There's a lot wrong with this school. First off it started with a scandal from the top down, well ok, these things happen, but it never really seemed to recover. The teachers are very green, full of hopes and dreams but egregiously lacking in skill. The administration doesn't seem to be much better, my kiddo was in a class with a pregnant teacher, mind you they had several months to get a replacement ready, however after this teacher went on maternity leave it still took them several weeks to replace her. The student body has a ton of delinquents apparently because they were kicked out of other schools and this place appears to be a miscreant catch-all. I can't tell you how many times bullying has occurred. Their after-school program is a mess, my kiddo was injured by one of their staff who got too over zealous during a game!! And after the first couple years almost the entire after school program staff had turned over. If your school district is half ways decent I suggest you keep your kiddo there. In most cases non-charter schools have been doing their thing for a long time and have already figured out the solutions to the problems that OPA has. read more

Our son started kindergarten this year and so far we've been very pleased with the school! He has been making a lot of progress and I love that he has Spanish, music and steam each week. The administration and teacher seem to be very caring and also very serious/reliable. The PTA is active and the school often has events for the whole family as well as an incentive program to motivate the students. The school is very diverse with many students of different cultures, which is important to us. I was a bit hesitant seeing the reviews on Yelp and Google, but glad we made the decision to send him at OPA! read more

Imagine not graduating 10/10 would recommend this school. I had been going there for the past 9 years and finally got to leave read more

Oxford Preparatory Academy - A boy grabbing a ball in the middle of a puddle :) - Elementary Schools Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

We are so glad to have gotten our son into OPA! His old school was not making the cut. He's in second grade and at his old school he was only getting spelling homework with really easy words, for example. His, Her, She. I'm not a fan of homework but OPA has a much higher standard of learning than his last 2 schools. read more

Our son started kindergarten this year and it has been an amazing experience so far. He is THRIVING both in the classroom and at home. I'm thrilled that we got in. read more

I have nothing to say but great experience with this school. It is so much fun for kids to attend they are having fun all day long, enjoying reading and challenges. My daughter had a huge boost in her self confidence only 2 months after attending here as a new student (which you expect to have a mad kid). Her teacher has been so wonderful, energetic with focus on kids which showed miracle of enthusiasm and growth in youngsters. Unfortunately we faced disappointment from public schools. In comparison to OPA teachers her 1st-3rd grade teacher in public school, (although considered as a blue ribbon school) were looking forward retirement and she used to have a substitute most of the times. Her self confidence dropped in public school as teacher favoring other kids. I just wish school district open more charter school so everyone can attend. let me share with you some examples; Going to Band and parade is a great journey. Going to trips with school is a priceless experience. Getting awards and recognition ceremony. Getting a chance to break a wood in Taekwondo. Over all being proud of having structure and uniform shapes their character beyond words. We learned joy, proud feeling toward learning experience. I can't thank OPA staffs enough, they are simply the best. read more

Oxford is an excellent school! My grandson was struggling in regular school. We decided on home schooling. He entered the IS program at Oxford and has excelled wonderfully! He likes to go to school. His teacher, Mrs. Smith was heaven sent. The staff at Oxford are amazing and so helpful! Thanks again Oxford! read more

Would not send my kids! I had a concern with my child and the staff was extremely unhelpful. They had no resolution and nobody stays there long and now I know why. Glad I found out before it was too late. read more

From the information provided by the school, this seems like one of the better charter schools in the area. Results from standardized tests show that this school produces good results, across all student demographics. I didn't get to tour the facilities, which did seem rather tired and in need of some renovations. The location and teachers seem okay, and the curriculum is thoughtfully designed. read more

