PALISADES ELEMENTARY

Built in 1961, Palisades Elementary School sits on a bluff in Capistrano Beach, surrounded by homes and overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Staff and students enjoy a beautiful ocean view from various points of campus, and the community enjoys the campus grounds after hours and on the weekends. Known as the “Waves,” many Palisades families surf, swim, and walk the local beaches throughout the year, taking advantage of the California coastal weather and tremendous surf at breaks like Doheny Beach, the Pier, and T-Street, just down the road.  

Palisades is a unique TK through 5th grade comprehensive elementary school, currently serving a diverse group of approximately 325 students.  In addition to our general education program, Palisades is home to a Structured Autism Program comprised of 5 classrooms.  Our purpose is to challenge each student to achieve academic excellence; and, to support his/her positive character development. To that end, we facilitate an active and supportive learning environment with committed collaboration and ongoing evaluation of student work and assessment results. Learning is stimulated by problem solving, critical thinking skills, and opportunities for student choice through differentiation. As a STEAM focus school, science, math, technology, and the arts are woven throughout our students’ day.  Additionally, Palisades students are afforded opportunities to participate in STEAM activities in both our STEAM Lab and Art Studio, via hands-on work with robotics, 3D Printers, Cricut machines, and more. STEAM learning promotes problem solving skills, encourages creativity and collaboration, introduces students to computer science and engineering design concepts, and furthers student literacy and math skills while building confidence as their projects come to life.  Further, all students have access to technology in the classrooms as each student is assigned their own Chromebook. 

At Palisades, we are proud of our students and their behavior. High standards and expectations are set both academically and behaviorally. Students and teachers follow clear standards of behavior through a school wide discipline plan called Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS). The discipline plan is reviewed with students and parents at the beginning of each school year with a focus on respect, personal responsibility, and “upstander” characteristics. Character development and the development of social skills is essential to maintaining the school’s positive climate. Our WAVE of the Week and Character Counts programs facilitates sound character in students and guides them to make good choices, through consistent reinforcement of positive behaviors at school.  In addition to providing our students with a safe and orderly environment, we place a strong emphasis on the recognition of student achievement, participation in academic competition, citizenship, community service, and positive character development.