Let me start by saying I have attended the school since January 2011 and have enjoyed my time there immensely. I have heard horror stories about how pathetic the school used to be under the old owner but currently I have found the staff to be extremely helpful and accomodating in any way they can be. First off this school gets many people from other schools where they do not teach state board properly. I can guarantee you if you do your homework here and make an effort you will pass your board the teachers really care and give you all the necessary tools it's up to you to use them. The one star review stating they can never find a teacher is total BS as it is a state board requirement that a teacher be present when students are performing services on clients as we are doing so under their license and they are the ones that catch the fines for our screwups. There is always a teacher on the floor and in every class usually 2 or more on the floor and 1 in every class plus an expiereinced stylest at the front desk and a cosmetologist that works in the admin office. As far as the comments made about the owner not being around, she is the co-owner not an instructor. She doesnt even have a cosmetology license so even if she was around she couldnt help you do anything related to schoolwork. That said she is usually there every day and there is an admin office for any other questions that has someone in it every day. Anyone whinning about her is either stupid as a bag of rocks or angry because they fail at life. I have seen students that have passed the test to get on the floor that just sit around all day and do nothing because they have completed the minimal number of operations needed to graduate and they just want to get the hours in. If you have no desire to do the work how is it the instructors fault that you dont know how to cut or color? I have literally walked past the door while an instructor was giving a lecture and they will stop mid sentence and attend to your needs. What other college have you ever been in where a professor giving a lecture would stop and attend to a student? That college doesnt exist. The staff at Athena are not pretentious like the majority of the industry they treat you like a friend instead of an infidel. I cant imagine ever failing at this school unless your have the IQ of a pet rock. You can miss 30% of class and still pass...it's not hard academically. The only thing difficult is the personal study into the chemistry and order of operations necessary in the industry, and that is a universal issue no matter what school you attend. I would say the only fault the school has is that it doesnt have enough equipment for doing facials on the cosmetology side of the school as students are constantly fighting over the beds so they can get operations done. Also Flat irons are not included in our $1000.00 kits which makes no sense whatsoever, and for the steep price the gear seems laughably lowrent as most instructors give you a list of things to replace the day it arrives. The school is currently being renovated and there have been minor improvements here and there. it's prety ghetto for Laguna Hills, old cracked barber chairs and folding chair desks for the main classroom. That said the instuctors/staff are very professional. I have never had anyone I didnt care for and they give you every opportunity to bring in clients and start working on each other as soon as humanly possible so all in all I'd say it's a little rough around the edges but it has all the essentials that count.
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