Paradise Unified School District

What Paradise Unified School District does

Paradise Unified School District (PUSD) is a California public K-12 school district headquartered at 6696 Clark Rd, Paradise, in Butte County, serving approximately 1,800 students across a 220-square-mile area through seven school sites: Cedarwood Elementary, Paradise Elementary, Paradise Ridge Elementary, Pine Ridge School (elementary tier), Paradise Junior High School, Paradise High School, and Ridgeview High School, with a dedicated online pathway via the Paradise eLearning Academy. The district reports a 93% graduation rate and 270+ staff, and it operates Traditional TK-12 instructional programming supplemented by CTE/STEAM, FFA, athletics, junior high electives, and social-emotional/wellness services that are a continuing legacy of the November 2018 Camp Fire.

The technology footprint is conventional K-12 administrative infrastructure rather than proprietary IP. The district runs the Aeries Student Information System for enrollment and gradebook, ParentSquare for automated multi-channel family communications (email/text/app in 15+ languages), the Escape Employee Portal for HR/payroll, Vector Solutions (Keenan Safe Schools) for staff training, Sora (Overdrive) and Follett Destiny Discover for library/digital content, GoFan for athletic ticketing, HomeCampus for athletic clearance, and CatapultCMS for the public website. Benefits administration links out to CalSTRS, CalPERS, Blue Cross, Delta Dental, VSP, California's Valued Trust, and the Butte Schools Self-Funded Programs pool.

As a political subdivision of the State of California, PUSD generates no commercial revenue; it is funded through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), local property taxes, and federal grants, with governance from an elected Board of Trustees. Following the Camp Fire, the district has executed $155M in facility improvements since 2019, recognized PBIS Silver (2023) and Gold (2024) at the junior high, and stood up dedicated Camp Fire Resiliency counseling. There is no venture, private-equity, or parent-company ownership structure, and no M&A activity is feasible in the legal sense given its government-entity status.

Name

Paradise Unified School District

Legal name

Paradise Unified School District

Website

https://pusdk12.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Paradise Unified School District is a California public K-12 district in Butte County serving roughly 1,800 students across seven schools with a 93% graduation rate and 270+ staff, funded through LCFF and local taxes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Public Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111), Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Virtual & Blended Learning Programs (District-Run) (EDAJAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

District-Run Virtual Academies & Online Programs (EDAJADAB)

Keywords

• Public K-12 education
• School district services
• Student wellness programs
• Career technical education
• Distance learning programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Paradise

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Public Education Funding: Funded through state and federal education funding formulas (LCFF - Local Control Funding Formula), local property taxes, and various educational grants and programs. The district operates free public education while providing some fee-based services such as food services, facility use, and certain programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Paradise Unified School District delivers free public K-12 education to approximately 1,800 students across seven school sites spanning elementary through high school levels in Paradise, California. The district offers traditional classroom instruction supplemented by Paradise eLearning Academy for online independent study, career technical education and STEAM programs, athletics, food and nutrition services, mental health and wellness programs, and library services. Operations are enabled by standard educational technology platforms including Aeries for student information management and ParentSquare for parent communications.

Product overview

Paradise Unified School District operates a unified K-12 educational system serving over 1,800 students across seven schools in Paradise, California. The district delivers instruction primarily through traditional TK-12 programs, supplemented by Paradise eLearning Academy for independent study and online learning needs. Student and parent engagement is facilitated through Aeries for enrollment and records management and ParentSquare for communications. Staff operations are supported by the Escape Employee Portal for payroll and HR functions. Beyond core academics, the district offers comprehensive support services including wellness and mental health programs, food services with free meal provisions at designated schools, and extensive extracurricular programming including athletics and career technical education in CTE and STEAM fields. Library services combine physical collections with digital resources through Follett Destiny and the Sora eBook platform, supplemented by California state digital content subscriptions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Traditional TK-12 Instructional Programs Comprehensive traditional classroom-based education for students from Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade across seven district schools including elementary, junior high, and high school levels.
• Paradise eLearning Academy Online independent study program offering long-term distance learning options for students who require flexible scheduling, including a dedicated high school track through Paradise High School.
• CTE and STEAM Programs Career Technical Education and Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics programs preparing students for college and career pathways.
• Paradise High School Athletics Competitive athletic program offering sports across three seasons: fall (football, volleyball, cross country, tennis, swim), winter (basketball, soccer, wrestling), and spring (baseball, softball, track, golf, tennis).
• Wellness and Safety Programs Comprehensive student wellness services including mental health counseling, suicide prevention resources, crisis intervention, and social-emotional support coordinated by the Wellness and Safety Coordinator.
• Food Services and Nutrition Programs School meal programs offering free breakfast and lunch at designated schools during the 2025-2026 school year, with nutrition resources and wellness policy support.
• FFA (Future Farmers of America) Agricultural education student organization developing leadership, personal growth, and career success through hands-on experiences in farming and related fields.
• Junior High Electives Program Middle school elective courses including Art, Band, Drama, Leadership, Woodshop, and Math/Reading Intervention to provide diverse learning experiences beyond core academics.
• Library Services and Digital Resources Physical and digital library services including Follett Destiny catalog, Sora eBook platform, and access to California K-12 Digital Resources including Britannica, TeachingBooks.net, and ProQuest databases.

