Diegueno Country School in Rancho Santa Fe

Posted: July 28, 2025

I do not recommend at all, school teachers are extremely biased.

Posted: July 28, 2025

Posted: December 20, 2024

I saw the one star review below and felt compelled to respond to it. I am a parent of a child at DCS. We toured EVERY private and charter school in all of North County San Diego, and my child was accepted to all of them. DCS is hands down the most special school! I am not sure why the poster below is so disgruntled but its clear that the poster does not actually have a child at the school. Almost the entire staff have been teaching at the school for decades, some 35+ years! Their staff retention is what makes them so special. Janet Cole is attentive, personable and responsive and knows each child personally. The children are getting an education that far surpasses any other school in San Diego IMO. The teachers are incredible and love their students! As for the sports, that definitely is one thing that could use improvement. Although most of the kids that are in competitive sports are playing on club teams that are not affiliated with the school. To be Frank when you are at a small private school with a total of 150 kids the level of competition isnt as high as you would find outside of the school. So they are focusing on the strengths!
I truly could go on and on about this school and the people that work there. When I saw the below review, I had to post. And I have never posted anything on any of these before. LOVE DCS!

Posted: December 20, 2024

Posted: September 23, 2024

There are big problems with Diegueno Country School. We were told each class (K-6) would be comprised of 20 students and we could expect close to 10 boys and 10 girls. In practice, the headmistress took in as many kids as she seemed to be able to find, sometime getting up to 25 students, with no seeming care to balance genders. We were told there was a rigorous selection process and that the cirriculum was advanced. In practice, there were some very advanced students, and some very remedial students who had been removed from other private schools. Very early, we felt Janet Cole would take in anybody who could afford the tuition.

All of the above could have been dealt with with a competent teaching staff, but headmaster Janet Cole undermined the teachers in order to save money. Turnover in teachers at Diegueno is extremely high. Like many struggling private schools, Diegueno wants to control the payroll expense. They often hire young, inexperienced teachers who will accept a lower pay. Ilke many schools, Diegueno will have a lead teacher and an assistant teacher for each class of 21-25 students. Where Diegueno fails, is that instead of developing good teachers to create good teaching teams, the minute Janet Cole identifies a new teacher as competent, that teacher is pulled out of the assistant role and assigned the lead in their own class. Excellent teaching 'teams' are ALWAYS seperated. And good teachers end up leaving in frustration.

One competent teacher cannot deal with training a never ending stream of trainee teachers, while also trying to challenge a spectrum of students from the most advanced to the most remedial. They teach to the middle, leaving the bottom 25% lost and the top 25% bored. There are constant teacher conflicts and reshuffling.

Diegueno has no sports program and no dedicated PE teacher. Think this isn't important? It is! Part of a child's confidence will come from developing their bodies and finding things they are good at physically. They will enter middle and highschools with established sports teams and students with backgrounds in compeditive sports. Diegueno doesn't take part in any private school sport organizations. There is no athletic facility. Unless parents push afterschool sports, children graduate diegueno feeling that 'sports isn't their thing'. It's a terrible way to go through young life.

The way Dieguno deals with student conflict is to not deal with student conflict.

Posted: September 23, 2024

Posted: July 31, 2023

Do you want a school that caters to your child's learning needs? Challenges in areas that they need? Supports them in their weaker areas? This is the school for you. DCS is a special school that focuses on growing the kids individual unique skills. I have visited other private schools where academics was a strong focus and the kids reminded me of robots. This school really embraces each kid's unique characteristics. My one son has unique ways of getting to his math answers. I was very worried for a while and they ended up encouraging his thought process and his unique way of thinking outside of the box. He ended up doing really well in math. My other son was a shy writing and under the guidance of the Language arts teachers has blossomed into a creative and poetic writer. When I was concerned about my child's emotional state over a passing of a cat, they took time to pull him aside and talk to him to make sure he was okay. I cant ask for anything better.

Looks can be deceiving. The school literary looks like a tree house nestled into a side of a hill and one will wonder how do k through 6th all fit into this school and there be enough space. They make it work. My kids come home happy and smiling daily. The have a good arts program and even science lab. Another shining area is their focus on encouraging stage presence through their theatre class. They put on a couple performances a year. It is pretty impressive they can squeeze in academics AND singing, dancing and memorizing lines. There is an emphasis on public speaking.

Everyone has a different experience with different school. Sometimes it just isn't the right match for the child or the family needs. After being here for a year and seeing the growth in all of our kids. This is the right place for us and our family.

