| School Name | Address | Phone | Grades | County | Type | District Name |
| Horace Ensign Intermediate School | 2000 Cliff Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92663 | (949) 515-6910 | 7-8 | Orange | public | Newport-Mesa Unified |
| Ethnic Background | Percent | Year |
| White, non-Hispanic | 55.0 | 2009 |
| Black, non-Hispanic | 1.15 | 2009 |
| Hispanic | 40.12 | 2009 |
| Asian | 1.77 | 2009 |
| Pacific Islander | 0.62 | 2009 |
| Native American or Native Alaskan | 0.53 | 2009 |
| Unspecified | 0.09 | 2009 |
| Filipino | 0.71 | 2009 |
| Students Getting Free Lunch | Year |
| 44% | 2009 |
| Date | Who | Comments |
| 8/22/2012 | parent | My child attended both 7th & 8th grade here. While the teachers were decent and some were great there is a huge bullying problem. In addition to the bullying issues the administration, on the whole, handles issues in a very unprofessional manner. I can't name names here, but you will quickly learn which VP is effective and humane and which is on a power trip. Sadly despite being in a wealthy area with financial resources this school is only average, largely do to it's poor social policies and not so much the intentions of the teachers. |
| 7/24/2012 | other | The teachers are constantly paying attention to students and trying their best to give them a perfect learning experience. Any student that fails is not trying their hardest to get an acceptable grade in their class. Sorry. |
| 4/2/2012 | parent | My son is thriving at Ensign! The teachers have shown awareness of his abilities and needs and have been responsive to my requests. A very good middle school! |
| 4/20/2009 | parent | Absolutely fantastic! Excellent and challenging learning environment. Steve McLaughlin, the new principal is incredible, and the teachers are outstanding. Our daughter is an eighth-grader, just about o graduate and go on to Harbor High. We've had two fantastic years at Ensign - couldn't imagine how it could have been better. she's learned so much! |
| 4/18/2009 | parent | grat school.teachers are very good vat getting the point to children |
| 4/14/2009 | parent | My child attends this school and it has helped her go from a D- all the way to an A+ she transferred from Tiwinkle located in Costa Mesa. She loves Ensign! |
| 4/1/2009 | parent | And you are correct to say that. But the main problem is not the teachers. They are bombarded with apaperwork and forms to fill out due to the principals goals to self achivements. So many programs like ' Champs' and etc, are not working related by the teachers. If the teachers show no support to the students it is by the abundant of forms and reports introduced by the principal. |
| 3/26/2009 | parent | This is the best school ever. My son was a drug abuser from CDM so we transfered him to Ensign Intermediate School and his grades went up from d's to b's. 10 out of 10 |
| 8/26/2008 | parent | principal very involved, works well with parents and is liked by students. our son excelled here last year, and my daughter will begin next week. |
| 8/14/2008 | parent | My child, who has always been a good student, starting failing half way through the school year. Once this was brought to my attention, via progress report, I immediately started contacting his teachers. Only a couple responded, but we worked together with the counselor and vice principal to change classes around which seemed to solve all of the problems and ended the year with a 3.5 versus the 2.0 he had months before! My only advise to parents is that if your child is having a problem and the teachers are not responding, go directly to the counselor and vice principal. They will work to take care of any issues! |
| 5/25/2008 | parent | Teachers show little or no interest in student's progress. Teachers not responsive to studen'ts needs or parents requests. In general, this school is a 'sink or swim' environment! |
| 3/3/2008 | student | I attend this school and I must say I haven't enjoyed my stay here at all, the teachers aren't to happy with their jobs and class sizes are to big, can't wait for harbor next year though, I've heard great things! |
| 2/14/2008 | student | Ok I dont understand why everyone is bashing my school. Maybe the years they went were bad but I started this year with a new principal and its great. Also, most of the people writing comments about the horrible teachers and they weren't even the ones in their classes. And the woodshop teacher, although he isn't always the nicest teacher ever he is very nice if your nice to him and you do your work. Ensign has been good, and its a great place to grow up. |
| 1/6/2006 | parent | What happened to Newport Beach's great schools? Frankly at this point I am ready to pull my daughters out of school and do home-schooling program, simply to keep them away from the terrible influence of the other unparented children. I wish I could say some nicer things,but no... |
| 5/6/2005 | parent | Quality of academic programs weak. Too little time given to each subject. Extra activities scarce and hard to get information on them. No PTA involvement that we are aware of, nothing sent home with our child. Too many children in the classes, no individual care given. Out of 7 classes, only 1 gives our child any individual time and effort. Most teachers are out the door as soon as the last bell rings and can't be reached for discussion. Leadership is lacking, nonresponsive to concerns. Overall we are very disappointed in the quality at this school. |
| 11/10/2004 | parent | I also agree that the teachers have an incedibly bad attitude and many shoud think of retirement. They do not present a positive attitude toward the students or a strong desire for the students to do well for them. Many are placed in the wrong level class, and this hinders their performance and ability to do well. I just hope you will consider my opinion in the future when making class placement choices. |
| 11/6/2003 | other | I have to add a big ditto to the previous comments regarding Ensign's shortcomings. I note that one of these teachers is still there after 20 odd years - luckily he's just the wood shop teacher. I still don't understand how a school in an area with such a high tax base was so poor. |
| 8/28/2003 | parent | The previous principal was useless. This year we have a new principal, so I'm expecting great things! He needs to give all of his staff and crew an attitude adjustment. |
| 8/10/2003 | former student | Worst two years of my life. I had one friend who liked it. The other hundred barely survived. It's ok, considering the age we were at, but I had some of the most traumatizing teachers in my life while I was there. And then suddenly it was over, I was in high school, and we were all normal again. Not a great school, and not helped by the overabundance of teenage hormones. |
