There is such a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive community and the teachers and staff are wonderful. Programs and activities are designed to educate and celebrate different cultures, perspectives, and experiences. The kids have many opportunities to learn outside of the classroom, including walking trips to the Balboa Park museums, which are expected to become more frequent as we drift further away from the COVID lockdown era and the school (like all schools) rebuild programs that were lost to COVID.

Our kids have weekly opportunities to play music (taught by the World Beat Center in Balboa Park) and make art on a weekly basis. When my kids were in Kinder, they weren’t working on worksheets or coming home with homework and instead were encouraged to read nightly with their grownups. Like the Montessori-style setting they had in preschool, they did many hands-on activities and also learned so much. By the end of Kinder, they were reading at least a grade level ahead and doing basic math.

Another favorite of ours is poetry day. All grades have weekly poetry readings where the students each memorize and recite a poem in front of their class so by the time they get to high school and adulthood, public speaking and presenting are second nature. There’s no better time to develop this valuable skill than in the elementary school years and I wish I would have had this experience as a kid. In Kinder, family and friends were welcome to attend the weekly poetry reading, and there was always a large turnout!

We also love the small K-8 setting. It’s so beneficial to the older and younger kids. The middle schoolers have the opportunity to mentor the younger kids and develop a sense of leadership. They get to stay in a small school environment surrounded by their peers for a few extra years than those who attend a traditional K-5 elementary school. I strongly believe this shields them from many of the challenges 10-year-olds face with having to move to a large feeder middle school before transitioning to high school. The younger kids get to learn from the older kids and build friendships with those outside of their class and grade.

We love Museum School and feel so fortunate to be a part of the community.

Posted: June 4, 2024

Posted: June 4, 2024

Posted: June 4, 2024

Posted: June 4, 2024

Posted: June 4, 2024

Posted: June 4, 2024

Posted: December 14, 2022

My experience at the school was very good. It is a small school, and I had always gone to very large schools before hand and the school just made me feel very welcomed and helped me catch up on a lot of work.

Posted: December 14, 2022

Posted: December 14, 2022

Posted: December 14, 2022

Posted: December 14, 2022

Posted: December 14, 2022

Posted: December 14, 2022

Posted: December 14, 2022

Posted: September 8, 2022

My child has a severe intellectual and physical disability and the efforts the school has made to include her and make us feel cared for has been wonderful. We had been 2 years at Del Mar Union School District and it was the most horrific experience of abuse and intimidation. The Museum School did not have much experience with the level of need my child has but they were very honest about it and open to learn and grow alongside her. Last year we had a new director Sandy and she did not do a good job. But we have a new director now Norma Sandoval and she seems to be a great leader and will keep improving the school.

Posted: September 8, 2022

Posted: September 8, 2022

Posted: September 8, 2022

Posted: September 8, 2022

Posted: September 8, 2022

Posted: September 8, 2022

Posted: September 8, 2022

Posted: May 11, 2022

Wonderful school, teachers, staff, and specialty education.

Posted: May 11, 2022

Posted: May 11, 2022

Posted: May 11, 2022

Posted: May 11, 2022

Posted: May 11, 2022

Posted: May 11, 2022

Posted: May 11, 2022

Posted: April 6, 2022

My child only went to the Museum school from the fall of 2021 to winter break. Even with the short time at the school I feel I need to write a review. The main issue with the school is how the director handled a bullying issue with my child. There are other limitations of the school; lack of academic rigor and not enough psychical play however I will not focus on those issues.

