ACCLAIM Academy

When I visited this school I was impressed with how the children conducted themselves. Later I realized that the kids weren't allowed to be kids but programmed robots. I am a parent and former employee.

I looked at the website for Acclaim Academy as I wanted to see if all of the teachers were coming back. This is what I saw:
“As we continue to improve the academic programs offered to students at our school we are making some staff changes which have resulted in several open teaching positions. We are now in the hiring process.”
This is very pathetic coming from Director Melanie Powers. One of the biggest problems at the school this year was the lack of quality teachers who would actually stay and work with the students. The reason there are so many openings is because all of the teachers hated the way your treated them. Talking down to the students and teachers and making them feel like trash is not a positive working or learning environment. The one that needs a reality check is the administration. This school will never achieve excellence until you learn how to love and respect students and staff. You think you know the Hispanic culture. Honestly, you do not. You try to change the way the teachers think and live. Look around yourself. You try to control your teachers and not allow them to talk to staff members that left your school and threatened them that they would lose their job. Is that how you control your family, too? You are not a virtues person at all. Talking about teachers that no longer work at your school creates a toxic environment. The teachers that left are not the toxic people; you are the toxic one. It’s funny how all the teachers found out that your so called Title 1 person told teachers that you were keeping money away from the teachers. She ran around talking about you and how unfair it was that you treated her like a dog with no extra pay. How did we know that? You know who is not trustworthy? This is not a lie; suddenly you post on your ads that there are stipends to return for the next school year, but only three teachers got money for that and some even got a 5K raise when others did not. This is not justice or fair or earned, which is a virtue. Parents look at the school academic curriculum; there is none. Teachers have to limit themselves in supplies to recycle, but the state funds the schools to buy supplies. Jr. high students sit during lunch for 45 minutes and they do not get the opportunity to go outside and play. Ask other parents. As a parent, I would wonder why this school lost so many teachers and administrators. Last year 10 teachers left and this year 16 staff members left your toxic school. I feel sad that even students that need special services are not getting them at this school. They tell their parents they cannot help them and even some families had to remove their students because they did not have patience to deal with students with special needs. The school food is always cold and students refuse to eat it. Roaches walk through the school cafeteria very un-healthy. A charter school is supposed to be a step above the public education schools. Acclaim academy is several steps below the standards. How many students are being retained because they could not pass the state standards for reading and math. Almost all are below grade level.

Not a good option if you re looking for a small charter to help your child. We placed our daughter here to provide her with a better education than public school. What a mistake :( Teachers leave all the time and students are taught by substitutes. My child is not happy. The school focuses more on discipline than on their education. This school has been a disappointment. My daughter can't wait to leave.

I am extremely disappointed with both, how long it took to get my child the required evaluation for an IEP that we knew existed since before kindergarten and the fact that my child was retained without my consent even after I had been adamantly clear I disagreed.

Knowing quite well my child would fall behind easily due to some testing she had done in the Head Start Program who had advised me to pursue IEP testing. I requested she be evaluated for an IEP at the beginning of kindergarten and I was advised to hold off by the teacher and school. She struggled and fell behind (as expected) but was still promoted in to first grade.

Once first grade came around I expressed to the teacher that my child would fall even further behind because of a learning disability I knew was there but had been disregarded the year before. I requested on two occasions to the teacher, and once to the principle during a sit down, to evaluate my child for an IEP as she was now behind to a point that would cause emotional break down for my child on almost a daily basis just to do her homework. Again my requests were disregarded and my child fell further behind, to point that I was asked to sign consent to retain my child. At that point I angrily but respectfully denied, sat down with the teacher, and demanded my child be evaluated at which point she stated I needed to do so in writing. Frustrated, I then sent an email requesting this evaluation which was finally considered and done. When the results came back, it was indeed determined “The child does meet criteria as a child with a developmental delay” and that “the student does need special education services.” It was determined that her delays were in cognition and communication. At the sit down with the evaluators and teachers after the assessment we concluded that she would be promoted to second grade with her classmates and get the help she very much needed since before kindergarten going forward. Shortly after, I received an email from the teacher that the principle was retaining my child despite my strong disagreement and results of the assessment.

I very much believe that my child would have never fallen this far behind had my requests not been ignored early on. I had several conversations with teachers and administrators from other districts and to my disappointment, I believe my requests were ignored due to the fact that these assessments cost schools large amounts of money. I believe now my child’s needs were ignored out of interest for ACCLAIM Academy’s pocket. My request is that my child enter the 2015/16 school year as a second grader, she should not have to pay the price of losing out on a year of her life due to the school’s lack of interest in her needs.