Our son was attending a large public high school when the COVID-19 pandemic started. This highly…read morerated public high school quickly transitioned to an online learning environment, but only provided one synchronous lecture per week for each class. As our son, and many of his classmates, fell further and further behind in their online classes, we repeatedly reached out to the school administration, including the principal, as did the parents of our son's school friends. However, the school's administration was uniformly unresponsive to our concerns. So, we decided to take our son out of the public school system, and place him in a private school. Our son transferred to Pacific Academy during his junior year of high school. I really can't say enough good things about our experience at Pacific Academy over the past almost two years. Everyone from the principal to the teachers and administrative staff have all been amazing. They are all very passionate about their mission to educate their students, as well as to help their students grow and develop into well-rounded young men and women. The small class sizes allow for a very personalized approach to teaching, and both the teachers and the principal are very interactive and collaborative with parents. The quality of teaching in all of our son's classes has been exceptional, and all of his teachers have welcomed engagement with us. (Unlike at the public high school our son previously attended.) I would especially like to recognize the principal at Pacific Academy, Keith Corpus, and the Director of Student Affairs, Jasmine Hsu. Their dedication, compassion, and empathy towards their students, and their families, has been extraordinary. They have both also been tremendously supportive as students, parents, and teachers have all worked together to manage the enormous (and ever-changing) impact of the pandemic. Honestly, we have come to view Mr. Corpus and Ms. Hsu as if they were part of our family, and we are so grateful to them for their dedication and commitment to their students, including our son. My only regret is that we did not transfer our son to Pacific Academy sooner. We love this school, and its faculty and staff, and we are so grateful that our son has been able to attend Pacific Academy!

This school hired unprofessional teachers like Ms Kuo in 4th grade who wasn't a certificated…read moreteacher and was very mean to kids. It is unacceptable that they allow their teachers to use language abuse on our kids! Principal didn't even care about the issue. Very disappointing.

My daughter has been struggling her whole life in school and we finally get her into Mardan School…read moreand she's having an amazing time. She's finally getting the support she needs and the education she deserves thank you to her teachers Mr. John and Mr. Zack thank you so much erin! You are so kind and helpful. Thank you Bonnie for everything thing you do thank you so much

I can't say enough about how amazing Mardan is. This school and the staff forever changed my sons…read morelife. Prior to coming here , he hated school , had a ton of behavioral issues and was so unhappy and school was just awful for him. We have been here for 4 years now. He loves school , he's thriving and it's absolutely remarkable to see how much he's changed and grown. The staff is amazing and I'll forever be grateful to have found this school. They truly do care about our children and they go above and beyond every day to make this environment a positive one for my son. I highly recommend Mardan if you're needing an alternative to public school , especially for children with special needs.

It is good for what it is, a reasonably priced private high school for students who can't handle…read morethe rigors of competing against the public high school students in Irvine/Tustin Unified School District. The school includes ALL subjects in GPA calculation as well, which allows for padding with non-academic classes. The school takes international, particularly Asian, students as Irvine has become quite popular in Asia and the fees for international students are significantly higher than for residents. If you live in Irvine and don't want your child to be competing with the top students in the area, send them here. They can get higher grades more easily and get a leg up in college admissions.

I am the parent of a high-school neurodivergent student…read more We spent several months prior to entering high-school dilligently researching several local online and in-person programs to find the very best environment for our daughter here in Orange County, CA. On paper, Crean Lutheran checked all the right boxes; (1) smaller class sizes, (2) a "learning success program" for kids with diagnosed learning disabilities, (3) good education, and (4) social opportunities. We met with the LSP team and they met with our daughter --- seemed like a good fit all the way around. Unfortunately, the program did not at all live up to our hopes and expectations. (1) Teachers were not proactive in addressing academic progress (or deficiency) -- in some cases seemed to hand out more packets than actually teach the subject, (2) the LSP team lacked specific experience and expertise with mental health and learning disabilities, (3) despite it being communicated on numerous occasions, the support staff did not engage in assisting our daughter with self-advocacy (rather putting the burden of something she clearly struggles with back onto her --- which severely impacted her social and emotional anxiety) --- lots of prayer but little action -- as a parent, just disappointed the adults in the room did not step up. Last but not least, the last message that was sent (crystal clear) to us and our daughter is that the graduation metrics meant more than helping a student in supporting her academic and mental health challenges --- seems to be out of alignment with their religious values. Our daughter and ourselves are devastated -- but she is smart, talented, and an overall amazing girl who is going to show the world what she is made of.

