I have homeschooled 5 kids over 20 years through PACT. My older ones went on to have success in high school and beyond, and I expect it will be the same for my youngest. I can't imagine being anywhere else. The families in our school community are diverse and from all walks of life. PACT has a variety of workshops available for students, from the arts to foundational subjects like language arts, math, science and social studies. There are regularly scheduled student and family events, as well as fun, quality field trips you can sign up for. They offer parent education workshops and monthly meet-ups where parents can come together to discuss teaching strategies, etc. They also offer a variety of curriculum to choose from - both traditional and homeschool-centric. And they provide IEP services. The staff members and our principal Mrs. Carter are all kind and knowledgeable. The advisers can be more hands-on if that's what you and your student need or you can act more autonomously if you are able. One of their roles is to ascertain whether or not you are meeting the educational hours and subject requirements set by the state. They ensure that your children are learning. I find this a comfort, as their educator, to know all of my i's are dotted and my t's crossed. The whole thing is a partnership between the student/family and the school. Everyone there has the good of your child in mind - that they are learning and thriving. Like almost all homeschool parents/guardians, I had to learn how to homeschool, but whenever we have needed help or advice, our educational advisers have always been willing to make time for us. Homeschooling takes work as a parent/guardian, but it is worth the effort. There is community at PACT, for both the students and their families. Friendships are formed and good core memories are made. All of my children have felt seen, known, and safe at this school. I cannot recommend this program more. read more

I cannot recommend this school enough! It has been a perfect fit for my daughter who has an IEP, but it's good for those who don't have IEP's too! They offer a hybrid model of homeschooling where students have an experience of attending workshops on site (as well as IEP services on site) and the parent does academic instruction at home. If you want to homeschool your child, but also want your consistent socialization for your child and support for yourself, this is the perfect place! It is truly homeschooling in community! read more

Our son loved learning at PACT! The principal, Mrs. Carter, helped us navigate everything so that it was a smooth transition into their program. We were matched with a wonderful advisor, Mrs. Akin, who was always so supportive. Everyone on staff was friendly and helpful. I appreciated the flexibility of PACT's programs and curriculum. It took some trial and error to determine if our little learner would be more comfortable with pencil and paper or online instruction. Sometimes it was a combination of both. The teachers gave us the space and patience to find the right fit. They also offer some awesome in-person programs on campus so students can get some extra help or just have fun with their peers. It seemed like there was always a fun field trip or event happening so kids never got bored. And our family loved their on-site library that let us check out books, learning materials, and even board games. Lastly, on a personal note, we came into the program somewhat last minute and needed help getting our son enrolled before the start of the school year. Mrs. Carter was empathetic and understanding at a time that we really needed the extra support. An extra big thanks to her and Ms. Allison for keeping everything easy and stress-free! read more

