Halcyon
Sea ranch, CA 95497

I use to teach here. In 2007 some people got very aggressive politically with this school, joining the school board, site council, and pta. Tremendous pressure was put on teachers to raise test scores. In my opinion. The atmosphere at the school changed dramtically from a warm family environment, to a tense, test driven environment. In my opinion. claim was made that all cost we must transform Horicon into a magnet school on the Sonoma coast with high test scores. The pressure was terrible. The place suffered as far as Im concerned. There was no formal art instruction because of the overemphasis on testing. I see now that the test scores after all this time are still the same. They still reflect the demographic and second language population of the area. As they should. Nothing has changed in the test scores and all that grandstanding and pressure were misplaced. In my opinion. This is a wonderful beautiful school with great staff and families. Its just very rural with many newcomer students. The teachers are wonderful.

The high school is excellent, in one of California's most beautiful coastal rural communities. The principal is highly involved,he seems to know and have a connection with every student in the school. And the students trust him.Excellent faculty, facilities, and community. I'm a former teacher at PAHS. I wish the role I had still exists.