Portland Arthur Academy, Portland | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

I’m a past student. This is my experience there. This was over 10 years ago, so take it with a grain of salt, as a lot of the staff has changed and it may be a place worth looking at for you, but make sure you ask the right questions, and ensure that your kids are not being bullied here. A lot of my friends and I came out with lifelong scars emotionally.

My Pros:
-I believe this school to teach wonderfully when it comes to courses required for success. It was the only school where I achieved Academic greatness. I was only able to make it to the top of my classes thanks to a select couple of teachers. For that, I’m infinitely thankful.

-The events were great usually, and super fun, when I attended over a decade ago. Raffles, games, free food, even kittens sometimes!

-At the time they had a YMCA/Daycare available after school, where I was able to socialize and the staff were the real stars.

-My aunt works with the church connected to the school, where they host the crab feeds, spaghetti feeds, and all things like that. It’s a very welcoming place with smiling faces.

-It was close to home.

-My first grade teacher has left a forever great impression on me, and to this day I absolutely adore her. She was the best and showed compassion like no other.

My Cons (once again over 10 years ago):
-There were a couple of abuse incidents with a principal who has since been fired. She dragged me across the pavement (about 15ft) leaving scrapes and bruises up and down my legs, and told my parents I had fallen playing. (2nd grade, I’m 23 now.)

-The bullying there was absolutely horrible. Not just for me, but especially my lifelong friends (about 5 of them) who all ended up leaving. The teachers and upper management at the time gave no care for it and often times were bullies too. I’m not sure how much this has changed, but I do know one or two people who followed through with this school until high school who claimed that it never changed and were still often treated with disrespect by teachers and other students alike.

-The school began firing the good teachers who showed genuine care of education and being and traded them out for cold, “i hate my job” type of people (However, I have heard this has improved greatly).

-Lack of understanding and communication.

This is an amazing school! I have sent all 3 of my children through this school. The teachers are so caring and in tune with their students and the education is by far above what they were receiving at their equivalent regular public school. Funding is hard to come by and teachers often leave after a year or two, and usually the teachers are new hires fresh out of their own education, but this means they are still full of passion and that really does shine through! There aren’t as many resources as perhaps the local public school (sports, clubs, after school etc) but it’s a small close community and the teachers and staff go out of their way to help each student. They are a very dedicated group of teachers.