My original review still stands. And even moreso now that PACT academy has gone against their own policies and procedures to disenrollment my kids, without any due process. I went into a review thinking that Laura Bariel would be impartial. But I knew it was over when I noticed her hands shaking throughout the entire meeting. I never raised my voice, never did anything other than actually speak directly. I knew when I saw her hands shaking, that my kids would be kicked out. Lo and behold, they were disenrolled after an "investigation" due to absences and violation of the master agreement. Sure. So you investigated in less than 48 hours? We met on 1/27/2026 at 1130am and they were disenrolled by 5pm 1/28/2026. Why? I had to reschedule my advising meeting multiple times for medical reasons. Completely my fault but unavoidable. I asked to meet virtually. I was told no repeatedly despite informing Alicia Carter I had fincial barriers. She FINALLY agreed after Alicia Carter tried to force her will upon me and never providing a valid reason for why I could not meet virtually. When we do finally meet, I drive down to the school only for the advisor to tell me she only has 20 minutes. We were suppposed to meet for an hour. Im sorry, the calendar confirmation says ONE HOUR. I had to literally pull up the confirmation and show the advisor, Ms. Torres and her response was to hold her hands up in front of her and shrug. She then asks if I have my kids work samples - I did, three weeks worth of them but I declined to provide them to her as I did not trust her. I gave them to the secretary instead the same day. Wouldn't you know they marked my kids absent for 10 days saying I never turned in their work on time and they "had" to follow protocol and mark them absent. Alicia Carter wants to control everything. She refused time and time again to work with me or acknowledge the extremely stressful hardships I was facing. Never provided clarification on specific disciplinary actions but implemented them without explaining or provdiding any due process. She tried to force me to meet with her every Friday but never told me this was mandatory UNTIL the day of my review to make it look like I was violating their policy. When I asked for a report of their investigation, they wrote the report up in a way that favors them, did not include ANY information on my part. My sole mission now is making sure the California Department of Education is aware of their shenanigans, are audited and sanctioned or whatever. Just for future reference: You cant participate in workshops if you dont take the iReady diagnostic even though workshops are voluntary, they hold them hostage. The principal will offer to "meet with you" on a regular basis for "support" but in reality this is a form of discipline they don't make you aware of until they are using it to remove your kids. This school in my opinion does the bare minimum. There is no transparency. The board president Joe Wood or whatever his name is, is only a name next to a title. If you ask questions or stick up for yourself or your kids and call them out on their inefficiencies - you are the problem. I have been though financial hardship, serious illness, major surgery for my 8 year old, loss of medical insurance for my serious illness, mold in my home, my kids losing all of their bedroom furniture due to mold, having no beds, potential illegal eviction, home insecurity, and relationship upheaval. I had to push all of that down to try and homeschool my sons while actively maintaining my mental health, looking for a job while finsihing my 2nd masters degree to pivot into a diffent field for work. All in the span of 6 months. I literally thought I would harm myself due to the amount of issues I was experiencing in the last 6 months - all at the same time and people at this school were just being downright inhuman. And ON TOP OF THAT - I was literally homeschooling my 2 sons on my own. Do you think this school cared about any of that? The only person I will say I appreciated, and I dont even know her name, but the OTHER secretary who sits at the front desk. Anytime I needed help, she jumped right up to help me, no questions asked. Every single time. She was a Godsend and bright spot. And you know what, I serve an awesome God and favor aint fair. I am thankful and grateful for this experience as it taught me what to tolerate and what to remove from my life. I am now with Sutter South and I cannot BEGIN to sing their praises on their transparency, flexibility and the fact that people actually respond and truly care! If you are looking to homeschool but would like to attach to a Charter, PACT Academy is not the place to be. Especially if you're a person of color, specifically Black. But that has been the storied existance of Natomas Unified.....apparently. Most diverse district in the nation but none of that carries over to administration and teachers. read more

This is our second year homeschooling with with PACT. We are very grateful to be at this school. The Principal is extremely friendly and always so welcoming. Our advisor Mrs. Judy is the sweetest and caring person. She pours out her heart to each of her students, and it really shows. All the teachers/advisors are very nice and kind. Only can say good things about this school. Not to mention the school is brand new and super clean. We are very happy! read more

I loved the advisors and curriculum. The advisors are credentialed teachers who want nothing but the best for your child. We were with NCS for 3 years and had a few bumps along the way due to lack of communication from the principal of PACT, but the last straw was when the communication became rude and downright dismissive. If it weren't for the advisors, the front desk staff and the students, this place would fall apart. The administration would do well to check the pulse of their educational community and work harder to relate to homeschool parents. read more

horrible school! waiting for 2 months for a curriculum. educators, principal are inexperienced to deal with children with a high energy output or children that are behind in there grade. I encourage parents to look at other alternatives as right now a lot of parents are upset at the par level standards, attention and organization from this charter school. money that is given to them by the state for each student is nothing more than to pay the salaries of these inexperienced individuals read more

I used to be a student at PACT, I was taken out because they threatened academic probation. Not only do they say it's a neurodivergent-friendly area but also they say it's diverse. It's neither. Not only were there multiple instances of girls being the target of bullying and being told to "go back to the kitchen" but there was also an instance of harassment by an autistic student, and they did nothing about it. didn't even change the seating. I wouldn't recommend this school esp if your kids are ASD/ADHD, LGBT or ethic/any minority. Some of the teachers like Ms Luna and Mr.vue and very nice but most have weird bias's and are right wings who like to put their opinion in their teachings read more

This school is not all bad, it just was not for us. What I appreciated about this school is their variety of lesson plans and extra curricular activities during the week days. Although we couldn't attend those activities it was still nice that they were available. What the school is lacking is diversity or at least training on culture competency. I won't go into details but there was an incident where I had to threaten to talk to the assistant superintendent just to be heard & have my concerns taken seriously. Homeschool is a great opportunity to build a connection with your children and take charge of their future. Unfortunately, Natomas Charter PACT was not the school for us. read more

