CdM is a great school with great amenities, courses, clubs, teachers, and amazing students. I have…read morebeen here since 7th grade for 3 years and the school has far exceeded my expectations, and I enjoy every day I'm here. There are some bad things about it, but it's overall a decent school. The problems have become much less significant over time, and are over-exaggerated and drummed up by the media to grab people's attention and get more views, but these stereotypes hold little actual ground. It's impulsive for us to just slap a label on a place or group of people, but it isn't as simple as black and white. It's important to recognize that stereotypes are often exploited by people who've had no experience in a place to just assume everyone's a certain way, without trying to understand and empathize. At CdM, there is little prejudice and is usually subtle and unintended. The academic environment can be stressful, but you have the choice of taking more advanced classes. If parents are forcing their kids to get really good grades and take challenging courses, that's a parental issue. If a teacher is unhelpful, others are always willing to help. Many of the negative reviews stem from misunderstanding, as parents are prone to just taking their kid's word when they have a complaint rather than assessing the full situation, and this lack of understanding leads to further escalation of the situations. For a new student, there will always be potential friends. Many kids at CdM were negatively influenced, but that's because they didn't choose good friends. While there are many entitled and troublesome kids, the overwhelming majority are kind, humble, and respectful; it's just about avoiding the minority of bad students. For most of my time at CdM, I was shy and never had much of a friend group; yet other kids have always made to effort to be kind to me when they could have stayed comfortable with their own friends. Most students have been quick to forgive me and move on after I changed for the better even if I had done something bad in the past. Most kids won't peer pressure you if you say no to something. Your school experience is what you make it and how you perceive things, and you can make good choices. The problem is that a lot of people get dissatisfied even because of minor things. THIS is the entitlement in CdM people complain about: the ones who can't take any shit and who have no gratitude. It's the ones who care about CdM and try to make it a better place that love CdM because the other students respect and appreciate them. If you come into CdM with an open mind, a kind personality, and a drive to succeed and make friends, the rest will already be taken care of. You know the negative reviews are due to entitlement because it's always the parents that are doing the dirty work for their kids when as students, they should take control of their academic experience. It doesn't make you look good as a parent to be the one bailing out your kid by contacting a teacher. It's the inconsiderate students that want to leave CdM. These people are troublemakers. They are surrounded by their ego and have no idea that they're pissing everyone off, and their parents who only see one side of the story assume that CdM is a horrible school after hearing their kid nonstop complain and they move their kid to another school to cause more trouble. I was once one of these obnoxious kids, but I recognized that my actions were unappreciated by others and have changed since then. Kids who I once annoyed now respect me, a testament to the forgiveness of CdM students. The school has issues with parent cliques, and the administration does have some issues with inefficiency and management, just like any other school, but as a student, the most important thing is to be able to go to school every day and just be yourself and to be surrounded by respectful students and teachers, not whether the school decides how often the bathrooms are cleaned. Your main interactions with the administration will be regarding attendance or course changes, which it's really efficient at. Why wouldn't you give CdM a chance? In the small chance you don't like it, there's little risk in transferring. People move from CdM to other local private schools or vice versa all the time, and they can still keep their friends because they live in the same area; but if you do like it, you'll save a ton on tuition, and that money can be better used on other things to further develop your child's interest and to ensure future success, or even just for enjoyment. I kept this review brief to address the general issues. If you want to know something more specific about CdM, you can email me at wynneyoung555@yahoo.com or text me at (949)375-0086, but don't call me because I don't take calls from unknown numbers.Here's why many of the points made in other reviews are wrong: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DxEqbhM7_oP2kjPJT8EhDTro5y5afy0m9LM7c4KwO-4/edit?usp=sharing

Vicki Gilmore the principals assistant refused to help my daughter who was taking the initiative to…read moreproactively plan a strategic move on her own wanted to schedule appointment. Wow this lady was incredibly rude. I cannot believe it. We left with no appointment made and my daughter FEELING that Vicki Gilmore will never HELP her. I will file a formal complaint against HER ABUSE OF POWER.

School is fantastic, teachers are very helpful and down to earth. Thank you all for all your help…read moreand support

As a parent I continue to be impressed with the amount of opportunity at Newport Harbor high…read moreschool. From STEM classes, to Culinary, Mentorship programs to every club imaginable, There's something for everyone here. I have to say the bathrooms could use more attention. And make sure your kids lock their bikes properly. All in all the teachers care and it was a positive experience.

Oh boy, where to start on this school. Well, to end this negative review off on a positive note, we…read moremight as well start with the negatives. The absolute worst is the social climate. The most entitled, selfish, and arrogant little boogers crowd up this school, and they are an absolute headache to have to deal with, in addition to schoolwork. Speaking of schoolwork, the teachers have no idea when to draw the line in terms of pushing students. They push STEM subjects, while also completely ignoring how that isn't everyone's area. One Chemistry teacher here in particular is who deflated my self-esteem and put my mental health on a downward spiral. He would berate my class nearly every day. He would call us lazy and stupid if we want to go into the easier IPC class. He convinced everyone that school is all about retaining a bunch of information and unimportant facts, which is complete BS. Problem is, scumbags like this are authoritative figures, so me being the good student I was, listened to him. It took me months and several talks with both my parents and various counselors to reprogram me. Seriously, someone would sneeze in class, and he would give a 35 minute speech about it. I found myself nearly crying from stress several times in class, and I just had to drop out. Even after this class was behind me, I was still brainwashed by this teacher, which ruined my self esteem, and made me feel like I had no future. Things came to a point, and I was eventually hospitalized. So, way to go, science department, you ruined a teenager's self esteem. I hope you're proud of yourselves. Another flaw is the demographic and overall hygiene of the campus. There is garbage all over the place, which is sort of uncontrollable, but the bathrooms are improperly maintained and several of the buildings are either old, dirty, or both. The bell tower is the star attraction of this school, and it has a giant dirt stain on its side. Not cool. Now, onto the positives. If anything, it's that MOST of the teachers are pretty nice, the main Robins-Loats building is pretty, and the counseling staff is stellar. Those are definitely admirable things, but since the social aspect is one of the most integral parts of public school, I found myself too distracted by the negatives to focus much on the positives. I would recommend avoiding this school. And if you do go, steer clear of the tougher science classes, and don't be too socially active. Chances are, you will find yourself hurt, rejected, and crushed.

