Paradise Adventist Academy

5699 Academy Drive

Paradise, CA 95969

13 Reviews

School District
Grade

9-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by student on October 02, 2024

I have been attending PAA for the past three years and am currently a senior. To say this school has disappointed me as a student is an understatement. I have witnessed firsthand the shortcomings of this school, from a lack of accommodations for students struggling with learning difficulties to a complete neglect of providing the Christian education it claims to offer.One of the most glaring issues is the lack of a true Christian environment on campus. As a school that claims to offer an Adventist education, I expected faith and spiritual growth to be central to the learning experience. However, religion is barely taught. Religion classes, which should be an opportunity to deepen our faith and understanding of God, have instead been used for unrelated activities such as cooking, writing resumes, or simply a study hall period. The time that should be devoted to spiritual formation is consistently substituted with tasks that have no connection to religion or Christian values.Parents who send their children here expecting a strong Adventist or general Christian education will be sorely disappointed. They might as well be sending their children to public schools, where at least there is no pretense about offering a religious curriculum. PAA is falling short of its mission to provide a meaningful Christian education and environment.It is incredibly disheartening to see a school with so much potential fail to nurture the spiritual lives of its students. For a school that advertises itself as a place where faith is integrated into daily learning, the reality is quite the opposite.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2015

This school provided my kids the wholesome experience in every possible way. If anyone looking for a quality christian education with strong academic, spiritual, musical and Athletic programs, I say this is the school! In addition to that, exceptional outdoor education programs and lots of fun activities throughout the school year are only part of the greatest experience that YOUR child can have at Paradise Adventist Academy.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2015

Paradise Adventist Academy One of my best decisions and investments I made in my life is moving my kids to PAA school, PAA was a fun learning, life and academic education not for the kids only, for me as a parent also.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2015

The school is very inclusive and accepting of students who have a difficult fitting in other places. The school's teachers are far more than just classroom teachers. They invest hours of their time outside of the classroom connecting with our children. Our teachers place a high priority on the spiritual growth of our children, not simply reading, writing, and arithmetic. Our teachers provide our students with good role models. Although we cannot offer a large number of advanced placement classes due to the size of our school, our school does not lack in academic excellence. Our students consistently perform well on national standardized tests. They have graduated well prepared and have been able to compete at a high-level for academic recognition and scholarships. The environment of our school is safe and nurturing. If a student desires to be involved in detrimental or risky behavior, they really need to "swim up stream" against the over arching flow of appropriate and often times, exemplary behavior.
Submitted by parent on April 28, 2015

When we moved to town, we heard that PAA was a great school. Twelve years later, our children are still at PAA. The teachers have been awesome, challenging our children academically and giving them many unique and valuable experiences outside of the classroom. All this has been done in a spiritual and nurturing environment. Our children have had the opportunity to learn how to play multiple instruments and sing. They have been a part of an incredible sports program that teaches them to always do their best and to be a great team player. They Associated Student Body has provided wholesome social events for the high schoolers. We, as parents, have been allowed and encouraged to participate in our children's school activities. Many of the things we do (field trips, music tours, fundraisers, socials) would not be possible without parental involvement and support. As is the case with every school, not everything about PAA is perfect. Not all teachers work as hard as others and not all parents are as involved as others. However, if we had to make the choice again, we would definitely choose PAA for our children.
Submitted by parent on April 27, 2015

Transferring our son from the public high school was the best decision we ever made. Actually, the decision was his after spending two days of his spring break in the classrooms at PAA. Justin was always a bright and gifted young man, but was not challenged enough to rise to his full potential. Since the first day of his visit, he has been accepted by all. The faculty and staff genuinely care about each student and their personal development. The families of PAA have welcomed our entire family, into their family, and I cannot say enough about the quality of students that our son calls his brothers and sisters. Academically he is excelling, and he believes that he is getting the education needed to hopefully fill his dream of going to medical school. The one question people ask us all the time is how can we afford to put our son through the private school system, and our answer is always, "How can you put a price on your child's education, sense of well being, and their future?" -Frank and Angela Stevens
Submitted by parent on March 26, 2014

Does not meet expectations - at all. As a private school the bar should be higher than public schools. But after taking our child out of this school, we're finding that they were struggling to catch up to public school standards of education. No one at PAA told us about the struggles and issues our child had. We just received friendly sweet smiles and no indication of performance until report cards came out. We feel let down and robbed of hard-earned money.
Submitted by other on October 02, 2013