Reading the poor reviews from others really compels a response in agreement with how bad PACT is. It's not a school, it's a prison of control and retaliation and cheap, lazy efforts to pretend to support education, when they literally do nothing but make you copies. We totally agree PACT is not worthy. The poor reviews tell the story that explains it all, including the super low enrollment level. PACT is so unpopular and unappealing, much like the staff and administration. Alicia C. is the current principal and PACT is the worst program we've ever enrolled in over the last twenty years with three kids in a half dozen schools. The administration, including Joe W., the executive director, is horrid. Fortunately, we ended our year happy and strong after leaving the PACT program mid-year to enroll in another better quality program, and we can confidently confirm that the PACT program is a poorly designed scam with many uncaring, unsupportive, uncooperative, and unqualified staff and admin that do not belong in education. The principal's major lack of communication, extreme negligence, and obvious incompetence is evident now after finding another amazing program with highly skilled staff that actually prioritizes the state standards, allows budget transparency, assigns grades, and provides quality curriculum options, instead of acting like nothing more than secretaries that just provide cheap and boring black and white copies of the curriculum. There is a reason why the PACT program has such low enrollment and our biggest regret is not leaving sooner. The lies during orientation preaching flexibility and support are limited to their personal bias as the principal's daughter held a student seat on the board of directors meetings, which speaks volumes. The administration is also extremely ignorant with respect to special needs and family accommodations and will not hesitate to retaliate when issues surface that need addressing. Sadly, the executive director blindly supports the principal's proven failures, a lack of ethics, and violates his own handbook policies, which are entitled to all students, but only given to some. His lack of familiarity with the actual handbook is also pretty disturbing. Both Joe W. and Alicia C. are responsible for the failure and lack of appeal at PACT and it's been such a blessing to be welcomed into a much better quality program with our own budget of thousands of dollars to spend on reputable curriculum resources, including covering hundreds of options for art, music, and PE lessons from vendors that offer extracurricular activities, along with teaching supplies, ink, and printers, as well as a whiteboard for math, which the principal selfishly refused to supply to our student, along with the budget transparency we requested, which was denied as well. Our meetings are also no longer stagnant and suffocating with awkward outdated efforts from advisors with credentials that lack current professional development, but are instead held only monthly and wherever we choose to meet, whether it be at home or at Panera for lunch, which is exciting, fun, and a change of scenery too! We only meet monthly with better review of work samples, more focus on assessments, and an actual effort to assign grades that indicate progress is being made. The PACT administration is lazy and bizarrely controlling with authoritative approaches that lack flexibility and supportive efforts, which is not representative of quality teaching habits. As a certificated teacher myself, I cannot imagine how many students are behind with the low standards and lack of support the administration allows. These reviews perfectly reflect poor opinions that we also experienced over a period of several years. We highly recommend that anyone considering this program simply turn around and run away. It's the best thing we did, and if ZERO stars was an option, that's the grade the PACT admin deserves. Let's be clear, as a parent, you can have high standards, you can have special needs, you can share family accomodation requests, you can prioritize state standards and support of annual assessments with appropriate lesson guidance, and you can expect guarantees of the PACT Handbook policies, along with cooperation, support, and adult level communication efforts, and if you don't get that when they refuse, despite being entitled to it all, then you can also leave for a better quality program and reduce their enrollment even lower like we did, to provide a more appealing experience for your student. There are so many programs around with better curriculum choices, clearer budget transparency with your own money to spend in your own account, and qualified staff that are there to serve you and your student's needs, instead of PACT expecting families to serve THEM. Like the other poor reviews, we recommend avoiding enrollment altogether and choosing to seek better quality staff and services for your deserving student(s), like we did:) read more

We are extremely lucky to have PACT in the Natomas community. During the pandemic the PACT staff helped me keep my children engaged in learning. I also appreciated that the school followed COVID protocols. This gave me peace of mind. My child has significant health needs and was being bullied at their previous school. However, at PACT they feel like they are home. It is the right balance of doing things on our own, as well as having the support of teachers and staff. We also love the field trips Ms. Jennifer organizes! Thank you PACT. read more

We feel very fortunate to have found PACT. It is a home school program, but unlike other programs in the area you don't have to do it alone. The program provides on-campus workshops in things your child may need extra support or perhaps have a creative interest. All of the teachers, staff, and administrators have been loving and kind. Our educational adviser is a wonderful teacher who helped us figure out great curriculum options for our daughter. I know some families expect home school programs to have limited accountability. However, you do need to be able to submit work samples on time, attend meetings, and ensure your child is making progress. read more