Terrible school. My last review was removed however it does not violate any yelp policies because…read morethis review is not critiquing COVID-19 policies. I am critiquing the way that this school handled this particular issue regarding my daughter. Rather than informing parents that masking would temporarily return, they instead tied an adult sized mask to my 2 year olds face that was so large, that it went from her eyes to her neck. The school claims they notified parents however many other parents at the time with me were confused and wondering as to why they were also not informed. Had I been informed I would have gladly put a child mask on my toddler. I had no issue with the mask but wanted to at least get eye to eye with her so I could assure her everything was going to be okay because she was born in 2020 and was terrified of masks literally her entire life and needed to comfort her and reassure her. They instead tied the adult mask to her face and carried her away. I immediately removed her from the school because of how this was handled. Again, to the yelp moderators that are going to flag this again, I am NOT against the masks! The principal rudely told me, I'm sorry we don't agree with your masking philosophy. I'm not against the masks! I'm against the way that you handled this incident with a 2 year old! I proceeded to leave a bad review to which I was called multiple times by their staff asking to remove it. I will not. Yelp, this review violates no policies. Never again New Horizons.

Terrible school. Charged us for entire year in advance, then refused to provide services per…read morecontract. Victimizes your children...and pretend they are Islamic but they know nothing about Islam...or for that matter humanity! Discriminatory and retaliating. The school claims they are a non profit, but they do not provide tax deduction to the donors. PER CALIFORNIA LAW THEY ARE OBLIGATED TO PROVIDE TAX DEDUCTION TO ALL PARENTS WHO PAY THEM. They are a fraud!!!

Best decision I ever made for my children. The staff, parents and children are very welcoming and…read moretreat you like family. The math program and ELA programs are excellent.

My child transferred here after having a very bad experience at another school. She came in the…read moremiddle of the year for 6th grade. We are incredibly impressed with the level of academic rigor and the dedicated support provided to each student, ensuring they reach their full potential." They have a very organize schedule and events. The assistant principal Mrs. Allison Spillman and Principal Sister Cecilia Duran. Are incredible human beings. They work very hard in ensuring the safety of our children they dedicate their time for all the students and staff members. The staff and teachers are great as well they dedicate time for the students. They have amazing after school programs & sports such as volleyball, basketball, flag football. My child is very happy here. She loves her friends & her teachers. She calls this place her second home. My only regret, is wishing my daughter attended this school since kindergarten. I reccomend this school 100% the enrollment process is very easy. You'll get a tour of the school they explain everything the school has to offer. This school paves the way to success. Join SJDL now.

Great school! Best teachers! Fabulous administrative staff. Excellent location. Happy grandson!read more

We are very thankful we pulled our children away from this Pseudo Jewish School, it caters to…read morenon-Jewish people who are not interested in Judaism, only focuses on admissions to hyper competitive colleges. If a TVT student gets behind, he or she loses Judaic Studies to keep up with hyper competitive children. Administrators do not take Jewish children as priority, in fact, more than half students there are not Jewish, it is a misrepresentation to call this a Jewish school, celebrating other culture's holiday months long opposed to one day, check out their auditorium wall in February and on. The over offered non-Kosher food selections. Needless to say more, beware!

As a concerned parent, I feel compelled to speak up about my experience with this school. From the…read morestart, it's been disappointing. The teachers seem to be just well-educated parents, not professional educators. My child has expressed feeling unwelcome and excluded by the other students. She describes the environment as one dominated by "rich kids who are stuck up and fake." The school claims to be anti-bullying and inclusive, but my child and many other kids, especially international students, feel left out . I transferred my child here hoping for a better environment since the last school caused significant anxiety, fear, and even panic attacks. Unfortunately, it's become clear that this was not the right fit. Now, I'm considering pulling them out.

my family and I have moved more times than I cared to admit over the last 20 years…read moreMy four children have attended variety of private and public schools Never! Have I seen more caring, more flexible and kind teachers and especially the administration that I have an OC Academy! I play tennis professionally, and they have bent over backwards to allow my children to travel with me It's truly incredible! We will finish our academic career with all four children at OC Academy with zero questions and a lot of gratitude

