TESTIMONIALS
The tales my daughter tells about school everyday. “Mama! I was almost eaten by a sheep but saved by a buffalo in Mandarin class today!” A skit. She was talking about being in a skit. And when a friend struggled to hold up the sack in a potato sack race, “Treat it like it’s your underwear,” my daughter suggested, “if you make it a must, you won’t drop it!” That. Was PE.
Learning is play and problem-solving is fun for my daughter and, with her PA family, she’s at home. It’s not just the kids, it’s the grown-ups, too, as in staff and parents, everyone at PA just seems genuinely happy to be around each other. I’m talking let’s-coordinate-Halloween-costumes happy! Let’s-have-school-wide-weekend-playdates happy! It’s a whole different level of engagement. It’s infectious. It’s PA PRIDE. It’s modeling at its best, led by
superhuman principal Ms. Teresa. Preach and it likely goes out the other ear; model it and it imprints on my child forever.
If you’ve seen the PA curriculum, it’s academically intense. Yet, my daughter thinks it’s mostly fun and games, and is thriving on a healthy dosage of PA’s positive reinforcements, an audience of adoring teachers and supportive peers cheering for her. Of homework, she‘s generally nonchalant, “It’s like chores for you. I just do them.” And she does. Of testing, she actually looks forward to them, in the same way I imagine an athlete does competitions or a performer does showtimes. She shrugs off bad performances and beams with pride on good ones. I’ve yet to detect her feeling overwhelmed or pressured.
For anyone unfamiliar with the benefits of multilingual learning, PBL or individualized learning, I can’t recommend them enough. Those — integrated with SEL, arts and music — are curriculum ideals for me and
PA delivers them expertly.
Communication with school is near instantaneous. Feedback from teachers is with breadth and depth and, most impressively, with coordinated and targeted strategies on how they, as a teaching team, plan to continue supporting and challenging my child.
My daughter also loves the cooking and gardening classes offered in aftercare. That I no longer feel a need to supplement her learnings or chauffeur her around for enrichment classes is a huge relief. Would be nice
if she were to plow me a garden at home. Plenty of free dirt here. But, you know, I’ll keep finding the budget for her to plow that nurturing PA soil because the tales she tells of school are priceless.
~T. Nguyen (Parent)
My son jokingly credits his journey at Pacific Academy Costa Mesa to a random parent I chatted with while waiting in line at Starbucks. He's not entirely wrong. One caffeine-fueled conversation led us to PACM, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made.
My son recently graduated and truly loved his years there. PACM helped him grow not only academically, but also in confidence, independence, and curiosity.
One of my favorite memories was when he excitedly announced that he had been "hired" to MC the Winter Performance. The pay was terrible, but the experience was priceless. Public speaking was well outside his comfort zone, but with encouragement from Ms. Teresa and Ms. Ilenia, he took the stage and surprised himself. More importantly, the confidence he gained stayed with him long after the curtain closed. Ms. Teresa and the staff always seemed to know exactly what each student needed.
Mr. V, his English teacher for three years, sparked a genuine love of literature and writing. If you had told me a few years earlier that my son would voluntarily read War and Peace, I would have laughed. Yet there he was. More importantly, he became a creative and confident writer who genuinely enjoyed learning.
The trilingual program and international exchange opportunities were equally impactful. Through travel and immersion experiences, he strengthened his language skills, gained independence, broadened his perspective, and created memories he'll carry with him for life. To this day, he proudly reminds us that he never missed a single international trip PACM offered and is convinced he holds the unofficial PACM record for most trips attended. The trips also taught him valuable life skills. Thanks to Ms. Teresa, he even learned how to cut his own fingernails. As a parent, I can confidently say that's the kind of real-world education you can't measure on a report card.
PACM gave my son far more than a strong education. It helped shape a confident, curious, and resilient young man. For that, I will always be grateful.
- K.Nguyen, Parent
I love how much attention the teachers and staff give to each student at PA. It creates a friendly and inviting environment where my daughter looks forward to going to school everyday. The teachers are not only teaching the kids reading, writing, math, and history but to also have confidence, desire knowledge, and to always be curious.
We're in the Chinese immersion program, but there is also Spanish enrichment. I was so surprised when only after a few days, my 5yo daughter came home and started happily singing a Spanish song and using Spanish words around the house like it was normal.
Ms. Teresa, the Principal, is the highlight of our whole PA experience. If you speak to her about the school, the students, and the teachers, you can see how much she cares about all of them. It gives me a lot of confidence to drop my children off at school everyday.
~Don H. (Parent)
