Pine Lake Preparatory

The Pine Lake School is not a stem-certified school. In retrospect, we wish we had conducted more research. In light of our recent relocation to the LKN area from a larger city, we are concerned that our child will not be offered the same opportunities as those in California/New Jersey. As a parent, we are concerned that this may have long term implications on our child's future prospects.

There was a lack of interest in the tour by the principal in the lower school, and the principal was evasive when asked a simple question about transportation, which is a norm. It should have been a red flag as we had never had coffee with the principal, which is the norm for new families. Simply put, the orientation day lacked planning.

The fact that she does not make eye contact with parents when we see her in the hallways or at school events makes us believe that she does not want to be approached.
STEM is the reason we chose this school, and I don't think there are any certified STEM teachers here.

Lower grade reading also needs to be addressed. A teacher should teach during the 8-hour school day and send home the follow-up assignment, not the inverse, where parents help students with reading skills and complete book reports so the teacher can focus on math. This is not called teaching. Students should learn their reading skills at school first, then practice them at home.

An instructional facilitator at PLP should take a look at lower grades reading skills and determine how the teachers are implementing them. Check how the learning process is being designed by the teachers. We are receiving "busy sheets". In school, I want my child to learn, not be busy by being assigned a simple sheet. With so many resources on hand these days for the teachers this should not be a difficult task. The reading exercise should not be used as marketing on school social media pages. The teachers must actually follow them at school on daily basis.

Campus is great, I fell my child is in a safe environment and parents in the lower school are actually are very involved in their child's academic success.

After moving to the LN area about 8 years ago I have had my children in 3 different schools trying to find a good fit for a whole child education. This is it. I love the small, community feel to the school and that each year is better and better. I have heard there were some rough years during its first few years(opened in 2006) but it has now obviously hit its stride.

Tour school; pay attention, students look like hollowed out versions of children. As reward, children may ride 2nd-1st floor slide, BUT, instructed not to make noise, an example of PLP's warped sense of children. K students confined to classrooms most of day resulting in high frustration levels. No behavior warning system, children get sticker or not, not knowing when hammer will drop; signals PLP doesn't understand child development. Principal advertises having worked in Kuwaiti schools, school has that vibe.

'Academic Partners' is a misnomer for teachers here. Communications mostly one-sided, once difficult question posed, communications cease or issues skirted. Teachers/admin cliquey. The 'library' is ~8'x10'; if focus is academics, why not build a library before gym or turf field?

PLP 'prep' in name only. Philosophy of strictness, humiliation & insensitivity equals 'prep' to PLP. Actual prep schools have tried/true 'educators.' Confidence-building, exploration & encouraged growth are true cornerstones of a prep school education. PLP relies on false sense of quality surrounding charters w/ attitude 'if you don't like it, leave.' Look deeper past phoney 'prep school' facade.

Friendly environment. Strong curriculum. Nice mix of books and technology. We are especially excited to see PLP grow with their offerings for young students. We look forward to the constant improvement PLP strives for.

Wow! I guess it's true that only the disgruntled leave reviews. I completely disagree with these reviews. I have a 2nd grader, 8th grader, and an 11th grader that attend Pine Lake. This is the beginning of our 4th year there. All three of my children have after school activities, and have plenty of time to get homework done. Two of my children are in the National Honor Society. If students "aren't learning anything", then I'm not sure how that happened. Look at test scores if you want to know how this school truly performs. Pine Lake takes education up a notch. Expectations are high, yielding students that are prepared for the next step. Teachers seem truly happy to be there. Their enthusiasm is contagious. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that my children are receiving a quality education.

Thank goodness the school year is over! Having children who attend Pine Lake means life is one constant battle after another. I have spent the majority of my time this school year monitoring edline to assure my children receive credit for the work they turn in. The administration hires new teachers each year and then neglects to provide them with the basic information they need to be successful. The parents are very involved in the school yet their voices are not heard. Most have given up because the administration refuses to listen to constructive concerns. Sadly it seems the parents really do want to help make the school better but without good leadership the school will not survive. Overall the environment is geared only toward the new construction projects and the shortcomings of the current teachers are ignored. My children have enjoyed their time at Pine Lake but begged us to remove them at the end of the year because they are so frustrated that they are not learning anything despite substantial amounts of homework. I fear the transition to a new school is going to uncover severe deficits in their education but we as a family are tired of the battles involved in attendance at Pine Lake. After visiting another school I was amazed when the principal told me they listen to parents and involve them in any way in the learning environment. This was music to my ears! My family will not miss Pine Lake and I would suggest that anyone thinking of attending the school talk to as many parents and students as possible to understand the environment.
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We have been very disappointed in Pine Lake Preparatory. The educational environment is extremely poor and our children are not receiving the education they need to achieve success in the future. Most of the teachers are extremely inexperienced and seem overwhelmed by what for many of them is their first teaching job. This charter school has requirements that public schools do not, such as service learning hours which require 40 volunteer hours per year logged with the school and a senior project the purpose of which is unclear. My children will be transferring at the end of this year and I frankly cannot wait to remove them from an environment where they are not learning.

Pine Lake Preparatory is a charter school which is relatively new to the Lake Norman area. This school seems to consider itself a private school, though all one has to do to enroll is have their name picked from a lottery. My children attended the school and we were extremely disappointed in the educational environment. The school prides itself on requiring a bizarre amount of homework each evening and such large workloads that no one could ever finish. My children were relatively popular so our home became a hangout for PLP kids, and I was amazed that all of them seemed to have no outside activities because of the PLP workload. No parent is permitted to express dissatisfaction with the way the school is being run. To do so elicits a response from teachers and school officials alike that if you don't like it you can leave. They show no interest in improving the school or the environment but instead are much more interested in building new buildings and raising ever greater amounts of monies from the families to pay for these amenities. We were very dissatified with this school and would not recommend it to anyone.