Carden Cascade Academy Reviews

I went to Carden for 4th, 5th, 6th grade. When I entered the school I could not read, write or do any sort of math (And I was coming from one of the most expensive private schools in Portland). Unfortunately I was unable to attend for 7th and 8th At Carden. However when I transferred to another private school I skipped 7th going straight to 8th.

I eventually won an ROTC scholarship to Gonzaga University. I was a successful Army Officer with one combat tour and moved into civilian life. I am now a General Manager controlling roughly 40 million of a 100million company. I also was a major contributed in the companies growth from 25m when I joined to 100m in five years.

Mrs. Baker gave me the tools to catch up to my peers and then remain ahead of most of them since then. I could not speak highly enough of Mrs. Baker, and the Carden Curriculum.

I love this school! This is my 7th year there and I have two children there. The focus is on perseverance, good manners and kind behavior. Academics are very strong and each child gets to learn at her own pace. I love the fact that they have PE and Mandarin three times a week and have superb music and art teachers. My children love to go to school every day which is certainly not what my husband and I remember from our school days!
I especially appreciate the year round calendar and the extended care. These are very convenient for working parents. The extended care has many actives like yoga, soccer, taekwondo, chess and dance.
Having been at the school for so many years, I understand where some of the bad reviews are coming from - there were some issues with the administration some years ago, mostly due to growing pains, but those were resolved.
The school is bottom heavy with fewer children in the higher grades. This can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on one's child I think. Personally I love the 1:1 attention my children are able to receive.
It is a very joyful and happy place and I feel very privileged to be able to send my children there.

I took my 3-years old for an initial assessment. The lady who did the assessment told me that my child knew no counting and therefore, they can't admit him. Seriously !!! Do you expect 3-years old to know counting??

Since I had spend time in teaching my child and I knew that he knew counting. So, I asked him to count in front of me and he counted to ten just fine. The lady was embarrassed and she rescheduled the assessment. Later, my son told me that the teacher was not nice to him and he didn't like the way she treated him. If you don't know how to be friendly with a 3-years old then you are in a wrong profession. 150$ wasted in the assessment only to learn that the school staff is not friendly with kids. Stay away from this school!!

The school lost my pre-registration check, did not respond to my calls and emails in timely manner, and gave me the impression that they are totally dis-organized with things. They didn t show any interest in helping out with the issue. The principal talked to me in rude and unprofessional manner. I checked with other people at work, and several came forward saying that school lost important parts of their child's paperwork. , The feedback is that the negative tone the principal (owner) takes with parents is common. I will not put my child in this school, since i believe there are plenty of other great private schools that will keep their records straight and communicate with parents in professional manner.

We have been with Carden for over 6 years, so we have seen it all. In 2009 November when I first walked into the school seeking admission for my then almost 4 year old, the school had a total of 15 students and had just moved to their new location. I had been actively looking and comparing different private schools within a specific budget, and Carden came out as the best of all of my choices. It is a year round school, with options to sign in for day-care after school. This was a blessing for us working parents. School also provides options for extracurricular activities such as Chess, Taekwondo, Yoga, and Zumba.

The school has since grown to over 100 children. And has office staff that support the teachers. The Teachers are the best of the best. Dedicated and nurturing.

The Student to Teacher ratio is at most 1:4.

Now, let s get to the crux. All Carden schools follow Mae Carden Principles and curriculum. These are different from standard methodologies, but believe me, they work. Carden children are very well behaved. They excel in Spelling bees, Math Competitions, Science Fairs, Robotic Competitions, you name it.

You will not go wrong enrolling your child here.

For those who would consider cost as a key factor, you are paying the money to the teacher. In other schools most of my payment goes to the day-care. (This is assuming a full day at school).

Since at least one other reviewer posted on their enrollment experience, I thought we'd do the same. Our child is enrolled in Carden Cascade this fall, and none of our paperwork was lost. In fact, we were given both electronic and hard copies. Our questions were answered quickly and professionally.

We are very excited for our kid to attend this school. It has one of the best student-to-teacher ratios in the state. In addition to the great class size, the small school size is a huge benefit in our eyes. We think that more schools should look into the back-to-basics approach that the Carden Method uses.

It is true that small schools will have trouble affording extensive science facilities, but they do have Lego robotics, and interested parents with STEM schools can help overcome this challenge with other after-school offerings. After graduating Carden Cascade in 8th grade, I imagine many will pick their child's high school based on strength in science, technology, engineering, and math.

More than one of our son's friends from his daycare are enrolled in Carden Cascade this fall, and if things work out as well as we think they will, we'll continue to recommend it to others. I'll update this review if my impressions change, but I don't think they will.

I called there just to ask some questions. The office staff was rude and impatient with me on the phone. Why would I send my children there if they cannot even be civil over the phone?

This used to be great school, but the administration s attitude changed the feel of the school in single year. The staff, parents, volunteers, and children are not treated kindly, shown respect, or appreciation. The attitude is my way or the highway. Parents who speak up are asked to leave the school.
This treatment is taking its tall; significant portion of school s small staff left the school, and so did about 10% of existing upper-grade students (that excludes the students that were graduating). Key concerns were quality of instruction, bullying that has not been addressed, outdated science curriculum (science is taught by sitting, reading textbook, and answering questions), lack of creative methods to let children learn, explore, and love STEM. Sure, most of the kids in this school show good results on standardized test, but most of the kids are also from affluent families that value education and spend lot of time working with the children.
What s the bottom line? The student and staff turnover shows that this school is on downward spiral. Beware.

I worked there as a music teacher for a year and a half and loved it. Incredible school. There is a wonderful sense of community at CCA among the staff, teachers, students and parents alike. In my opinion, Carden schools offer the best curriculum available. Carden teaches children to think, analyze, speak, read and write effectively and to maintain curiosity and joy of learning. Classes are small, so teachers are able to effectively provide individual instruction. Most children progress quickly and when they leave Carden after 8th grade are a grade or two above their same-aged peers. Students learn character development and are some of the kindest, most polite and well-behaved students I have ever seen. Students have many after-school enrichment opportunities (zumba, tae kwon do, lego robotics, etc.), as well as wonderful field trips, music, art, PE and Mandarin included in the school environment. If I still lived in Oregon, I would love to teach there again!