PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
Our school is nestled in a booming suburban area of north county San Diego. At the heart of this thriving this community stands our school whose architecture reflects the rich Spanish heritage of southern California.
Our mascot is the “Explorers” and our students will learn what it means both socially and academically to follow "The Explorer Way." Every day we invite our pre-school through 5th grade students to come to school to explore their world. This notion is enhanced by our building’s unique architecture and the interior decorative mural that depict the scientific realms of the hydrosphere, the geo-sphere, and the stratosphere. State of the art technology is available in each of our 38 classrooms with promethean boards, document cameras, wireless access points, LCD projectors, plus chrome book and iPad devices. At Del Sur learning is not restricted to the classrooms. On any given day, one can observe parents and students engaged in individualized learning opportunities in the educational mall outside of the classrooms.
Our district motto speaks of graduating students who are “college and career ready.” From this motto, we have brought the sense of college to our elementary students. Every classroom has an association with a college. Each Friday students can wear their spirited university shirt. At our community-based Friday Flag celebrations, students recite their classroom created chants that they, as individual classes, have created. In visiting our campus, one will see college flags or banners hanging outside of the classroom doors representing such universities as the University of San Diego, San Diego State, UCSD, UCLA, UCI, the University of Washington, and thirty-two other institutions.
Students and staff display their pride by following “The Explorer Way.” This motto encapsulates the six pillars of character as defined by the nationwide Character Counts! Program: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring, and Citizenship.
We start the school year off by addressing what it means to follow "The Explorer Way" at our Expectation Assemblies for all students. We revisit this later on in the school year as well so that students understand the importance of being a person of character. We also reinfore "The Explorer Way" in the daily morning message and when we have our Friday Flag community gatherings.
The mission of our school is to be a technologically progressive school dedicated to providing high levels of learning for all students while being focused on exploring the richness of the past, the opportunities of the present, and the infinite possibilities of the future.
Our vision is to inspire 21st century global citizens by educating the whole-child academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. Our child-centered focus will respect individual learning styles and nurture each student’s unique gifts and abilities thus allowing them to discover their own genius. Learning opportunities will foster curiosity, creativity, and academic achievement via the Common Core standards that promotes inquiry and discovery.
Our community of learners will become caring, sympathetic, global citizens through service learning projects. Students will appreciate diversity, treat others with kindness, and be conscious of the natural environment and strive to preserve it. Partnered with our state of the art technology, our students will connect with the rest of the world giving them an unparalleled education.
Our community of global learners will continue their quest to investigate the world around them. Students will become technologically literate and teachers are dedicated to continuing their own technology education. Students will also understand that with the use of technology comes great responsibility and accountability for their choices. Our grade 3-5 students will experience what it means to be a "Digital Citizen" when using technology at school and away from school by participating in Digital Citizen assemblies and Digital Citizen lessons in the classroom with their teacher and peers.
Del Sur has been recognized on numerous occasions as an exemplary school. In the realm of technology, our school has received numerous awards for student made videos and curricular projects. In fact one of our student made videos is housed in a museum in Chicago. This video focused on the life of Ruby Bridges and was produced by some of our kindergarten students. Our school has been featured in a video concerning our work with one to one computers. We have been named both a California Distinguished School and a national Blue Ribbon School. Currently, we are a 10/10 rated school in GreatSchools and we are a A+ rated school from the 2018 Best Public Schools in the San Diego Area.
From our unique architecture to the exciting learning environment within our classrooms, Del Sur Elementary School is a dynamic, active educational center, where students are guided to meet their academc and social potential to achieve great success as they continue their educational experiences in middle school and high school.
Mr. Takeshita