The Pioneer School

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My goodness, where to start about how wonderful this school is... my wife and I have a "hashtag" that we each say to each other all the time about this school... #wortheverypenny !! Every time our two boys come home and tell us about something they've learned, be it a new life skill, or having developed an opinion about a current event to which they've been exposed.. "#wortheverypenny"! Of course, they learn their academics as well through the wonderful FLVS curriculum - with tutors available for students needing help. Their model does a great job of summing it up, so I encourage you to read it at their web site - staugustinepioneer dot com - click "model" under "about us" ... and, please consider this my personal invitation to message me *directly* with any questions you have for a parent with kids that have attended (and are currently attending) this school. I cannot say enough good things about it.

Both of our boys (6th and 8th grade) attended last year, and our now 7th grader will be returning. This is an absolutely fantastic school for middle schoolers and was/is a perfect fit for our family. Using FLVS for the core academics was great - wonderful curriculum and teachers and the Pioneer School offers plenty of support for kids who need it. And the additional curriculum and activities in the afternoon provided by the Pioneer School teachers is so very valuable and diverse and has helped each of our boys find their voices and given them self confidence and a deeper understanding of many aspects of the world. It's such an overall great atmosphere - perfect combination of support and high expectations to be the best "them" they can be.

As the Director of this school, I'd like to address the other review listed on this site. We are truly sorry that the noise of our children outside has affected you- I am the person that answers the phone at the school and we only received one phone call this last year about the kids being too loud. Please know that our kids are never outside unattended, as we pay a tutor daily to be outside monitoring them. Two of the 3 tutors are young adult women who may have been mistaken for students from across the parking lot. The Principal and myself are inside during breaks and recess catching up on administrative tasks, cleaning up, returning phone calls, having a bite to eat, or preparing for afternoon lessons. Middle school age children have a lot of energy and ours are on their computers for 3.5 hours per day, so we like to give them ample outside time to expend that energy so they can focus on their studies during work time.
As for time spent on academics, our kids do their online courses each day from 9:00 am - 12:30 pm with a 15 minute outside, supervised break at 10:45. Their lunch/recess period is 45-60 minutes long and is also supervised by our tutoring staff every day. We will work harder to ensure that our kids keep the noise at a reasonable level- they are typically playing sports in the back yard during break. Occasionally, we have some afternoon lessons outdoors.
Almost all of our students maintain As and Bs in their core academic courses and are provided rich, varying classes in the afternoons including Drama, Spanish, Brain Hour, Human Skills, 4-H, Odyssey of the Mind, Boat Building, Debate and much more. We are a small, non-profit school dedicated to providing an educational home for families who choose to be in a small school environment, or homeschoolers ready to start schooling with peers. We have very high expectations for our kids, both academically and socially. Sometimes the kids do behave like kids and argue or use unacceptable language, but it is always addressed by our staff. One of our credos is 'character is who you are when no one is looking.' We work hard encouraging our kids to be kind, respectful, and model citizens.
Again, please accept our apologies for any past disturbances and feel free to call the school anytime to let us know what you're experiencing. To learn more about our program, visit www.staugustinepioneer.com and www.facebook.com/pioneerschoolstaug.