Loma Linda Academy

I was raised in SDA schools and this is unlike any SDA school that I attended. The lack of standardization and transparency is very concerning. Have you ever been to a school where there are sofa's in the rooms. Or how about a bathtub or a huge lizard. One class room has so many dusty silk plants that my child did not stop sneezing. Be prepared to homeschool your child with the amount of busy work that is expected. My child read and tested on 408 books from 1st grade to 6th. But I had to get tutors for English and Math. Kids from the high school grade the papers. Absolutely, do not send any papers back that they may have graded incorrectly because your child will be punished either indirectly or directly for questioning the teacher. There is no help with lowering tuition, instead if you are not SDA you are charged more. I have heard that only SDA students are allowed to be valedictorian of the senior class. We are not going there this year, I've pulled my child out. However, if I hadn't, I would be reporting them to WASA their accreditation agency. The unconventional methods of teaching and lack of teacher availability and involvement with students is not worth the money. They are more than happy to take a "non constituents" money - those not SDA - they know who you are and you are treated much different that the SDAs. My husband was Catholic and they were very vocal about the antichrist being the pope. Teachers are allowed to impose there own rules and have actually had my child running laps for talking in class. Now picture this, you have a room with 30 desks, they are butted right up against one another and the children are expected to look straight ahead. Hello, get rid of the couches and the bath tubs and the extra non essential items - cutsy; this is not home but a school and then take separate the desks. Be prepared to tutor your own child. In sixth grade my child was forced to do over 30 projects with coloring and drawing...... and this wasn't even in ART class. For ART class he got 4 grades all quarter (last quarter). Why have an ART teacher if so much art is in the homeroom. What a waste of money. The choir teacher in 5th grade was teaching the class "leadership" skills. REALLY. This all comes back to lack of standardization. You may think that by this rating that my child was a poor student. Just the contrary.... for 6th grade he received only 2 Bs - one in ART and one in Choir. All the rest for the year were As. But that wasn't because of the school. It was because I spent a minimum of 2 hours every night coaching my child and approximately $3000 in tutoring. The good news is that there are schools that have the teachers available before and after school to tutor your child on troublesome concepts, they hand you a breakdown of the tuition and fees for the whole year and they stick to it and they actually promote the scrip program to assist you with reducing your tuition. The non denominational school in Redlands has provided this wonderful environment with Chrome books, a full set of books for both school and home (Loma linda you have to buy their books FROM THEM or risk a failing grade) and they are really communicative. The lesson plans for the week are on line at the beginning of the week. The homework that is due is on line at the beginning of the week. There are 4 classes of 7th graders and they ALL get the same homework and lesson plan. Take heart...... do your homework and you will find a school that where the students can walk between the desks and have an environment conducive to learning.