Torrey Pines High School

Both my adult children attended Torrey Pines and my daughter just graduated last year! OWW! :D
Both high school experiences for my children were very positive ones. They always had the help and encouragement every parent desires for their children to receive from their high school. TP really helps aid in your children being academically & socially successful.
For the past (what I believe has been) 12 years, TP has diligently provided an annual program called «Challenge Day»
The cost for this service is $ 25,000.00 and worth every penny I assure you (due to the heavy emotional toll it takes on a person). Then 2 years ago, when TP had decided to host this enormously needed event, in house, it was called upon the staff and community to make it happen. With Don Collins heading the brigade, an English teacher with 20 years of dedication and genuine care for kids under his belt, TP knew it could only be successful. This year Don also had the faithful Natalie at his side, (whom literally dived in head first with little to no training) and knocked it out of the ball park! :D
I have been volunteering for the last 8 Falcon Fest days offered to TP kids. From the very first day Don took on this huge responsibility and birthed Falcon Fest, to the last day of the event this year, and I have to say, the love that Falcon Fest generates in the heart of TP kids, is PRICELESS!!!
I’ve read the mean reviews, calling TP kids names and trashing the parents as well… And I challenge those people who are so quick to judge and point fingers… Be the change you want to see… Volunteer at TP, be a mentor, be the difference.
I encourage community leaders to get involved. The event is always the first week of November, and if you’re serious about giving back and investing just one day of your time to «our future leaders» then please message me. Or email me, I’d love to get you connected to the right peeps! Thanks for your time. :)

Go here with my girlfriend to attend mass at Elevate Church on Sundays. The area is very safe and extremely clean. The facilities are in great condition and their is tons of parking available. I like how open everything is and how friendly everyone is. Awesome neighborhood!

My student is a junior at this school. She has a 4.2 GPA. She has taken 4 AP courses. We are so disappointed, frustrated and exhausted. Our pleas to the teachers, main office and counselor have fallen on deaf ears. She has had to teach herself the AP course material in each case. The teachers do not lecture, will not return tests (heaven forbid they might have to rewrite a test), and generally just collect a check. AP History — watched 2 hour movies nearly every week. Had to teach herself the course to pass AP exam. AP Bio — nearly killed her. No lectures, no calendar. Used other teacher’s web site to figure out what was going on and had to hire a tutor to survive. AP Stats — teacher is brand new and recruited 1 month after the start of school. Never taught the class, does not know the material, cannot explain the test questions. AP Eng — arrogant but likely the best of the bunch. Even in this class there is no emphasis on educating. The work load is ridiculous and there is no constructive feedback. This school does not deserve its reputation. The high scores come from kids who use tutors to replace teachers. We are the perfect example. Head for private school — it will save time and money.

Cathedral and Bishops can charge all they want, TPHS has the history, the alumni, the glory.

my kids don’t go to school here yet… but i have lived across the street from TPHS for almost 20 years. the parents and the kids who come to this school drive like butt heads… some of them are rude and don’t care who’s neighborhood they are disrespecting by speeding and blasting their music at 7 am! then again… who’s fault is it that 16 year olds are driving Bentley’s and Range Rovers? it’s not the kids fault. And the Admin. is probably too scared of the parents to help out the local neighborhood and do something about the situation.
On a positive note… my kids will probably go here… eventually…they wont be driving since we live so close… the academics are wonderful here… its one of the top schools in the county. I have no complaints about the academics… i just wish the school would do something about the kids taking shortcuts through my neighborhood… i am scared to back out of my driveway in the morning in fear of getting «taken out».

I’ll be honest and say that I am who I am today because of my experiences here. I don’t know if I would’ve become a better person had I any other choices for a high school. I had some of my favorite teachers and some of my most hated teachers at this school. It wasn’t about whether or not I got good grades, but rather how well they treated me as a human being.
My opinion of the students there? Majority of us that attended the school were spoiled, but a huge chunk of the students were spoiled rotten. There amount of money in cars in that school parking lot could clear out at least a tenth of CA’s debt for crying out loud. There was always something new being built in that school every year that I was there. I’m still amazed that they somehow came up with the money through donations to build that football field and track. For such well educated people, they like to pull a lot of pranks off. It seems like there at least once every year, the school’s bathrooms gets vandalised. Seriously, if you’re not gonna care about the people who are gonna have to clean up after you, at least have the decency to care about those who would have to use it after you. Also, get a job and earn your expensive lifestyles.
Rating of how much respect I have:
Education = 5
Students = 2
Teachers = 4

Dear Torrey Pines.
Your education was good, and the buildings are really nice. You are nicer than most colleges, really.
Your students are kinda lame.
I survived (barely) my time with you, but you did help me become a better person for it.
Thanks, but if I had a chance to choose, I would have been elsewhere (San Dieguito maybe).

