As a psychology student (substance abuse use disorder counseling), this was the school for me. This…read morecampus is beautiful, financial aid advisors are amazing along with instructors and counselors being helpful on your academic journey. With 7 semesters to go before transferring to UC for my masters, I'm happy I chose Columbia to start my dreams in my higher education goals. Go Claim Jumpers!

I decided to apply in 2021 and got my Associates in 2024. All of the professors are amazing and…read morewant you to succeed. Their counselors are hands on and help you plan your degree path step-by-step as well as finding educators that cater to your learning style. This school is affordable and offer grants to help you succeed because those books can be so expensive. Not to mention the campus is so beautiful and is well taken care of.

Valley home Pope elementary school is the final school in the county. Both my children attended…read moretheir when it was truly a country school. Principal Pope was in charge and if my daughter went across the street to have lunch with the Dickens family, he would call me and ask me if it was OK. Kindergarten was all day and the children learned lots of stuff, worthwhile reading math, political science history and they even had music classes. I am so grateful that both my boy and girl were able to go there. It was really a country school run by Mr. Pope and his son did the yardwork and ran the bus so it was truly a family school

A beautiful setting where children remain off screens and learn through innovative and…read moreparticipative methods.

I need to share my experience in case it can save another family some of the pain and exclusion…read moremine experienced. This school is precariously held together by yarn, passive-aggressive "conversations," and unpaid labor. Even if you are parenting on easy mode with a picture-perfect neurotypical child, you should know that this school pays their teachers very little, loses them frequently, and then often scrambles to fill that teaching position at the last minute. They do not magically find someone with a teaching credential to fill that job, they just find someone from their in-crowd who says yes. Your child could start their school year with a teacher who has no real background in education and standards outside of Waldorf's extremely insular world. However, if you happen to have a neurodivergent child, I would urge you to stay away from this school. My son was attending the early childhood program but I was frequently being called to pick him up early for behavior issues. I was in constant communication with his teacher and others at the school begging for help and direction. We were trying everything we could at home, but my kid was clearly struggling, and no one quite understood why. Despite supposedly being early childhood experts, Waldorf teachers and staff NEVER ONCE mentioned that maybe we should get an evaluation for autism/ADHD/etc. Instead they recommended diet changes and reiki. I wish I were joking. This cost us years of figuring out what was really going on. Eventually, they "asked us" to leave the school (but not until after I had finished a really big project for their Halloween production!!!). We were strongly socially ostracized afterwards, in an already small town. They have absolutely no support services available and seem to have no interest in providing them. A parent to a Waldorf student who works locally as a special education teacher in public schools even volunteered to help provide some support for students with special needs at Sierra Waldorf. The school turned her down! Waldorf schools are based on the works of Rudolf Steiner, who held some pretty problematic beliefs, including eugenics. I guess Sierra Waldorf is staying true to their roots. Before we joined the school, Waldorf looked a bit like a cult to me based on the behavior of the people I knew who were already in it. Now that I've seen it on the inside, that conviction stands stronger than ever.

Columbia CA is a find in and of itself, and this gold panning activity is just one of the reasons I…read moresay that so confidently. The attractions here are super affordable and, in some cases, free, and they're truly captivating. For about $20 you get a bag of dirt to pan with guaranteed gold in it, a panning lesson, and access to the panning area for the whole day. That's right. This isn't one and done. It's for the entire day. The lesson is fast and furious, but you get the idea by the end. If you don't, just wait for someone else to get theirs and listen in for a refresher. The speed of the lesson and the fact there's no one there to ask questions after is the only reason I'm taking a star off. That said, you can go inside and ask for help, but that takes you away. The man who taught us was kind and gentle with the lesson, and he made sure the kids found their gold. The look on their faces was priceless! I truly thought they'd be done after that one pan but they were so captivated by the idea of finding treasure that I'm sure we spent at least an hour sifting through the sand for gems. This was money well spent, and if you're vacationing in the area, I would highly recommend this be in your plans.

A good time for all. Grab a pan and start panning. Left with garnets and citrine gemstones (panned…read morereally hard for them). Kid friendly activity, there is a park nearby, a small old town to walk through and plenty of public restrooms and parking available.