My five-year-old son is autistic, has an IEP, and struggles with transitions. Before school…read morestarted, we clearly explained his needs and were assured that the school would support him. We were even told that we could walk him to his classroom during the first week to help him adjust. Unfortunately, beginning on the first day, we received dirty looks and excuses about why we could not accompany him--even though the school had previously agreed to it. We eventually found one staff member whom our son was comfortable transitioning with, but he struggled with the music teacher, Eliades Ponce, who appeared impatient and visibly frustrated with him instead of responding with the understanding and support an autistic child needs. After meeting with Principal Colleen Love, we were promised that a dedicated staff member would help our son with transitions. That support never happened. Our concerns about the way he was being treated by Eliades Ponce and his classroom teacher, Mrs. Eliam, also did not lead to any meaningful changes. When we attempted to discuss our concerns and find a resolution, Mrs. Eliam often responded in an argumentative manner rather than working collaboratively with us. We had to take every additional step ourselves and repeatedly follow up to make any progress. Had we not remained persistent and paid such close attention, we do not believe these issues would have been addressed at all. In our opinion, this reflects a troubling lack of attention, communication, and care toward students receiving special-education services and their families. Most concerning of all, the school could not locate our son during parent pickup on two separate occasions. Each time, we were left waiting for approximately 15 minutes while staff tried to find our five-year-old child. That is completely unacceptable and a serious safety concern. We repeatedly raised our concerns and tried to work with the school, but the promised support was never provided and the situation did not improve. Ultimately, we felt we had no choice but to remove our son. Based on our family's experience, I cannot recommend this school--especially for children who require reliable IEP support, patience, and assistance with transitions.

Thankful that a school like this exists, in today's world of public high schools which are churning…read moreout uneducated graduates. This school is rigorous. The homework is substantial, the tests and quizzes are challenging, and the teachers expect a lot from the kids. It's not easy to get into this school (lottery and waiting lists) but it's every bit worth the effort. My kids will both graduate from here probably more capable than I was when I graduated college. The teachers are available virtually ANY time for tutoring, and the staff and parents group are both above excellent. Glad I found this school, and you will be too.

This review only pertains to McClintock HS's tennis courts…read more The courts are open to the public (after regular school hours)... and they are in terrific condition! Parking is located immediately adjacent to the courts... and the courts are well-lit until 10:30pm! This means that you can play tennis to your heart's desire! I never thought I'd love tennis as much as I do... and McClintock HS's courts are perfect for me! *****FIVE STARS*****

Full disclosure: This review is strictly about the school's tennis courts, NOT its educational…read moresystem! This HS is my favorite spot for some tennis action! There are 8 well maintained tennis courts that light up with a push of a button at dusk. A few lights are not working properly at the moment, so a couple courts are not well lit; hence the 4 star review...but once this is fixed, 5 stars baby!! The courts are for school use during school hours, but allows for public use when the kids are done with school! Nothing better than free & fun tennis!!!

I attended this school for about 4 years, choosing to go here to escape harassment at my local…read morepublic schools. Some instructors here are very good at what they do, and support their students to the best of their abilities. The student body is made up of artists, and most primarily are neurodivergent and/or are somewhere in the LGBTQ+ umbrella. The school is a bit smaller as well. As good as these things are for me, the many negative aspects are what drives my review down. The fact that this school has "Academics" in their name is somewhat laughable. Yes, in some aspects they attempt to create a good physical curriculum, but many other subjects they throw students onto an online curriculum and let some minimally qualified instructor watch them. Many struggled greatly in some subjects, me included, and some subjects had extremely limited support. As a college student, I feel like I was prepped poorly for college. The knowledge gaps, the lack of a real source to ask questions before graduating and heading to college were the biggest issues that I discovered. On that topic, worth noting this school does offer dual enrollment classes, which is good. Rules at this school are enforced on random. It seems to depend fully on the student, instructor, day, and how much the dean likes the person. There is also retaliation that occurs sometimes, and the dean will pry herself into situations that don't need her, and only listen to what she thinks is correct without hearing anyone else. The dean of this school is the central issue however. Because of her position, she acts as if she's better than everyone, and she's untouchable. She's got great skill at manipulating situations, so some people will see a completely different person opposed to others, which is why reviews are mixed. The cleanness of the campus is rather gross, and a reason for that are the "therapy", or occasionally defined as "emotional support" dogs brought in, that aren't ever in a designated spot, but instead brought into classrooms. One or two of these dogs are the dean's personal dog. One of the dogs, not the dean's, barks, and also is a type of dog that can cause allergies in some. Remember my statement about the school not being clean? Some students were very uncomfortable with these dogs being everywhere, but they couldn't say anything because the dean brings her dog, and some other students like the dogs, and don't want them to go away. I honestly would have gone elsewhere if I had known that this would be my experience.

