638 Swarthmore Ave
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272

Pali is an excellent school that boasts a supportive parent community, dedicated teachers and staff, and an approachable principal. The school has been the perfect fit for our family for the past six years, and we have been happy with the leadership of the new principal over the past two plus years. The school focuses on rigorous academics, but also on social emotional learning to help students develop essential skills such as self-awareness and empathy. It has some minor drawbacks prone to public schools - namely an aging building and dead grass on the yard - but the students don’t seem to mind at all. It also has a great librarian, wonderful school psychologist, and excellent teaching aides. My kids love it.

I am a 8th grader at Paul Revere. The school itself has a big campus, with a farm, and a large PE field. My issue are the teachers. There are a few hidden gems, my elective teacher, and my old math teacher. But, some, nay, most teachers here seem unprofessional. Some barely teach, and some get mad for reasons beyond my understanding. Most students here are awful. There is a bullying problem and kids are not engaged. Most are just on their phones. Vaping is another issue. A lot of the bathrooms smell like smoke and students vape and smoke drugs an awful amount. The teachers never notice any of the things I have stated above. I’m not telling you to not send your kid here, because I have made some memories I will never forget, and safety isn’t a big issue, like the school is in a wealthy neighborhood and I don’t believe there will be any shootings anytime soon. But, just don’t choose this school as your first option.

Beware. The school has a targeted hate and bullying issue. We moved from another city in July 2022, felt we did extensive research, and thought our child would thrive. WRONG. Within 1 day, a boy was stalking our child (had a record already with Dean). Within 3 weeks our child was surrounded by a mob with cameras, being harassed, accused of lies, and told not to come back to school. As a result, she was hospitalized for weeks. Our Junior still does not feel safe going back to school. After I reported the incident, my peers labeled our child a "snitch". Our teen is on also on a 504 and was not able to return to school. The school held resources back and did not provide homework or instructions for months after the event. Our child fell so far behind, it complicated the matter and I had to hire private tutors, being told 6 months later there were tutors available. They also delayed meetings and it was Feb 2023 before they offered the online academy. The new restorative justice professional dropped the ball on the case. In recent weeks, 2 of the kids involved or bystanders have notified us they left the school too. I still am getting the runaround and eventually withdrew. I am also getting the standard cover-up language from Dr. Pamela McGee who delayed and did not do her part to secure a safety transfer. The school is not equipped to handle the teens of today. They are unorganized and extremely overwhelmed.