Journey School, Aliso Viejo | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Sadly this unique school has moved from a great idea in someone’s garage, and a lovely but incompetent school early on (we have been there 8 years at this point) to a hypocritical farce.

Journey school has a curriculum where you can’t really know how your children are doing. If they are gifted or unique or COULD BE gifted or unique, I have seen them time and time again miss these kids literally for YEARS. It happened to both of mine–one for 4 years and one for 8 years!! At the point they realize your child is gifted, special needs, Autistic, ADD, ADHD, Dyslexic, or more, your child has missed valuable time. Further, they don’t want to educate any child who requires any extra resources despite the law requiring they must do so.

Then, they will either try to force you to leave, sue you, case build against your child, suspend or try to expel your child — or horrifically threaten parents with arrest!!! They did that with me, although it was illegal to do so. They also get the Capistrano Unified School District and their attorneys involved. They all lie in court and even destroy permanent information from your child’s file–at that point anything to win and avoid educating your child.

All this happened to our family and many other families I’m aware of. This school is an illusion not a reality. We have sadly moved from loving them to seeing the illusion for what it is.

If you start your child in Kindergarden, they could be missed or fall through the cracks LITERALLY FOR YEARS. If you are lucky you have a good teacher. But they have egotistical Administrators. They have taken the best teachers out of the “grades” classrooms, and failed to coach or mentor the other teachers all to maintain an illusion.

Journey has failed to take responsibility for their failure to properly educate children, properly meet their educational needs, and worse for bullying on campus.

Unless you know for sure your child is “average” on all accounts, and you don’t mind dealing with an Administration who is willing to lie and cheat to maintain their illusion — I cannot recommend this school.

Journey School offered what a traditional education couldn’t. Our two boys were losing interest in learning due to their old school – a traditional public school. We found Journey School and were lucky enough to get them both in – in 5th grade and 3rd grade! They’ve both been there for 4 years now (in 8th and 6th grade) and love it.

Journey School has broadened their minds, social skills, and life skills. Their love for learning has gone way beyond the classroom. Journey has allowed them to build their self esteem – to believe that they can do anything they set their mind to. They’ve learned how-to work with their hands (building a shed, benches, etc.), to draw and paint, multiple musical instruments (including my son’s new passion – guitar), gardening & environmental sustainability, knit and hand crafts, cooking and baking, and educational endeavors such as research, public speaking, and hands-on science. They feel a sense of belonging and community with events such as the May Faire, the Harvest Faire and monthly assemblies.

We feel that our eldest is ready for the social and educational strains that High School will bring, and our Middle School student is in a learning environment that nurtures his spirit and his mind.

All four of my children attended Waldorf based schools. Many people spend thousands of dollars to have their children in Waldorf for a unique education that supports a holistic and experiential approach to educating the whole child. We are thrilled it is now offered as a free charter program for all in Orange County. What started out as a radical approach to education based on Rudolf Steiner’s philosophies, has shifted with the times to focus on more technology to round out 21st century student needs.

It offers a child-centric program, many arts beginning with watercolor and working up to form drawing, eco-literacy and media literacy, as well as hands-on learning opportunities through gardening, woodwork, handwork, games, and numerous outdoor daily and overnight field trips that support the curriculum.

This is quite different from traditional schooling so it is worth taking a tour, understanding the philosophy, and digging into the curriculum and having your child visit the school to help ensure a good fit.

Best in your educational endeavors!

Happy Waldorf Parent