My child is gender non confirming. My child doesn’t want to call attention to this, my child just wants to be a kid. Other children at the school picked on my child in the bathroom . My child told me and I emailed the school. I kept my child home while this was being addressed. The director emailed me back to inform me my child would have unexcused absence and my child should be at school. I was upset with the director pressuring me to bring my child to a school without a resolution or a plan to deal with the problem. In hindsight that should have been a red flag. The director “handled” the bullying issue in the bathroom and I thought it was taken care of and would not happen again. However, my child had 2 more bad experiences after that. This time the problem involved staff at the school.
In both incidents the staff member told my child they did not belong in the bathroom. My child was devastated, my child said teachers “should” know better. In my option: the director should have notified all staff about my child after the bulling incident. However that did not happen So two additional, unnecessary incidents happened with staff. First, teacher called out my child for the “wrong” bathroom where everyone could hear and the teacher made a spectacle out of my child in front of all my child's peers. The director once again reassured me it was handle and all staff was notice. However, not all staff was notified. A week or so after the first teacher made a spectacle out of my child a different staff member did it again.

In my opinion the director handled her staff poorly, allowing the same thing to happen three times. Also, neither of the staff members approached my family or my child about the transgression. I understand this issue will not affect most families choice for this school but for the families like mine please note this was an awful experience for my child and I don’t want this to happen to another child.

Posted: April 6, 2022

Posted: April 6, 2022

Posted: April 6, 2022

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Posted: April 6, 2022

Posted: April 6, 2022

Posted: April 6, 2022

Posted: November 7, 2018

Posted: November 7, 2018

Posted: November 7, 2018

Posted: November 7, 2018

Posted: November 7, 2018

Posted: November 7, 2018

Posted: November 7, 2018

I love Museum School. It's a small, tightly-knit school community with incredible teachers and families. Mr. Phil is a brilliant educator and knows how to direct his staff to effectively educate the students. I love that it is a K-8 school. It benefits the younger kids to have the older kids around, and the older kids stay grounded with the younger grades present.

It's a progressive, project-based school that focuses on social-emotional growth, yet still has very high academic ratings which is a hard mix to find in San Diego.

I love Museum school. It's perfect for our family, and I feel very lucky my child got into this school.

Posted: October 4, 2017

The one class per grade design of this school can be great or horrible, it really depends on the mix of kids each class is filled with. The school does many things to attempt to break this up providing the students many opportunities to mix with other grades. Sometimes that is not enough and a kid is stuck with a difficult bunch of personalities. The school would greatly benefit from developing a better character program for it's students to help combat bullying and as a way to set the students up to better deal with the difficult personalities some of the other students have.

Posted: October 4, 2017

Personally I believe there is no need for HW at any elementary school!

Posted: October 4, 2017

Most teachers here are AMAZING people. There are some who need to move on. It is hard for the kids to not be motivated and excited to be at school when the teachers are amazing.

Posted: October 4, 2017

Posted: October 4, 2017

Posted: October 4, 2017

Posted: October 4, 2017

I have watched various well intentioned teachers and staff shy away from recognizing and addressing bullying instances and chronic bullying situations.

Posted: June 14, 2017

Posted: June 14, 2017

Posted: June 14, 2017

Posted: June 14, 2017

Posted: June 14, 2017

Posted: June 14, 2017

Posted: June 14, 2017

There are a lot of extras: music, spanish, art, sewing but 30 mins a week is not enough to learn anything. They were so glad to have a classroom set of ukuleles and when I asked my children if they were learning it they said no. No exceptional work or assignments are brought home even though they claim to be project based. More of the same worksheets (some below current school level) are assigned and little is retained.

The atmosphere is generally friendly but this is a school. Learning should be important too.

Posted: January 27, 2017

Very little homework with poor feedback to parents regarding curriculum. This make it very hard to engage my child in the classwork. This will not prepare them for high school.

Posted: January 27, 2017

Good intentions with poor follow through. Many of the projects turn out to be big talk without much of a challenge. I very much like how they try to think out of the box of normal classes.

Posted: January 27, 2017

Posted: January 27, 2017

Posted: January 27, 2017

Posted: January 27, 2017

Posted: January 27, 2017

The younger grades are very good for those students, but the middle school at this point is very much lacking. After 3 years, I grew tired of the excuse that they were a young program. My child may have been better served in a larger more diverse school. The teachers honestly mean well and care for the students. They are just not capable of following through with their well intended plans. They encourage self learning and independence but do not provide the guidance needed to master those. That maybe harsh since they try, but failure doesn't look so good either.

