Orca School

The middle school at Riviera Ridge is incredible. The program is extremely thoughtfully designed with this age group in mind. Everything from the honors program, office hours and elective choices are designed to give kids agency and offer ample opportunities for every child to thrive and develop skills needed in high school and college. The children are encouraged to develop relationships with their teachers and ask for help on their own, without a parent intervening. This is all done so sweetly and thoughtfully in a safe, caring and forgiving environment where taking risks are encouraged. The program is run by an incredible administrator and she really understands this unique and vulnerable age group. Likewise, the teachers are all so wonderful and really want the students to succeed. They love working with middle schoolers and love seeing them have aha moments. Unlike other local private schools, the school offers the kids so many choices - they take an elective class 3x per week and the elective choices are vast. There’s an array of optional honors classes to choose from - math, creative writing, philosophy, model UN, Spanish, coding are performing arts and studio art are some of the options. This really allows the kids to dive deep and/or prepare themselves for advanced classes in high school. Three days per week the kids get to go to office hours, where they work 1 on 1 with their teachers to get help on their schoolwork and/or complete homework. They also have the option to take PE at school, play on a school sports team or do independent PE and get out of school earlier if they play a sport outside of the school. I wasn’t so sure how my son would like block scheduling, but he loves it. It allows for more time to do things like labs and tests. He has fewer classes per day, so he’s more organized. Because he doesn’t have the same classes everyday, he has a couple days to do his homework. It also offers him more time to get help if needed. Social emotional learning is woven into the program - they truly take care of the whole child and care about their development as a person. Each child has an advisor and the advisor monitors their progress and keeps keeps accountable. Little things, such as the “no penalty for late work” policy is so helpful for kids of this age group. It cuts down on stress and anxiety. This program truly prepares kids for high school and we are so thankful we found it for our son. What a wonderful school!

Not just a school, but also a community of plain ole good people that genuinely care for one another and for the City of SB. Top notch academics, a commitment to Christian education, excellent teachers, good extracurricular activities, and a safe + caring environment. My Jr High daughter loves going to school everyday (imagine that!) because of the wonderful community of friends and classmates, and her teachers love and pour into her. Bonus points for working hard and staying open as much as possible during Covid. While so many other schools took a knee during Covid, Providence worked hard to keep kids where they belong (in school and with teachers) while also keeping everyone healthy. They really earned my respect over the past couple of years.

The promises that the mission and the school make are above what the school can actually offer. In theory it is a wonderful pursuit. In practice, the school doesn't have the resources, training or abilities to do what is best for gifted students. Unfortunately many get brought along by the promises and then students are hurt by this process. In the early years parents are falsely promised that their children are doing fine and do not need the support that is clearly evident, in turn delaying very needed early intervention that would make student and family lives much easier. Due to a lack of training and high ego, the teacher responsible for the youngest children misses the mark in very fundamental years. The school was founded on strong meaningful principles, but the current offerings in practice are not to the standard that serves the student population.