Renascence is an excellent school both academically and for language immersion. My son attended…read moreRenascence International from preschool to 6th grade (ages 4 through 12). Based on the quality of the instruction, my son excelled academically and is tri-literate in Chinese, Spanish, and English. My son speaks Mandarin at home with his mom and attained the global seal of literacy for Spanish. The only reason my son no longer attends Renascence is that he wanted to experience a school with a larger class size and more students. (He now goes to a school with over 100 classmates just in his grade.) Based on the instruction my son received at Renascence International, my son was one of 25 out of 500 students out of district that tested and were accepted at Oxford Academy in the 7th grade. The quality of the teachers and curriculum are excellent and without this instruction, my son would never have made it into a public school that is rated #1 in California and #19 in the United States. Currently, he is taking advanced math and is the only non-hispanic child taking advanced Spanish in his grade. Thank you Renascence International for giving my son the tools and instruction to succeed.

Renascence School International (RSI) has been an incredible place for our daughter's education and…read moregrowth. She began attending kindergarten in 2012 and graduated from high school in 2025, and we could not have chosen a better school. From the administration to every teacher, the team at RSI is outstanding -- supportive, caring, and completely dedicated to each student's success. Academically, the school is exceptional. Students consistently learn up to two grade levels ahead, and through RSI's dual-enrollment program with a local community college, our daughter earned two associate degrees, along with her IGETC certification, which fulfills general education requirements for both the UC and CSU university systems -- all at the same time she graduated from high school. RSI's language program is equally impressive. Our daughter earned perfect scores (5s) on both her AP Spanish and AP Chinese exams and received the Global Seal of Biliteracy at the Working Fluency level in both languages -- a highly prestigious distinction that reflects advanced proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Only a small percentage of bilingual students nationwide reach this level, making it a truly exceptional achievement. Because of the strong foundation RSI provided, our daughter received multiple university acceptances with generous academic scholarships. We love this school so much that even after she graduated, our family continues to volunteer and support RSI because it truly feels like family. Renascence School International has been one of the best decisions we have ever made -- a school that challenges, inspires, and prepares students for success in a global world.

My children absolutely love it. The teachers and the principal are wonderful. The school yard is…read morenot like school and I like it very much

This is the best school ever I recommend this school for every mom and dad so their children can…read morehave great education. The teachers their are amazing and they have great food and the lunch lady is the best to. My child wrote this review without my knowledge ^ It's two days later and I'm barely seeing this now. True though.

Most of the negative reviews reflect the chaos of school politics. It doesn't really reflect the…read moreteachers' hard work and students' lives in the past year. I don't really write Yelp reviews often, but I feel I need to share my point of view for my son's first year at this school. I don't want to see teachers' hard work and devotion to be erased by all these negative reviews. This new school does not have a lot of resources like Irvine Unified School District. The facilities at the campus are out of date and the campus is leased from IUSD. The faculty has been trying hard to maintain the school facilities, but it is very challenging. - 2 of 5 star I have been volunteering at my son's classes in the past two semesters, and both English and Mandarin teachers from the 2nd Grade are very passionate about teaching and helping our children. I have heard a similar compliment for all other teachers at different grades. The school only has one PE teacher, who is working hard and carrying a lot of responsibilities for all the kids at school- 4 of 5 star The communication channels between teachers and parents are very clear. Teachers will quickly respond and answer questions or concerns from the parents. - 5 of 5 star Before enrolling at IIA last year, my son has no knowledge about Chinese handwriting. As now, at the end of his 2nd semester, he can do both reading and writing more than 117 Chinese characters. For reference, attached are words he has learned so far. - 5 of 5 star Some parents have questions about the on-site after-school program. From my observation in the past two semesters, my son was able to complete his homework at school, attending enrichment class for music and art, and playing with his friends after school. My son always asked me to pick him up last so that he can spend more time at school. - 4 of 5 star To sum up, my wife and I feel very fortunate that our son has this opportunity to learn both English and Mandarin at the same time without sacrificing our weekend attending Chinese school. Everyday when we dropped our son to school, he always rolls his backpack with lightening speed and runs to the teacher. We can tell our son really enjoys his first year at IIA. This is a tuition free charter school, not a 5 star Private school. This school requires a lot of parents to involve and help. This is a new school starting with a bumpy start. We all hope one day the school board and parents can come to an agreement one day so the teachers/students in between will not be sacrificed.

Mastering the language is the best key to start learn a culture of country…read more We are so touched that the school and teachers have done so much to make our children happy every day.