We had our kids at our local elementary school (which was a California distinguished school) but felt like it was academically very poor because they had large classes and they "dumbed-down" everything to the slowest kids. Our first grader was reading a book a day at school because he was so bored. So moving to OPA (a public charter school) was a big step up in terms of academics and environment. We hated the lottery because it took more than a year to get our kids in, but we are glad we did it. We like the way that they continually emphasize that the end goal of their schooling is to set kids up to be successful in a university setting. Surprisingly, our kids loved that they get to wear uniforms because it made getting ready in the morning simple and it halted comparison and competition in clothing. We liked it because it ended up saving us a bunch of money on clothes. The uniforms did have one unfortunate effect on our initial expectations: we started to expect that the school would be like a private school without tuition (because in many ways it looks like one.) Keep in mind that it is still a public school so if you are hoping it will provide a private school education or experience you need to either adjust your expectations, or put your kids in private school. That being said, OPA offers many things that you might expect from a private school: The kids study Chinese from Kindergarten on up through elementary. They offer Tai Kwon Do during PE one day a week. Their Independent Study (IS) program is designed to provide maximum flexibility - the kids can go to class, or they can study from wherever your family may be that week. They have a good computer lab, and they provided a Chrome book for my child to bring home for computing homework. It's not private school, but it is a huge step up from our local public school - and it's free (or at least as "free" as any other tax funded school can be called.) IEP's: If you have a child with an IEP, there may be an adjustment if you come out of a school that did IEP's well. We don't feel like we get as much communication about our child's IEP as we did at the regular public school, and we miss having district specialists in those meetings. (Capistrano district specialists are really good and pick up things that others miss.) That being said, we don't feel like OPA has dropped the ball with the IEP, but we would like to have more communication about progress. Other than one IEP meeting a year for kids that need it, OPA only schedules meetings with parents if a child begins to fall seriously behind. "IS": Independent study has been great for our kids that are in elementary grades. It has not been that good for our kiddo in kindergarten. A lot of what kindergarten involves is getting the kids used to school, getting them socially connected, etc. Since IS kindergarten is so few hours a week, it hasn't been what we would have hoped and our child has not really connected with friends like the ones who did a traditional kindergarten program. If we had it to do over again, we would have had our child in a regular kindergarten class and started at OPA in first grade. read more

Oxford Preparatory Academy - Oxford Prep Awards night - Elementary Schools Near Me - Mission Viejo, California

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I feel the school and philosophy is great the administration is terrible. I feel like every time we voiced concerns they feed us a line to keep us there with their IS program. They were like politicians with what ever lie the had to tell you to keep you there. I recommend this school because the teachers are top notch but we left because we wouldn't trust the administration. read more

The teal is beginning to fade. Lots of staff turnover. Great teachers let go without any explanation. Self- serving executive officer. Unresolved issues that continue to be brought to the surface. Wise up parents, you have been manipulated in believing this school is so superior. This not how the school should be ran. Good students, staff, and families are getting hurt by such decisions being made. Think twice before enrolling. read more

This school has been a true blessing to our family. My son was struggling and we decided to give OPA a try since hearing about it from the community. He is getting good grades and is exciting about going to school again. Dean Lohoff really cares about our kids!!! She just doesn't say; it shows everyday with her positive interactions with parents, students and teachers. It has a "small school" feel which really benefited my child. I only wish this went up to high school. If you are happy with where your child is stay where you are at. But if you are looking for that " out of the box" experience, OPA may be a good fit for your child. read more

Amazing school! Teachers and parents are very involved. My son loves going to school. I visited and researched programs all over Orange County and I believe Oxford is the best academic program for our family. Truly feel like we won the lottery... thank you OPA! read more

I attended OPA in Mission Viejo in its first year, I was in fifth grade. I am currently a junior in high school and I can say that this school was a terrible setback in my life and did not give me the proper education/elementary-middle school experience in order to prepare me for high school and college. I convinced my parents to let me go back to the middle school I would've gone to, and they agreed that it would be best to switch the next year (8th grade). I at least got 1 year of a real middle school experience, and without that, I don't know what I would have done. Teachers and staff at OPA were unprofessional, did not know how to teach, and did not give me the education I needed to prepare me for the future, as well as the base of curriculum/homework being poor and inconvenient for students and parents. I have always been an advanced student (especially in the math category), and since viewing grades online (a proper practice in public school) was not an option, I apparently failed one year of math, which I had to repeat in 8th grade. I remember how awful my teachers were at teaching, and how staff treated us like kindergarteners, though they convinced us "this is just like college!" I have nothing but bitter resentment towards this school, the staff, my unfortunate educational experience at OPA, and the lack of preparation that is a necessity for (future) high school students, and college. So glad that other students don't have to struggle the way I did. Also, I've been waiting to rant about how much this school sucked since I got there (: read more

I have to wonder about the other 2 four and five star reviews! I have 2 children into their 3rd year at Oxford. The bottom line is: It is the parents that make that school great. Anything great about that school is solely based on the parents that will jump through hoops for their children! The teacher's are very inexperienced and very young. The administration does not act on parental concerns nor do they care to respond to emails or phone calls. Meeting with administrators will get you nowhere because ultimately they do not act on the behalf or the concerns of parents. This is a very self serving school. Parents and students should be the schools priority but they are not. One of the reasons that the school has such high test scores is because they will want to hold your child back a grade if their State annual test score's are not high (regardless of what their report card shows and regardless of whether the parents protest). The parents that don't like it end up leaving and it makes no difference to the school administration because there is a wait list a mile long to replace those that leave. read more