As so many other reviewers have pointed out, this school has so much potential it could likely…read moreachieve if it weren't for a Dean who runs the school in a purely chaotic manner and thrives on "listening to the kids" so long as the end result is a CPS report or other way to divide kids from their parents. Equally as terrifying is Camille Rankin, school counselor, whose credentials include being an exotic animal trainer. In all of the time she's been at the school, she's failed to put in the hours required to counsel kids. I have met with her one time and she spent our meeting explaining to me that the Dean doesn't know how to effectively communicate or get thoughts across and we should listen to her as the voice of authority. In reality, Ms. Dowell is actually running the school and she does it with a level of grace and professionalism you won't see elsewhere at NSAA except in interactions with Miss C, who is a dance instructor and administrator. She is also humble, knows when to be soft and when tough love is in order. Everything that has been said in other reviews about Ms. Parker is also true. She is a blight on NSAA, a grumpy, angry and outright mean human who has caused so, so many kids to walk away from their love of art. She interacts with the kids from the moment they're dropped off to the moment they go home, enforcing ridiculous "rules" like they can't use the bathroom or "are walking the wrong way." Be careful about sending your children here. It's not just the lack of physical security that's an issue (no lockdown drills, no emergency protocol) but there is a deep, deep threat to the kids' psyches between the Dean and Camille, the exotic animal trainer who hasn't put in enough hours to actually be certified to do the job she is doing. The fact that Camille will counsel children and, as part of that counsel, tell kids and their parents that the Dean is incapable (which IS true) is super confusing to young minds. I think a really recent story that illustrates what's important to the top brass at NSAA is this one: this summer, during some of the hottest months, the a/c in the middle school went out for an extended period of time. Parents were not alerted unless their child mentioned it. But watching the Dean get into her Land Rover and drive home in the lap of luxury each day while these innocent kids were sweltering really struck a cord with me. It's a good lens to look through when thinking about this school.

Great School with less student per class ratio. 6th to 8th grade with only 360 students total. With…read moreit being a smaller school, unfortunately Orchestra and Band were removed from the elective choices. That is why my rating is not a 5 star. This school only allows students with above average grades to enroll. You would think that Orchestra would be more of a priority for students in an Academy of International Studies school. Just feel like this should be included as it is in every middle school alternative

I absolutely LOVE this school! My kids went to this school for a little bit and they were amazing…read morethe whole time! I love how they have the whole school is locked up. When school is in session the big gates remained locked. Also, no matter what you have to show your id when picking up your child. Mrs Jamie, the office lady is always so nice and welcoming but also, nothing gets by her! She is great at her Job! Thank you Cecil Shamley for always making my kids feel safe and getting them back on track with learning!

hey guys julian flores and when i was in this school i was bullied alot and ever since ive been…read morebullied this one student choked me my friend tried to help but he was too strong and the teacher pulled him away but didnt send him too the principals office

I came here to get a phone number and saw a 1 star review moving from Norfolk, VA and California to…read moreAZ I can tell you that this school is not a 1 star. Is it a solid 5 I would say, so here's why: 1.Mandatory parent participation and volunteer hours(forces you to be more involved in the school) 2. A+ rated ( better than not being rated right?) 3. Activities at school during the school year like a Fun Run to raise money, Water day where there is outside stations and parent volunteers, Trunk or treat hosted by the staff and parents with a DJ and food Trucks, In Class plays where parents could come watch and record (pre-covid) 4. Teachers like Mrs.Stevenson and Mrs.Lombardi kind hearted caring and eager to teach. Are there some things I would change yes, any school has things that need to be improved but overall this is a great school if public school is the route you take

This school used to be the top rated school in TSD. However, the principal Amy Bemis is driving it…read moreinto the ground. After she was hired, half of the staff left. I decided to keep my son enrolled after a teacher friend said he should be fine. That was a mistake. A student who bullied my son for three years threatened my son's life and Amy decided it was appropriate to offer my son one solution - mediation. This was after I informed her of the bullying for three year, which she magically "forgot." She thought it was appropriate that after someone threatens to kill my son to try to teach him "it's okay, let's work it out." When I brought up issues, she'd tell me "I didn't bring them up right after they happened so she won't do anything" in front of her boss, who was kind enough to agree that parents can bring up issues when they feel it's appropriate. If you do enroll your child here, Amy forgets everything, so I strongly recommend you keep an email record as proof. On top of that, when I brought my minority husband in to discuss issues, Amy gave him the nastiest looks which we both witnessed but kept quiet about. When bringing up these issues to the district, they didn't care. This experience was so bad for my family we're now leaving the public education realm and will be going to a charter school.

I used to be a good student. This was my senior year. I had…read moretough classes and blow-off classes before choosing an online school and I hoped that would stay the same. I was painfully wrong. I had 5 teachers in different time zones. I'm located in Michigan (Eastern time), yet, every zoom meeting was scheduled in Central time. I went from an honors student to just trying to pass in a matter of weeks. AP Lit I knew wouldn't be a breeze yet, the course work was just absurd. To continue in my lesson I would have to write up to three 700 word essays pertaining to a topic in addition to 1,000-word unit essays each day. Moreover, my assignments for science class, for instance, consisted of "Go to a water treatment plant and film how the filtration process pans out." Not only in the midst of a pandemic but how am I supposed to schedule a visit on my own? And how am I supposed to participate in group projects when I have no interactions with classmates? I would get emails saying "you have been removed from this class" then an hour later received another email telling me to disregard the last one. I'm sure the teachers are just as confused as I am in terms of how to go about the year. However, one teacher rubbed me and my parents the wrong way. He asked for our phone numbers (us being all of his students), and I didn't respond to his message because we had email contact in addition to Edmentum messaging. Due to the fact I didn't respond, my guess is that my teacher looked into my contact information held at my local high school and somehow got my mother's cell phone number without her or my knowledge. This is a very hard time for education. I'm sympathetic to parents, students, and teachers everywhere but this 'academy' has got to go. I had high hopes for college but now, because of EdOptions, my academic growth feels extremely stunted.

If I could give them 0 stars I would. No one can locate my child's records or help me log in. When…read moreI went to the office I was told that something was wrong with me. I'm not joking. I still can't log in to see my daughters work. I'm taking her out. This was at the 51st ave location.