Oh dear Torrey Pines. What fond memories I’ve made.
The first day of school here, I came home sobbing. I asked myself why the girls were all wearing Gucci purses and Dior glasses, and if this was reality in a highschool.
Torrey Pines is one of those schools that you see in the movies. The people are good looking, a lot of them (cheerleaders and jocks mostly, the ones I never befriended because they were ultimately fake) were snob-​ish, and who can blame them when their parents are handing their kids bmws and benz’ and occasionally your porsche like it’s a freakin ice cream cone?
The first weekend I came here, I hated Torrey Pines. But then I asked myself, could I live for the next two years like this? Dreading school? No way. I started joining some clubs and I applied for Yearbook. I became really close with members from the NHS club and served my time on the NHS executive council. I was a photographer for yearbook and obviously had the privilege of free admission to all the sports games — this was the first time I realized that Torrey Pines has a beautiful and gorgeous field. And for fun, I split time between Fashion Club and The Reading for Every Academic Destination Clubs, both of which I actually founded and were extremely successful. Finally, I got involved in two of the three school publications — FreeFlight, our school Yearbook and First Flight — our literary magazine.
What’s not shown up front is the strong academics. After enrolling in 3 AP classes each of my Junior/​Senior year, I felt a lot of pressure, but the teachers here want to help. Taking AP English both junior and senior year in fact with the best teachers in the English department — Mrs. Chiu and Mrs. Zides– made me fall in love with English– believe it or not! I started loving to read, write, and whatnot. Furthermore I feel like having taking these classes have made my G.E.s in college a cinch. I took the University Writing course at my college my freshmen year and got an A no problem!
Fancy dances? You got it. Dances here are affordable in comparison to other highschools. My junior year I had a casual dance at The San Diego zoo with tents filled with tons of food and a chocolate fountain. Formal was at the San Diego fairgrounds. Junior prom was at some hotel. Senior year boat dance was on the harbor, tickets were $ 20 if I remember correctly. Prom was again at some hotel downtown. Torrey Pines will provide you with beautiful outstanding venues. No dances are on campus except for the freshmen dance .This is because Torrey spends half a million dollar every year on their associated student body.
What I’m saying is, if you get involved at this school, whether it’d be art, publishing, clubs (Debate is big, one of my best friends was in it), sports, or whatnot, you’ll grow to love it. I made so many friends in a variety of cliques. Furthermore, you’ll leave remembering that this is such a great school because the academics will completely and throughly prepare you for college. The teachers are entertaining, as well as caring for their students, truly.
Facts:
* three-​time National Blue Ribbon
* over 30 AP classes offered!
* In 2005, almost ¼ of the senior class graduated with a 4.0 — it was estimated
* mostly White & Asian families.
* ¹⁄₃ of student body is Jewish
* 116 clubs
* On October 11, 2007, Torrey Pines football was featured in a nationally televised game on ESPNU
* ½ mill$ is spent on ASB.
* Three publications: The Falconer (our paper) FreeFlight (our yearbook) and First Flight (our literary magazine)
* Three academic teams: Speech & Debate, Academic, Science Olympiad

Torrey Pines High School offers a little known win-​win: They provide a preschool on campus, for children ages 3 – 5. The preschool class is overseen by Mrs. Lynn Cusey, a lovely and dedicated young woman who actually attended this very preschool herself… at three years of age!
So here’s the scoop:
A few years back, I read a raving account of this Preschool in an article of the San Diego Union Tribune. I logged it away in my mind until I was recently investigating Preschools (all over San Diego) for my own three year old daughter.
Come to find, my next door neighbor had sent her own kids to Torrey Pines High– Preschool… as well as a savvy teacher friend of mine, who is always in-​the-​know.
The Preschool class at TPHS is an offshoot of their highly regarded «Child Development and Psychology» program. The high school students selected to participate in the class (and to interact with your child) are handpicked for the opportunity and are closely supervised by Mrs. Cusey.
You know something? I happen to actually know Pearl who wrote the next review on this program. Pearl is an amazing young woman… interacts beautifully with my own daughter and apparently worked in this class. Knowing that Pearl was in this program makes me all the more enamored of it!
The class is only for two mornings a week… so you should be aware of that upfront and make arrangements for your child accordingly. My daughter attends two mornings a week here and 2 mornings each week at the Early Explorer program of Pacific Athletic Club.
Just as Pearl describes, the high school students are stationed though out the room when you enter at 10:00 a.m. with your child. You simply walk your little one over (or watch as your child eagerly scampers on their own) to the station that you’d like them to begin with.
The class takes it from there. When you return… your little one is merrily engaged in their little projects and is working one-​on-​one with their high school student «Buddy» (a qualified student who was chosen, by your child, to be their mentor in the class).
Their Buddy then delivers a report to you (about your child’s participation, their experience…) as you pick up their artwork and smell the delicious snack that was baked in the classroom for you child’s daily enjoyment.
My daughter (at 3) now knows how to count to twenty… knows her alphabet and recognizes the letters and their sounds… and loves to play with and interact with other kids her age. She has learned to look forward to and to really love school!
One final amazing plus: The cost for the entire semester was $ 110! I have a theory… why not put the thousands away in an interest bearing investment toward college tuition rather than pay upwards of $ 8,000 per school year for a preschool experience your little one may barely even remember?