This is for Pine Hills Academy. The teacher for the 5th grade math teacher is not very experienced. She is new to the field and it shows. She was not professional and the kids had a very difficult time learning in her classroom. She mainly put the children on computer programs and I know there were complaints so towards the end she did some teaching time in her classroom. The teacher would play favorites, telling the children "just because these kids are smarter than you, it doesn't make them better than you". This teacher would give her favorite student authority to choose who they thought was being "bad" or "good" and place them in categories to either receive a treat or if deemed "bad" by this student placed on the list to be reprimanded and have to do push ups in front of the class. The students who were chosen as "bad" were actually some of the nicer and well behaved students. The teacher repeated many times in front of the class that the chosen student had the power to make these decisions about the others. There was a game another teacher lead at recess for PE where the students all stood in a circle and were instructed to say if they liked the students next to them or not. If they didn't those students had to move. It got pretty detailed and started focusing on clothing and facial features such as "I do not like anyone with blue eyes". All of this was shocking to me and in retrospect I can now see why my child was so uncomfortable last year. In 2018 there was a turn over in principals. The new principal isn't experienced in dealing with difficult matters. I did go to the head of the school and had communicated what I thought wasn't working and she was very helpful. I was able to give it at least 2 stars are for the quality of children/families in this school. If it weren't for the great kids the rating would have been lower. read more

Playtime consist of kicking a ball in a parking lot on asphalt, my son frequently came home with scrapes and if your child has an IEP I would not recommend. My son had an issue with repeating himself at times (ADHD and being currently evaluated to see if he is on the spectrum) and instead of engaging with him in a different way " you've already said that so is there any new information you would like to add?" He was cut off mid sentence more than once and chastised that he's already said that and to stop repeating himself. I was in person and saw this happen in front of me. I have been giving this school chance after chance, from kindergarten to 3rd grade we have been here and I feel I've wasted so much time and energy for myself and my son. Some of the staff are great and loving, but unfortunately the bad outweighs the good here. read more

We enrolled our child into this school at the beginning of this year 1/2015. Since my daughter started Kindergarten early we had to go through many things to get her into our district approved public elementary. After 3 months of my child being bullied, shunned, and told by her teachers to ignore the problem or not to be a tattle teller, my husband and I had enough. I had been previously homeschooling our child, but it was done privately with my husband funding everything. JCS is a breath of fresh air! I still am able to instruct my child as I did when I privately home schooled her,but I have JCS complete support. This is so refreshing after many years of doing my own research on the California education website to figure out what the curriculum guidelines for her grade level are, set up a month to month schedule, then search for other homeschooling families within my vicinity so that my children can interact with their own age peer groups. I still establish our monthly schedule, but the innovation center full day K-1 once a week program is perfect. Also, the school has a variety of vendors that offers an eclectic selection of activities for their students. I can write an essay of all the positive aspects of JCS. From the resource center to the facilitators that are there to assist the families of the program, I have nothing but the utmost respect and warm regards. I truly see us rooting ourselves in this school. read more

I gave the school five stars for a few good reasons. 1.) The staff. We had to deal with some tough issues and the principal was on it and very understanding. Also, the office staff, the classroom assistants and the noon duties are amazing. 2.) The curriculum is fantastic. My daughter loves what she does at school which wasn't the case at the previous school. We took her out of Santa Rosa Academy because she wasn't learning and she didn't like the school. One of the things about her previous school was that as a parent, I wasn't kept in sync with what my daughter was learning so I couldn't help her. At JCS they have a really great way of communicating and having the parents involved with their child's education. 3.) A caring and comfortable setting for the students. They really do make the students a priority and it shows with a comfortable and inviting school environment. With the program, the equipment, the campus, the special events/field trips, and how they treat the students it's obvious that they make the students a priority at this school. read more

We tried to make JCS Innovation Center work for my kids, but it clearly wasn't going to work, and I moved all three of them to an amazing charter school last year. There really is no leadership on campus, in the three years we were there, I never met the Executive Director, and there is no Prinicpal, just a "Site Coordinator". There is no phonics program in place for the younger kids, and the parents teach their children 29% of the time. Which could be cool, but there is no support if you have any trouble. My kids were fighting the process, and I had a hard time juggling three projects on a Friday. The school offers the parents no mentor to assist them occasionally when this occurs, offer tips or advice, it was a complete nightmare. Got one group meeting in the two years I requested support. The kids are missing 29% of their core foundational skills with copied packets and silly projects that just take their attention away from what they need to be doing to build competence in the areas needed to excel. The skills and resources needed to complete the projects aren't taught in the classroom, so it all falls onto the parent. There is no outdoor play, which forces a real militant structure of control during lunch, etc., and minimal fun and energy output for the kids during the day. They walk in the commercial area that the school is located in. Last year my son had a very autistic boy in his class, while I am all for mainstream education, if that can happen without incident, however, in this case, this boy would scream, have tantrums, and act inappropriately, and the school reactively responded to these instances, and told the parents that everything was peachy, and that there was no problem. It effected the learning process of every kid in that class, as the teacher was that boys full-time aide. Most of those students left the school last year. The teacher turnover has been about 33% annually, and some of the teachers have been poor choices. Last year the math instructor told his students to look up subject matter on YouTube when they didn't understand it. LOL! Until, JCS forced tutoring in the morning before school started. Lastly, one thing I learned last year is that under the TVUSD, each parents that volunteers for more than three hours in a school year, has to complete a Megan's Law Background Check form to be allowed to volunteer on campus. Because JCS - ICT, does not follow the school districts procedures based on how they chose to run their charter, no volunteers have background checks. This is important to me, I like that this Megan's Law Background check is in place. No chances with my kids. Thanks for reading, hope it was helpful. read more

It's my son's 3rd year at Julian Charter Innovation Centre and we're very fortunate to be there. The format suits his learning style (project based, not a ton of worksheets and text books). He has performed great on standards testing. I have high confidence in his teachers. And he's happy (the most important thing)! We have challenging homeschool days once in a while (the project or the mom-son dynamic) but it is always enriching and I cherish that extra time with him. I'm glad we chose Innovation Centre Temecula! read more

My son is just finishing his second year at Innovations Center Temecula and we couldn't be happier! His teachers have been fabulous and have kept him challenged in all subjects. He attends the four day a week program and we appreciate the flexible schedule of having a homeschool day on Friday. His homeschool days are spent going on educational field trips and doing projects. This independent learning style suits my son perfectly and he is able to work on his own level while being supported by his teacher at school and his parents at home. The teachers are great about giving resources to help support the home learning environment and a small class size gives the teacher a chance to really get to know each child on a personal level. We have a new site coordinator this year who is a fantastic leader and has brought some wonderful new programs to our school. Everyday my son wakes up excited to go to school and is greeted by name by school staff as he walks in the door. Would highly recommend JCSICT! read more