I came to Heritage Academy Mesa for 1 year and absolutely despised it with my entire heart. Sure…read morethere's fridays off and "hot lunches" that your parents may order for you, but I want to tell you about my and other "scholars*" experiences. Scholars is the name that the teachers call the students at Heritage Academy by. I will give you all the reasons why this year was terrible and will not use their writing style (CRED's)* Creds stands for Claim, Reason, Evidence, Discussion, and teachers will use Harvard Keyword Outlines alongside it because this is a review and I'm lazy. Remember that this is completely biased and won't be everyone's experience at this school. And also take into account that this is for the Mesa campus, as it is very tiny and squished. Also, I will not be using my real name for my own safety (this is not my direct account).
I would like to talk about the staff and "scholars", both the good and the bad, and the beliefs pushed onto "scholars" by sending your child here. I would like to start with the fact that many of the staff and "scholars" are Mormon (LDS) and your child will have this influence if you send your child here. (I'm not trying to say it's bad or anything I'm just an Ex and I prefer not to hear about it) staff will not hesitate to say where they were married in one of their temples, but often doesn't go beyond it. But some do mention church on other occasions. Also, "scholars" tend to be homophobic/ transphobic and that may affect your child. Although some staff will go easy on you when in class, some are hardcore (I will not name anyone for their privacy). Overall the staff also will push patriotic beliefs on "scholars" and is a highly christian based school. For your information and child safety, teachers also can use "scholar" bathrooms. Although there have been no incidents that I have heard of, once there was a teacher watching corn (adults know what I mean) and accidently broadcasted it to that class by accident. The teacher was fired luckly, but thought I'd mention that. Also, that was not my experience for some context and happened in the previous school year. That concludes the staff/ "scholar background paragraph. There have been incidents of sexual harassment by some of the more tiresome "scholars", and then continue to say that what you said wasn't scholarly, (the experience of sexual harassment was not mine and the students that harrassed the other one were thankfully suspended). The principal*, when I said I would like this (person they were interviewing) should replace my teacher because the person being interviewed was better at teaching the subject, slapped me (gently) on the arm, which made me EXTREMELY uncomfortable (she likely did because she thought I was joking) *This Person will no longer be principal for the 2026-2027 school year* A similar experience happened when I made a dark poem and wrote it on my assignment to get myself to stop laughing during class when she wanted us to shut up. About a week later, she talked to me publicly about it (before class when everyone was talking) and touched my arm out of concern- which made me very uncomfortable, even if she was concerned about me. In general, most of the staff make me uncomfortable just by sitting in a room with them.
Now, about the rules and standards of this school. That dress code is one of the most strict I have seen.(I haven't been to many schools, but I have heard of similar schools having less strict dress codes that I will not be naming). As I have almost been dress coded on a "Dollars 4 Duds"* day Dollars for Duds is a day scheduled by Heritage where you can bring cash in exchange for wearing normal clothes- with a strict dress code 'but at least its something' now continuing what I was attempting to say for a semi- cropped top that you could see some of my stomach when lifting up my arms, and it wasn't noticed towards late in the day. I also couldn't wear anything over 4 inches above the knee, which was a huge challenge for me, even if my clothes are pretty modest (other than the crop top). Which is why I kind of think its a scam to look normal at this school. Also on the "no profanity" rule, teachers either don't blink an eye (except for some) or have terrible hearing because I have never seen someone get a Log Entry for swearing. PDA is also challenging to deal with, as you can't hug, kiss, or really do anything.Now to the English program, that is tedious. The English program at this school is extremely advanced and will constantly have you on your toes with CRED's and Harvard Keyword Outlines, SO's Sentence Openers, SV's Strong Verbs, which are all DU's Dress Ups which are only stressful once it's implemented. Now these Rules and standards are incredibly challenging to deal with. Except for swearing because of reason stated - which is incredibly hilarious.
Now for the random things I have complaints about. "Hot Lunches" are kind of a scam. Especially because of