PAA is a great school! I am sad to see that so many of these reviews have negative and false information. For anyone reading these reviews to find out more about PAA, I would recommend talking to students because some of the reviews from parents are completely false. I know that when I was a student there, a select few parents felt entitled at the school when they had no right to be. Their student would cause problems within the school, and the parent would refuse to believe that their child could do such a thing. When I attended, parents would only ask for information from their own child and would believe it instantly without getting any information from the faculty. I know for a fact that the teachers care about the students a lot. And at times even more then the student would deserve by the way they acted in class. There are a lot of good thing that happen at the school that some parents aren't even aware of but yet they think they know everything and choose to write a rude and false review PAA. Students only get out of class to watch a sports game on rare occasions, such as a championship game, and it never once affected schoolwork unless the student allowed it to.~ A Student
Submitted by parent on August 24, 2013

Priorities are music, sports, and field trips. Education comes 4th after these (ex. math teacher coaches soccer, so on away games, math class is cancelled). There are 1-2 decent teachers there, but overall there is a lack of commitment to educational excellence. Kids can literally fail and parents wouldn't find out until report cards came out. Traditionally, SDA education is quite good, so I don't understand why this school is so far off from this tradition. My opinion on this is that they rely on the fact that the local public high school has drug problems and they leverage parent's fear so they can present themselves as a moral (and expensive) alternative. So in the end, you will have a well-sheltered child, but with mediocre education coming from nothing more than a glorified day-camp.
Submitted by parent on August 12, 2013

Below CA state basic standards in key areas. Min passing "D" score: CA Public Schools = 60% / PAA = 55%. Classroom instruction time (min/week): CA Guideline Minimum = 250 min (300 min for Algebra) / PAA = 200 min. PAA allows non- CA credentialed teachers to teach and spouses to substitute teach. PAA claims to be fully "a-g" approved - false (Google "a-g course list" for UC website and search for PAA). While the school claims to be superior, the administration was not able to explain to me 'how' they were better (and did not understand CA state education testing metrics to compare to when asked). No A/P classes or other high-level classes. Little accountability to parents and teachers make no effort to flag academic issues as they arise. Field trips are excessive (skiing, camping, etc). Students can skip class to watch home games. And if you voice your concern as a parent, you'll likely receive defensive justifications. Considering the price is on par with college tuition, it's upsetting that they deliver education that does not meet CSU/UC minimum admission standards. Sadly, your child's education needs are better served in public school.
Submitted by parent on December 20, 2012

There is so much potential at PAA. To get the most out of the educational experience however, a parent must be highly involved at every level. Parts of the curriculum are best in class but the remainder in subpar. The mechanisms for improving the school and enacting change are not well developed. Sports programs are well developed to the point of crowding out underdeveloped and under emphasized academics. Communication between teacher and parents is virtually nonexistent at the academy (grades 9-12). If you request a meeting teachers are happy to oblige but otherwise you will not hear from an instructor even if your student is doing poorly. There appears to be no mechanism to review or monitor the curriculum. Instructors are not held accountable for poor results. In some cases instructors are at the pinnacle of academics but in other cases you see teachers doing less than the minimum. My advise to you is remain involved as much as your time will allow if you choose this school. Plan to spend some time with administration encouraging them to hold teachers accountable. Enjoy the excellent sports and music programs although they are sometimes flawed by favoritism.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2012

PAA is continuing to go down hill, teachers don't communicate with parents. Teacher don't care about student if they pass, fail, show up or as people in general. Several of the teachers only have jobs due to nepotism and not because the have any genuine talent or skill at teaching. They do not put in the hours teachers did when I was at academy. Teachers are treating the extremely import job of teaching our children as a 9-5 job, and it never use to be. People complain about low wages for teachers, but they are above the average wage (and it is public info if you do a little digging) and at least they have a job. Besides they charge you a ton for what little your children get out of it, when public/charter schools are free. So if we as parent are paying for our children's education we should be getting more then average/or below average as the case here. Teacher's are more into entertaining the students then teaching them how to learn. I know way to many young adults that have gone to PAA and ended up not in college, not in trade school, but instead ending up in low income jobs, still living with the parents, doing nothing and starting families very young. Send them away.
Submitted by parent on February 10, 2012

Paradise Adventist Academy continues the excellent tradition of Adventist education. While at most Adventist academies teachers work longer and care more about the students, treating each and everyone as a member of their family. At PAA the teacher do the minimum to get by. While letting some students fall behind with out even informing parents or encouraging the students. Teachers play favorites and only help along the students they are friends with.Letting students struggle and fall through crack and was never acceptable in my day. They do not prevent or discourage bully of special children, which continues to be a problem. Besides the price (8180 - 6490) is unreasonable for the lackluster education.