Paideia School

1509 Ponce De Leon Avenue Northeast

Atlanta, GA 30307

15 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-12
Type

private

Find Homes for Sale in this School Zone

Reviews

Submitted by parent on December 05, 2024

I was deeply disappointed in The Paideia School. Although the school’s reputation for progressive education initially attracted our family, what we experienced was far the opposite of inclusive. My child often felt isolated and unheard when issues of race arose in class discussions. For a school that prides itself on nurturing critical thinkers, it fell shockingly short on creating a truly respectful, equitable environment for all students. We ultimately decided to move our child elsewhere and you should avoid this school at all cost.
Submitted by parent on April 29, 2024

I wish I could give this school more than 1 star but I cannot.We have a young child who we adopted after being in foster care for 3 years. When we met with the school we talked about how we wanted him to be in a faith based school to have stability, structure and security. We were assured the school did all those things. Unfortunately none of that was the case.Some of the things we experienced:- For the small children there are two different teachers for the week. That in and of itself is ok, but not what we were looking for.- If a teacher is absent, the class is run by whatever parent/volunteer they have. These are not teachers. This raises concerns about the quality of education and the ability to guide and support these students' learning.- My husband's first time in the classroom was on a day the teacher was absent. There was a parent in the room who asked if he was ok with the kids, he said yes, not realizing it would be for more than a couple of minutes. Another parent did not come back for over an hour. There is no plan for teacher absences.- These parents have NOT had any kind of background check.- We know of other parents, again not teachers, who work in the classroom and teach subjects including the older children.-There is no structure or rhyme or reason to how the classes are taught. The kids in the classroom tend to be out of control. My husband was in the classroom a lot and was shocked by the lack of clear structure.- After school there were many instances where the littles (ages 5-10) were overseen by just a teenager.- Communication is horrible. We reached out to the administration multiple times with ZERO response. Not even an acknowledgement.- Parents are not informed of important events or changes in schedule. The yearly calendar that is given out changes and is not accurate.Overall we are very disappointed.
Submitted by parent on October 11, 2020

Agree with all negative posts listed before. Admin needs to change, too much variability in the school curriculum, great school for non serious learners, horrible math curriculum for all levels, lot of diversity issues, horrible covid planning, not the school people think it is. Very expensive disappointment
Submitted by other on June 25, 2019

Very strange school dynamic that does not embrace new and different means/strategies of developmentally appropriate practice in teaching and learning.
Submitted by student on June 14, 2018

On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the best, I’d say a 9.5. 9 maybe, but they have very good college counselor so that strive to get you into the colleges they know best suit you and your caliber. But overall, I am proud to say that I am a Paideia Python.
Submitted by parent on April 25, 2018

Paideia is a great place....if you are the child of a faculty member, where you will get special dispensation, disproportionate honors and accolades, and financial aid. Very bad math department, incredibly poor math teachers other than in the junior high.
Submitted by parent on February 04, 2018

Our daughter started in 3rd grade and is now in 6th. We cannot say enough good things about Paideia. From social to academics and everything in between. It is a perfect fit for our child and our family, Highly recommend.
Submitted by other on January 20, 2018

I concur with the previous statements and I would not recommend this institution.
Submitted by parent on March 11, 2015

The Paideia that my kids attended for 9 years needs an update. It is operating with many of the same players that have been there for 40 years and it is time for embracing current knowledge in education. As someone else mentioned, it is teacher-centric, and its default is to act in the best interest of the teachers - not necessarily the students. There are some truly terrible teachers there. To be fair, there are some outstanding teachers, as well, but you really expect all teachers at an independent school that costs over $20K/year to be in the good-to-great range. I'd say 20% of teachers are in the bad-to-damaging range. Many Paideia kids go to top colleges, but Paideia needs to realize that those kids would go to top colleges no matter where they go to high school because the school pulls heavily from its surrounding highly educated and affluent neighborhood. Despite saying that it focuses on the individual, there is a "Paideia way" and students who do not fit into it (as one mentioned below) can really struggle. I would have to file our Paideia experience under the heading of "an expensive disappointment."
Submitted by teacher on March 21, 2014

Paideia is very supportive of its teachers and students. Their extremely knowledgeable school psychologist and learning specialists helped my daughter's learning issues that I would never have recognized. My daughter is in college now after being at Paideia from K through 12th and she is doing extremely well in college.
Submitted by other on May 06, 2013

Paideia is what you make of it. I went there from 6th grade to 12th grade. I have a couple of regrets for not taking full advantage of my education and resources there, but it is worth it because it teaches you how to think. Paideia is truly a place that will help you learn how to learn. I have been able to do fairly well in college so far because of what I learned at Paideia about critical thinking. In addition, it is very forgiving and from what I have experienced empathetic towards its students. I received a 98% scholarship to go there and frankly my family would not have been able to afford to send me to go there without the financial aid. Although most of my friend's families made over $200,000 a year, I did not once feel that money was flaunted. Paideia has changed many kids lives who would not have been able to afford to go to a school like it, but as I said, you MUST take advantage of its resources. I was defensive and didn't utilize the college connections or go to college advisor meetings. Go to them. Work your butt off even though the environment might feel relaxed.
Submitted by other on February 01, 2013

I graduated from Paideia. I attended from 8th grade through 12th grade. Prior to that, I attended public school. I would not recommend Paideia to anyone and I definitely would not send my own children there. The environment is highly competitive among the kids and about half of the faculty are ego maniacs. For a school that prides itself on tolerance and diversity, it is definitely the least accepting environment that I have ever been in- if you are different from the Paideia stereotype, don't expect to have an easy time there.
Submitted by parent on January 10, 2013

Paideia looks terrific on paper, but in practice it's not as wonderful. Our child went there for a year in high school. It is a very teacher-centric environment, and there are few guidelines or requirements for teachers. This allows them to be very creative and inventive, but it also means that your child's academic experience will vary greatly depending on his or her teacher(s). The math department is not terribly strong (a fact that was acknowledged to us by every family we spoke with); if your child struggles in math, the faculty and administration will suggest that you hire a tutor. The headmaster has been there since the school was founded in 1971, and although the school has grown dramatically since then, there are many things (and faculty members) that remain the same. Luckily for Paideia, there are few non-religiously affiliated independent schools in Atlanta (especially in town), so the school has little real competition.
Submitted by other on January 01, 2013

I love paideia school you should really try to get your child to go there.
Submitted by other on December 30, 2012

I have gone to Paideia since 5th grade, and would not want to go anywhere else. The focus on experiential learning and the close relationship between teachers and students in the elementary school is great and made me love learning. In junior high, the unique writing program in my class really helped me to understand myself better and become a better writer. Both the elementary and junior high schools are very progressive and celebrate the individual strengths of each student, with an emphasis on learning rather than grades. The high school is more traditional, and the workload is pretty challenging as they're trying to prepare you for college, but it's still very unique. The short terms January and May are great, because they let students explore areas they may not get to try normally. Overall, Paideia has a strong emphasis on tolerance and openness to different perspectives. Once of the coolest things we do is every year, the junior high and high school devote a day to discussing either race or gender and sexuality, in which they bring in speakers and hold small discussion groups. I am heading off to college now, and feel very prepared academically as well as personally.