Let me start by saying that I've generally not been a fan of homeschool. It always seemed so removed and isolating, too much of a bubble that would stifle children's social-emotional growth. Those thoughts all changed when I found PACT. PACT is different! As a site-based homeschool, students learn and grow together in COMMUNITY through regular field trip options, family events, advising meetings, and enrichment workshops. There are so many cool enrichment workshops to choose from like DANCE, ART, LEADERSHIP, DRAMA, SEWING, MUSIC, and also MATH and LITERACY foundational workshops to support parent-teachers in core education skills. Homeschool at PACT offers FLEXIBILITY in learning while still building community for kids and families, something that we need now more than ever. If you want more time with your kids, more flexibility in your calendar, and more opportunities to connect and build relationships, come see what PACT has to offer! read more

hello i am a past student of pact and i would like to inform parents on how the punishment system works. in my experience, i was kicked out of a program due to missing homework and making distractions in class. however, there were specifically white male students that would make loud racist or just plain vulgar comments in the middle of class that would get a slap on the wrist for a punishment. i was sexually harassed by one of those males and they did barely anything, which in my opinion, is unethical. they ask us (the students) to treat school like a workplace, yet, they want us to suck it up when someone hurts us physically or emotionally. yet when a female does something that is a small problem compared to the male student's actions, they get punished worse. they say they are neurodivergent friendly but when a female is neurodivergent, they dont treat them the same as males with neurodivergencey. i am a neurodivergent trans male and i was given a worse punishment than the racist and homophobic kids. from past experience, i would say this school has homophobic and sexist tendencies. please keep this in mind for your kids. the system is unfair read more

What PACT started as, is not at all what it has turned into. Management has made it uncomfortable to be there. They have taken away an area for the kids to hang out, put time limits on kids in the lunch room. When we were there, my daughter was not allowed to walk to class alone. That is not an environment I would want my child in at any school. Much less a homeschool one where we want our children to be independent and to grow. After a lot of problems with an advisor and the "principal", we left the school and have not looked back. My daughter isn't stressed about going to school and I'm happier my child has the ability to learn independence. There are a lot of places to homeschool in CA. This isn't one I would recommend. read more

We love this homeschool support program. It feels like a college campus because the kids can choose to take classes from credentialed teachers on site. OR, they can do it at home. There is so much flexibility and you create your own schedule. There are field trips, parent involvement, school-wide poetry jam and science fair, and all the basics of a regular school like newsletter made by the kids and a yearbook as well. You can homeschool, but use the campus as much or as little as you want. All curriculum choices are right there on site and your personal Educational Advisor helps you to create and mold a perfect curriculum for each of your children. If a certain book for science just isn't working for you child, then just change it and choose a new way to teach science. I also love that there are so many electives offered such as dance, drama, guitar, tae kwon do, piano, choir, and more! Again- it's very flexible and has a great supportive community feel between all the parents, teachers and students. read more

We decided to pull our children from the Natomas Charter PACT Academy after the administration announced that they would be making sweeping changes to the program for next year. Unfortunately the wonderful yearlong and semester classes offered in the past are being replaced with 7 week workshops that offer no real educational benefit. Additionally, students will be very limited in how many workshops they can take. The administrators are very dishonest and were unwilling to work with parents who objected to the changes. It's sad to see a great school succumb to such low expectations. read more

PACT has implemented substantial changes to its educational model in 2014. Enrichment classes are now almost entirely limited to short workshops on trendy subjects and a curriculum review is underway. Students are limited in how many workshops they may use. The changes were made at the discretion of an on-site administrator who favors a media-focused, entertainment-based approach to learning. For example, she relies heavily on Minecraft and movie versions of literature. Her philosophy is set forth on her blog and self-published book, "Academic Homeschooling" on Amazon. Her priorities are not supportive of Classical Homeschooling or Charlotte Mason ideals. The administrator uses a label, "Academic Homeschooling," to contrast her view of, "Religious Homeschooling." Homeschoolers with faith-based viewpoints should be cautious of her leadership. I suggest doing, "due diligence" to evaluate the leadership direction PACT is taking by reading the administrator's published opinions. There are some outstanding teachers and advisors at PACT, but the ultimate governance comes from the on-site administrator. If you share her views, you may find a fit. If not, save yourself the headache. read more

Natomas Charter PACT is still an excellent homeschool program. I like the on-site location, homeschool community and Classical Curriculum offerings. PACT plans numerous free school events such as a Harvest Festival, Game Night, Science Fair, Book Fair, and others throughout the year. My adviser is AWESOME and that's what makes a world of a difference. She is very supportive, caring, insightful, and helpful. Another bonus, all PACT parents get to look through curriculum on-site to decide what to choose. I'm thankful my family found PACT. PACT continues to offer year long and semester classes. Now parents have an option to choose quarter workshops as well, if they want to meet their needs and busy schedules. If you pick another charter program, the vender classes are most likely not year around nor semester long and you're limited by the funds given. At PACT all classes and curriculum are free. You don't have to worry about running out of money. When your child finishes a book, your adviser can order the next level up at no expense to you. There's pros and cons to everything; we decided to stay at PACT. PACT meets our needs and my son is developing great friendships with other PACT homeschoolers since all the classes are offered at one campus. This program is also I.E.P. Friendly and provides speech services on campus. read more