Pioneer Springs Community School

We are so thankful for a school and it's not traditional atmosphere. Sooo good for our child with ADHD with a large focus on being outside, up and moving around and their weekly social/emotional classes. Every child is encouraged to be their unique self!

This is the best year we have ever experienced for our daughter. The personal attention to our child from the Pioneer Springs team has helped her blossom with confidence and enthusiasm about learning. Their focus on nature and hands on learning, and being outside a lot during the day has made her subjects come alive and she loves it. I am very grateful this school exists!

This school is a great nature, calm school. If the students are independent this is definitely an amazing place to be.

I was a student at this school for a year and a half(I left mid was through 8th grade). This school is horribly run. Classroom management is not there, discipline is not appropriately used and the children I was in class with were socially behind and lowkey messed up. Some of the stuff that happened while I was in this school would have never happened in a public school with normal children. Most of the behavior that happened here should have resulted in suspension or expulsion, only got a slap on the wrist. I am being so serious when I say that majority of the children here are REALLY messed up. Pioneer Springs is basically a behavioral school. There are only two classes in each grade that all get the same classwork(unless you have a 504 plan) so if you are hoping to find advanced or more help for your child you won't find it here. Trying to leave this school was nightmare as the administration took their time removing me from the school. This school should be shut down.

We love Pioneer Springs! It has been a welcome change for our daughter. The traditional school setting was not right for her. Pioneer Springs offers lots of outdoor learning which is perfect for her. The teachers are great. So caring and nice and they communicate to the parents.

The previous reviews discuss negative things about behavior problems. I am a mother who has seen this school bring out the very best in my children who have been attending for a few years. My children hated public school. They were bored. My oldest had major behavioral problems due to health issues in the public schools. The staff and teachers worked with my children and each year my children show great improvement and desire to go to school. I am very well educated and taught in NY and NC public and private schools for years. Every school has things to work toward improving. I really appreciate the time this community has put into my children. They have made a world of a difference to our family. Further, classroom disruptions are normal. Children come from many backgrounds and family transitions. A lot of these disruptions are age appropriate. My children and I feel safe and welcome at Pioneer Springs Community School.

My grandson attends PSCS. He enjoys the learning opportunity he was provided. This year he learned to collect eggs from hens, ride a zip-line, climb a rock wall, make butter, and learn math, reading and all the other traditional course work. We see a big difference in him this year.I asked my grandson last week, "Do you like your school?" His response was, "I love Pioneer Springs!".When a child loves going to school, that clears a lot of hurdles. And, that is good enough for me. I love Pioneer Springs, too!

As with any school, it is not a good fit for everyone. In my opinion it is fine for grades k - 2. However, I have been told by others that they feel k - 2 are the important foundation years and that PSCS did not provide that for their children. For us, we loved the philosophy behind the school and had high hopes for our child to thrive in such an environment. That is why we volunteered and spent a lot of time on campus. The school is great at creating special fun events, but not educating or keeping students engaged in learning. We kept saying "Let's give it one more year. They are still working things out." But after many promises broken, the original Director leaving, teachers leaving during the school year, students leaving or not returning, we realized things are not improving. There is a large amount of turnover with both teachers and students every year. Many staff members own children do not attend the school. Most of the teacher assistants are parents with no classroom experience. All that said, if you aren't concerned about your child being at grade level academically and your child can handle the many disruptive students in the classroom (discipline is non existent) give it a try. It just hurts my heart to see so many families going to the informational meetings and assuming what they are being told is accurate. We have tried to be patient and proactive in adapting to the deficiencies, but each year academics become more important and PSCS is not equipped for grades above 3rd, in my opinion. There is a reason they have a difficult time filling seats while other Charter schools have long wait lists.

Terrible for grades beyond 3rd grade. No academics. The scores are manipulated to make it look like improvement. It is a Play School, appropriate for K - 3rd. There is a reason the school has a very large amount of student and staff turnover. We have been part of the community and do not want it raising our children.

The school does NOT function how they present themselves to perspective parents or the public. There are A LOT of issues at the school that made it impossible for our child to get the education that she deserves. The classes are heavy with special needs students and students with behavioral issues that do not get the services they need and the majority of the teachers attention is geared towards that student population. The students that are well behaved and don't have learning disabilities are the last ones to get attention. There are major behavioral issues in all grades that are never properly dealt with which results in most classes being in state of madness and chaos. The two founding families really run the school - two of them are on the board and two are administrators (none of which have any schooling or training that qualify them to run a school) - the principal is ok but often her attempts at making positive change are shut down but the founding families. She also is a really good talker and is good at making families feel like their issues are being taken care of but then she almost never follows through. I could really go on and on about the issues that are at this school- if you are thinking of sending your kids there don't waste your time.