Higher education!…read more That's what we have here. My kids have never been in a public school. When we moved to this area, this school was a huge part of the decision. The campus is beautiful (Brand new gym) -NBA players coaching teams Smart white boards in classrooms! Small class sizes (1st grade has 18 students; 2nd grade has 11 kids) Overall, we are happy with the school

i had my son apply to newport christian, we live across the street so it would of been very…read moreconvenient. He is an amazing athlete and also scored 8s on his isee test. He has straight As in his current private school and got great references. They rejected him and i called to find out the reason and they would not return my call. While we are not christian, he considers himself to be christian and would like to convert. I found this the most troubling part of the process as this is a child who wants to be christian, and wanted to go to a christian school to become christian and the school does not accept him! what can i say at this point! it makes no sense and may give you some insight into whether you should consider this school.

I can't say enough good things about this church. Everyone is very welcoming and there are tons of…read moregroups to join. The church is beautiful and they have adoration in the chapel from 3:00-5:00.

This would be a five star rating if not for the horrible problem of bullying at this school. OLQA…read morehas a strong academic program but the allowed bullying is truly horrific. Especially in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, the massive bullying has caused many smart kids to simply leave. The school's policy on bullying is that the school staff has to actually witness the bully attacking the student before anything can begin to be addressed. And of course the kids aren't stupid - they never bully in front of the staff. There are no anti-bullying programs and the bullies run the school. It particularly sad as it is antithetical to everything a Catholic school should be.

Amazing school! Yes some teachers aren't to good but a lot of them are. I went to this school and…read moreboth of my daughters will be going to this school

Would give 0 if possible. Ms. Rain is horrible. So is Metcalf... Moving on the bathrooms are…read morehorrible and always vandalised and it just seems really underfunded

For my daughter is this the third waldorf school, we moved because of my job. The waldorf education…read moreis always special, wherever you are. But I can say, we are happy to be part of WSOC now. My daughter is now in 3rd grade and loves her teachers, wenn she comes home, she often even plays, that she is a teacher and repeats with her puppets what she did and learned in the school. Although she had a hard time with divorce between me and her mother, the school gave her stability, joy and purpose. If you want to have a good experience and best results with any waldorf school, it's necessary to understand it's core principles and foundation and cooperate with that. It's hundert years approved pedagogy with great results in the whole world, but it needs cooperation. I am grateful and happy, that my daughter can be educated in WSOC!

We love Waldorf education and at Waldorf School of Orange County the College of Teachers, the Board…read moreand the Staff are dedicated to a good educational experience in the Waldorf pedagogy. Many of the teachers are amazing. My child was blessed to travel the grades with Brooke Natzke and that experience was amazing. I can't recommend a more qualified person. My are having a great experience with Mrs Schwarz in the grades now for our next child. Our daughter is attending Waldorf High School and has found many of the teachers to be very supportive and helpful. She found her passion because of the championing of her Earth Science Teacher.

I came here yesterday for a football game with the Seahawks league. Beautiful location, clean and…read morewell maintained. I was so impressed as it sat on a hill with trees everywhere surrounding the driveway path to the school. Gate guard. Impressive. Security was on top of everything, she was awesome with a warm, friendly smile. Truly a gorgeous school.

The front desk lady is very unhelpful and sarcastic for no reason. Even a normal question is…read moreanswered with a sharp tone and an unhelpful attitude. I've been at the school for 4 years and I havent and ONE good interaction with her. Even when in very polite and did everything correctly she's still rude and disrespectful. And it's even worse when you're wrong, she's just criticizing and berating you the whole time. Even worse, it's only to students and never teachers or parents. The faculty here doesn't respect students. I hope she gets fired.

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.

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!

Review is solely for the field during a high school marching band competition…read more Parking was avail across the street from the school at a local college. The filed is in excellent condition, plenty of seating and if you are about working ion your tan, sitting in the bleachers here is the perfect place to bet the job done.

THE NURSE STAFF NEEDS TO IMPROVE!! KRISTY Craig and her…read moreassistant ARE SO UNPROFESSIONAL Always MAKING COMMENTS ABOUT Students PARENTS. Saying comments like "like mother, like daughter" "parents needs to learn a hard lesson" and making parents feel bad for not being able to pick up their child on time.. they denied permission for my eldest daughter to pick up my youngest. Kristy and her assistant then continued to talk bad about the parent TO THE STUDENT leaving the student feeling Very uncomfortable and upset. Kristy and her assistant kept laughing about the situation and continued to make jokes with the student present. The student no longer feels comfortable or safe to talk to the nurses when needed. Please help them improve on their behavior and attitudes. Or get new sympathetic nurses who actually care for the students and parents. THANK YOU