Tularcitos Elementary School

Our children spent a combined 7 years at this fabulous school and we enjoyed every minute of it. The teachers are attentive and caring. The principal is enthusiastic and present. The office staff are accommodating and cheerful. The school ran very smoothly from top to bottom. Our children's academics improved significantly while attending Tularcitos and we are grateful they had such a positive environment in which to learn.

This was my best school experience. Unfortunately, I had to leave after 7th grade and move to Los Angeles. All downhill from there. That was 1954. I suppose things have changed since then.

Tularcitos maintains a rare balance between academic excellence and inclusivity. The school's principal presents a strong leadership style while also ensuring that each child at Tularcitos feels seen and heard. My husband and I feel so lucky that our daughter is at this school. She is learning to challenge herself academically and to be a good citizen.

This school is an excellent choice if you have an average student or an under-performing student. They provide extensive resources for students with various learning disabilities & ESL students. If you have an over-achieving student, the school district makes no additional investment of resources (GATE was eliminated in June 2013). The atmosphere encourages "sheep" and not independent, innovative, leadership qualities in their students. The principal is new and young - appointed in the last 3 years - with no prior elementary school experience and never held a full-fledged Principal title prior. He is nice, approachable, great with balancing a budget; but not an innovator. The recruiting/selection of teachers continually fails to appoint gender diverse and ethnically diverse staff members (as opposed to its peer campus, River School in Carmel, only 11 miles away). The PTO is not immune to small town politics. The meeting times inherently exclude the input of dual-income families or single working parents & teachers cannot attend because they are in class. The attendees of the PTO meetings, which set the tone for school activities, are female & lack ethnic diversity.