Olympia Regional Learning Academy

Madison Elementary is a cornerstone of this community. We have been here K-4th now and have been so pleased with our neighborhood school. The teachers really meet students where they are and strive to engage them in learning through their interests. Lots of family centered events - Science Fair, Holiday Store, Movie nights, ect. It has been an open and welcoming experience, that we look forward to continuing with our other children.

I love this school. They are reasonable, understanding and care about kids’ learning, and they listen to parent concerns. We want to move to have a larger lot but I’m really struggling with the idea of moving my child from this school.

McKenny is an amazing school! I have had three kids go through the school and I am sad to have my last child move on to middle school. We will miss Mckenny! All three kids had a different, but positive experience. Great teachers and support staff across the board. I would absolutely recommend McKenny!

After searching every private school in Thurston, Pierce and Mason county, we settled on Sunrise Beach. We insisted on visiting every reputable school in the area, but Sunrise Beach was far ahead of others in so many ways. 1. First, the education level/ experience of the faculty. The school has done an exemplary job of recruiting, exceptional faculty, who both have a warm, caring attitude, but also are credentialed, experienced, and engaging.2. Secondly, the curriculum and college prep components - wow. Science, arts, culture, international components, drama and music, and foreign language, all starting in pre-K and going up to 12th grade. Above and beyond. 3. The individual attention they give to each student. From week one, they were noting the interests and personality of our student, in a way that other teachers had never made before, such as comments related to their special talents and gifts, as well as areas for growth - right away. We were extremely excited to see this4. The safety and security of the campus. Sunrise Beach take safety and security extremely seriously. Single point of entry, locked doors, security drills. Some of these things local public schools are not even doing. We are confident in our choice. Our student is so happy as well, and we know the staff are there to support the students at all costs.

The problem here is that the big donors get the best treatment for their kids. I felt discriminated for not being part of the church, for not donating and volunteering enough.i find the school very cliquey and always felt some parents and kids were left out.if you go there, make sure you have plenty of money and are being part of the church . Be aware of the space you’re gonna get for your child, as what they offer is not great!

My daughter has been attending ORLA for her sophomore year. She feels the environment is fun, engaged, positive and honoring of various learning styles and needs. While we wish it were more ethnically and culturally diverse, we do appreciate the neurodiversity, gender diversity (not just girl/boy), and socioeconomic diversity. This is an interesting blend of alternative school, home school and traditional public school. I love the mission, really addresses a need in the community where kids might otherwise “fall through the cracks”. The class offerings are a good mix of core classes and fun electives like yearbook/media production, pottery, and theater. We have seen our daughter thriving academically and the monthly progress accountability checks seem to help. She is a self-motivated learner and I do wonder how kids who are not self-starters are able to keep up with assignments as it does seem like there may be some wasted instructional time while the class “goofs off” (social time?) and there ends up being a lot of homework time needed at home as a result. But that might not be the case for all kids - mine tends to get caught up in having fun with friends. To be honest, this is tipping the scales for my kiddo in a direction she needed after missing out socially during the pandemic and following years. Overall we are quite happy with our experience here and wish we could have enrolled her earlier and lived closer so we could be more involved in the school community.