Quantifiable outcome

• 93% graduation rate
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration19 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ParentSquarecoreTechnology or IntegrationDistrict uses ParentSquare as its primary school communication platform for sending messages to families via email, text, and app notifications. ParentSquare automatically generates accounts for parents using their preferred contact information.
• AeriescoreTechnology or IntegrationDistrict uses Aeries student information system for online enrollment and student/parent portal access for tracking grades, attendance, and other student information.
• Vector Solutions (Keenan Safe Schools)coreTechnology or IntegrationDistrict uses Vector Solutions online training system (Keenan Safe Schools) for staff training on safety and compliance topics.
• Escape Employee PortalcoreTechnology or IntegrationOnline employee portal for staff pay and tax information, implemented through the Escape technology system.
• Camp Fire Relief and ResiliencycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistrict partners with Camp Fire Relief and Resiliency programs to provide mental health and counseling services to students and families, particularly important following the Camp Fire disaster. Includes counseling resources and crisis support.
• Butte County Office of EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDistrict works with Butte County Office of Education for various services including internet filtering (CIPA compliance), and BCOE provides a counselor for the district.
• National FFA OrganizationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParadise High School has an FFA (Future Farmers of America) chapter, which is part of the National FFA Organization and California FFA Association for agricultural education.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Marysville Joint Unified School District: Public K-12 district in Yuba County in California's Central Valley. Comparable as a small-to-mid-size unified district serving a rural Northern California community with similar demographic and economic profile.
• Paradise eLearning Academy: The district's own online/virtual academy — included to reflect that within-district online programs themselves become relevant comparables for how district-run virtual academies are operated alongside brick-and-mortar schools.
• Oroville City Elementary School District: Public K-8 district also located in Butte County, California. Compares directly due to overlapping service geography, similar rural-to-suburban California operating environment, and shared Butte County Office of Education oversight.
• Chico Unified School District: The largest K-12 district in Butte County, serving Chico and surrounding areas. Highly comparable as a neighboring public K-12 district in the same California county with overlapping labor pools and similar Northern California operating context.
• Gridley Unified School District: Small K-12 district in southern Butte County, California. Directly comparable as a similarly sized public unified school district serving a small rural Northern California community.
• Truckee Tahoe Unified School District: Mountain-region California K-12 district serving Truckee and North Tahoe. Comparable as a similarly sized unified district in a small Northern California mountain community facing environmental risk and a constrained enrollment pool.
• Durham Unified School District: Small K-12 district in Butte County near Chico. Compares directly to Paradise USD due to overlapping county geography, similar rural-suburban California context, and comparable size.

Broad incumbents

• Kern High School District: Large California high school district operating multiple comprehensive and continuation high schools. Useful comparator on program structure, alternative education (Ridgeview High), and CTE breadth, though materially larger than Paradise USD.
• Los Angeles Unified School District: The largest public school district in California. Functions as a broad incumbent peer showcasing the upper bound of program scale, centralized SIS/communication infrastructure, and operational complexity.

Regional players

• Nevada Joint Union High School District: Sierra Nevada foothills high school district in Northern California. Comparable in scale and rural Northern California context, offering perspective on how a multi-school high school district operates outside a major metro.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pusdk12
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/ParadiseUnifiedSchoolDistrict
• Facebookfacebook.com/pusdk12
• Instagraminstagram.com/pusdk12

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Paradise Unified School District