Rancho Solano Preparatory School

Came here during COVID and have had a very good experience.  Everyone (staff and student body) is so nice.  They care about the students and seek solutions when issues arise.  Also they are focused on academics but also very understanding of extracurricular pursuits.
Nov 14th, 2022

I'm writing this review on based off of my experience as a student from 2010-2014. Things here don't appear much better than what you could get at public school. Most students went to average universities, having a teacher quit  in the middle of a semester wasn't rare, staff turned a blind eye on bullying, the housing conditions that foreign exchange students had to live in were bad enough to incite a protest, someone peed in a teacher's thermos twice, etc. List goes on and on.Definitely not worth the tuition.
Jan 2nd, 2022

Nov 5th, 2020

Rancho Solano:Incredible teachers.Caring staff.Great kids and families.Between foreign exchange students, and our own children, we have sent all of our "kids" to 5 different high schools in Scottsdale.  Public, charter, and private.  Several have been great, but Rancho Solano high school has been OUTSTANDING!  By far the best decision we have ever made for our children's education.  The teachers are engaging, highly educated, and compassionate.  They make class fun, and encourage CRITICAL THINKING!  And let's be honest in a world where everyone sees what their favorite influencer or political party says first, raising a child who is supported for their independent, critical thinking skills is a breath of fresh air.  Lots of families of the students are in medical.  Yet the kids are 50/50 when it comes to the educational track they are pursuing.   1/2 are STEM, and the other  1/2 are focused on more creative fields.  Rancho Solano is incredibly supportive for both tracks.  Our son who always thought he was more science minded, thrived in creative writing.  He is even considering that as his minor in college.In regards to college, a friend told me this:  You either pay for high school, or you pay for college.  And thankfully there are currently state tax savings programs that contribute to your child's private school tuition  - so there are no excuses.  You CAN send your child to an excelling school like Rancho. Our investment in our son's private school education payed 2x more in college scholarships that he was offered!  (He was offered 6 figures in college scholarships!)Our other kids didn't receive anywhere near the same number of college scholarships after attending other high schools - which made paying for their college much harder for us (and them).  Rancho even has a staff member whose job is to help your child get into the best colleges for them! We fully believe Rancho Solano saved our son's life - and gave him a reason to excel.  He's perusing an educational track above and beyond what we expected of him (and we expected a lot).   He says some of the best friends he made at Rancho are the teachers.  He felt like his voice mattered.  And he THRIVED there.  You will hear me support ALL of our state's teachers because they are all doing the best that they can with the resources they have.  And I will also tell you that the teachers at Rancho Solano are BEYOND!  They reignited my son's love of learning after school burnout from other schools.  And the administration took time to meet with me, listened to my concerns, and they TOOK ACTION to make things better.  That never would have happened in a large school.Incredibly grateful for Rancho Solano and everyone there.
Jul 15th, 2022

After 9 years at this school, we are not returning.  The curriculum has been destroyed.  Upper administration does not care about the families nor children at all.  They have let go of all their top teachers for budget cuts due to the bankruptcy.  They publicly announce if you do not like whatever their constant changes are then there is the door.  They hire a teacher with a history of being drunk at recess during the middle of the day ....only for the elementary students (my children's classmates) to find her incapacitated at lunch rolling around on the floor.  The administration then refuses to address the matter with the parents.   This IS NOT the school it was 10 years ago.   Only the remaining portion of the name still exists.  It is also now owned by a Chinese group who promotes bringing Chinese educational propaganda to the United States when you convert their website from Mandarin to English.    They focus on recruiting children from China at steep fees and disregard the local students.  Kids from here are testing poorly into private high schools overall as international way to keep kids at their Highschool.  They only ones getting accepted are those receiving outside tutoring and preparation. It's heartbreaking as Rancho was once highly respected and a positive tight knit community.  Most of that community has fled.  Notice how it says "Middle and Highschool in the description?"  The receiver stated they may have to close the elementary school due to the bankruptcy two years ago.  Budget cuts continue, as well as laying off of more top quality teachers.  Stay away....far away!!  N
Jul 30th, 2021