University Preparatory School

My daughter has been attending U-​Prep for 4 years and my son for 2. Neither of them had an experience like the disgruntled parent below.
We are fairly new to Redding. We moved here for the schools which are excellent across the board in the city of Redding. No school is perfect and each child will do best in a school that best suits their individual needs (my oldest child had learning disabilities and thrived at Shasta High School, and then entered Chico State University directly from H.S.)
This school is best for students who are high achievers AND have a very strong work ethic. If your kid is brilliant but lazy and undisciplined this is probably not the school for them. If your child enjoys being challenged in school and wants to go to college at a UC or Ivy League school then this is a terrific school.
U-​prep offers so many sports, arts and other extra curricular activities for a small school it is very impressive. Every time I watch the music recitals I get a tear in my eye. I wish I had attended such a wonderful school when I was a kid. The school is on par with the top public high schools in the Bay Area (such as Piedmont High.) It ranked in the top 200 public high schools in the nation last year by US News & World Report. There are a number of youtube videos available about U-​Prep. Just search U-​Prep & Redding as keywords. The principal and teaching staff are fantastic, I can’t say enough good things about the work they do at U-​Prep making the school really fun, safe and comfortable for everyone who attends there.

I graduated from this high school in 08′. I can say from the three years I attended, it was just the learning environment I needed, and it really did prepare me for success in college.
Teachers here expect quality work from the students, and they really do care about teaching. Another bonus is that one on one attention is definitely available if it is needed.
Best high school in the area in my opinion.

In Redding this is considered to be one of the top ranking schools. We were thrilled to make it in the Lotto for our daughter to attend. What a huge disappointment it ended up to be. The building it’s self is nice and there’s plenty of room for all the great courses they offer. The language and music were very enticing to us. The high school students and middle school students are not kept separate like they tell you they are. So your 6^th-​8^th grade student will be living in a high school world. Which makes things, they really aren’t ready for a regular part of their day. It’s especially not so great for girls. The 6^th grade math teacher Mr. Nichols is extremely unorganized and openly asks for bribes for late assignment turn ins. It is well known he hands out a flyer with his Starbucks order for all late assignment students. Then if you purchase his Starbucks and turn in the late assignment. He is so unorganized he usually doesn’t give you credit for it anyway. So you still have missing assignments and he has enjoyed his mocha on your dime. He is the only 6^th grade teacher and unless your child gets into Algebra they will have him in 7^th grade as well. Snake bite, nose piercings, tattoo’s, and other problems like these are a regular on this campus. The science teacher is often too busy with foot ball and will take a several days to well over a week to return your email or call. A friend of ours had a daughter attending here who had a B+ average. She found a learning disability after testing. When approaching the principal about what they might do to assist her daughter. She was told she would be expelled from the school because it’s a academic achiever that doesn’t cater to those type of students. She came to me with this story and I was absolutely appalled. Yes the language classes are great and there are some impressive classes. You have to ask what kind of student to I have before going here. This school will not work for you or your child. You will have to do all the work yourselves. So if you love the curriculum and have a over achiever, go for it I say. Otherwise you might save yourself a lot of time and disappointment by attending one of the other great schools. Like Mountain View, Redding School of Arts, and later Foot Hill or Anderson New Tech.