Posted: July 31, 2023

Posted: June 15, 2021

I knew Diegueno was special when I observed their DIG performance. Beginning in Kindergarten, i observed that they were teaching the kids, not only their place; location in this city and state, but their location relative to the rest of the world and were already learning to speak confidently in front of a group of people.
Now my children attend school there and each day I am thrilled to see they are excited to learn, feel understood, supported, nurtured and inspired. Also, I feel happy that integrity and good character are valued. Its clear that all the faculty do their best with each child to support their growth and appreciate each childs individuality. They sincerely care about each individual child and thats reflected in all that they do.

Posted: June 14, 2021

Diegueno is the school you wish you went to as a child and the school where you know your child will learn, grow, and thrive every day!

I believe my childrens love of learning, confidence, independence, and attitude of gratitude is nurtured every day by phenomenal teachers, great friends, a strong leadership team, and our Diegueno community.

The School Day: My children are excited to go to school every morning and love to share their daily learning adventures at pick-up.

Examples - My daughter shares, I know my teacher cares about me because she is just as excited as me when I work hard to figure out and totally understand a super challenging math problem. My son shares, I love how my teachers tell me that they notice and are excited that I am so engaged in class discussions. My teachers care about me, have conversations with me, and really listen to what my friends and I say every day. My teacher's support helps me to challenge myself to do my best. Every teacher is exceptional, a content area expert, and nurtures a growth mindset. Students receive weekly work assignment contracts to encourage responsibility to set themselves up for productive and successful school weeks.

The Community: Students, families, teachers, and the Diegueno leadership team work together every day as a team.

Example - As a parent, I feel connected/up-to-date on what is happening in the classroom, playground, and current/future school events and information. Diegueno's leadership team and teachers' above and beyond effort every day made in-person learning possible for students this school year. With guidance from our leadership team, the Diegueno community worked in concert to keep our community safe, ready, and able to learn. Students were important team members in this process and experienced teamwork in action. Also, Diegueno school-wide events have a service focus with opportunities to help people and students in our local and worldwide community.

Our Diegueno Experience: From the first day of school to starting 6th grade, my students have felt supported, academically challenged, part of a team, and grateful for their experience and everyone helping them on their journey. My students have had an appropriate homework and project load to allow for afterschool sports, family time, and plenty of time to enjoy being a kid. As a result, my students are excited and completely prepared for middle school and a purposeful life beyond the classroom.

Posted: June 13, 2021

We have had students at Diegueno Country School for over 6 years now. Diegueno has been our sons' home away from home. Our older son just completed his first year of 7th grade at a middle school/high school (after having attended Diegueno from 1st through 6th grades). Diegueno prepared him exceptionally well: socially, emotionally, and academically. We love the Diegueno teachers and staff - they are caring and nurturing. The Diegueno campus is magical like a treehouse surrounded by trees, grass, and playgrounds. The kids get to play capture the flag and other fun games during their breaks. Diegueno language arts teachers are especially gifted at teaching students how to write: poetry, essays, etc. We haven't found a school with a better writing curriculum. Our sons also have learned across the board in every area of academics. The families at Diegueno are lovely, and our sons have really enjoyed their classmates. We highly recommend Diegueno Country School!

Posted: June 9, 2021

We have been incredibly fortunate to find a school for all of our boys (we have had our kids enter as early as kindergarten and go all the way through to 6th grade..so experience with each grade level) that works tirelessly to instill the cultural values, academic rigor, attention to public speaking and focus on the arts that we as a family attempt to instill at home.

We have been at Diegueno Country School for over seven years now with all of our kids and could not be more pleased with our experience. The teaching staff is like family and they have helped us navigate all aspects of our kids learning differences and needs. Throughout it all, the family at Diegueno is focusing on creating "good humans" with a global mindset.

Our experience with the 7th grade private school application process was again another excellent feather in Diegueno's cap. We were so lucky to have a team who could help us navigate the nuances of each private school and help us find the right home for each of the kids.

In all, we couldn't recommend Diegueno highly enough for families who are looking at a strong academic experience that focuses on helping create the foundation of "globally focused good humans".

Posted: June 8, 2021

Oh to be a child again....I wish I had a school like Diegueño.

We fell in love with Diegueño six years ago when we toured the first time, and sending our children there was the best decision we made as parents. Its a family atmosphere, the faculty embrace each student in an individualized manner, they channel each childs unique academic talents to foster excellence.

The administration and faculty are second to none. They navigated the most unique environment (COVID) in educational history with utmost professionalism and stellar communication. We remain beyond impressed.

Our children are thriving personally, academically and socially. We couldnt be happier.

Posted: October 10, 2020

We are very disappointed in the school this year. The administration is a mess.

Posted: October 10, 2020

Posted: March 15, 2018

The teachers are excellent and provide a loving, caring environment for all kids to learn, thrive, and excel.

Posted: March 15, 2018