Posted: June 14, 2016

Of all the positive things I could say about the Museum School, the most amazing thing to me is the depth of knowledge my children posess. I attribute this to the project-based teaching style that encourages students to truly learn and understand topics (rather than reciting a list of facts).

Posted: June 14, 2016

Most of the teachers at the Museum School are passionate about their subjects and students.

Posted: June 14, 2016

It's a long school day that ends at 4 pm. So while there is not a lot of homework, I appreciate that as there is not much time after school for homework between extra-curricular activities, family time, and dinner.

Posted: June 14, 2016

The school's “Community Goals” teach children to be responsible citizens, productive workers, creative healthy individuals, problem solvers and self-directed learners.

Posted: April 2, 2016

Amazing school! Diverse curriculum, enthusiastic teachers, and involved school community. My children are receiving the equivalent of a private school education at the Museum School. Art, Music (Eastern and Western), Kitchen Science, Drama, Spanish are just a few of the "extras" that many public schools aren't able to offer any more. We love the Museum School!

Posted: August 26, 2015

Posted: August 26, 2015

Posted: August 26, 2015

Posted: August 26, 2015

I love the Museum School! Every day, I feel lucky that my daughter gets to go to this great school. I love that the curriculum is diverse (in addition to science, math, social studies, and literature, it includes music, sewing, Spanish, and art). And kids are engaged since it focuses on project-based, active learning. The curriculum encourages students to be self-directed learners; creative thinkers; and problem solvers. Not only is there a no-tolerance policy for bullying, the kids really take that policy seriously and look out for their peers. The staff and teachers are amazing and really care about the social emotional development of each child. And staff and teachers always willing to talk about issues and answer questions. Truly, this is an amazing school!

Posted: April 25, 2015

Many of the teachers and classes were great. The principal, while a kind man, is ill equipped to deal with bullying issues. My child was bullied so badly we moved to another school with less than 4 months left in the school year. Twice we went to the principal who asked my child for direction on what to do. He then gave a speech on "kindness" to the students (the entire class, not daring to single out specific students). What happened to zero tolerance? What happened to consequences? I'm quite sure the parents of the bullies were never made aware of the extent of their childrens' behaviors. I hope it wasn't because of the generous donations that those parents made, or the fact that the parents and the principal had long-standing friendships outside of school. Whatever the reason, it was a horrible experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. The bottom line is that we left because my child didn't feel safe.

Posted: February 27, 2014

The good: Principal and many teachers are passionate about learning and providing arts/music/community outreach opportunities for the students As one parent said to me, "Phil sold us on the school". Small school, one class per grade all the way from K-8. The not so good: There were two very disruptive children in the class who had various behavioral issues. Their parents were lovely and I admire their patience and courage in dealing with their children's specific issues. However, "mainstreaming" these children meant one child popping up and going all around the class playing with various stations. During the times I was in the classroom I could see how much this distracted kids, and seemed to egg others on to act out as well. And this would be the case all the way until 8th grade. My child went from top of the class for reading to the bottom. Not sure what could be done, but I elected to opt for private school and am happy with the turnaround I've seen in learning, behavior, etc.

Posted: August 22, 2013

We love Museum School! The principal works tirelessly and genuinely cares about the school and families. The teachers are enthusiastic, creative, and energetic. It is clear that they love their jobs and Museum School.

Posted: June 16, 2013

The Museum School is excellent. I would definitely recommend to others. I am grateful for this school.

Posted: February 28, 2013

This is a great little school that I would recommend to others. I love that is is so small and community and family based. The principal is a very caring and gentle person. The middle school teachers are awesome and really care about the student's success. This is my daughter's 3rd year at Museum. We love it!