Del Obispo Elementary, located in the historic city of San Juan Capistrano, reflects the benefits of blending old with new. Our faculty represents experience and new perspectives: we have teachers who opened the school and some who are in their beginning years of teaching. Del Obispo’s staff of approximately 20 teachers, Principal, Elementary Teaching Assistant Principals and classified staff are part of the larger school community, which includes parents, local support agencies and businesses. Del Obispo is fortunate to have an active PTA and strong family involvement in school activities, as well as a dedicated School Site Council comprised of parents, teachers and staff members. There is a strong volunteer spirit at Del Obispo; we even have several volunteers whose children or grandchildren once attended Del Obispo.

Del Obispo is part of a three school complex, including Kinoshita Elementary and Marco Forster Middle School, fostering collaboration and cross-school connections, including cross-age tutoring and Big Buddy classes. The 35 year-old campus is proudly maintained. New playground equipment, a state-of-the art Mac computer laboratory and Dell computer lab were recently installed. As a part of our Character Education program at Del Obispo, street signs are posted along passageways, including Responsibility Road, Citizenship Way and Caring Lane.  We have posters around our campus reminding students of how to live their life with character.

At Del Obispo, we believe that all students can and will learn. To this end, we provide early and ongoing in class interventions in reading, math and English language acquisition, as well as enrichment and acceleration for gifted students. Student progress is monitored closely, through the Benchmark Tests from Action Learning, which assesses student achievement in Mathematics and Language Arts based on the state standards.

Students are recognized for their accomplishments at our morning flag assembly, where one student is selected to be the Student of the Day and to lead the school in the Pledge of Allegiance; at three Dragon Award Assemblies each year where each student receives an award for his or her unique strengths and talents; and with Dragon Dollars, which are given to students for good behavior.

All of these components work together to create a safe community for learners which builds responsible, adaptable, independent future citizens with strong links to home and community.