Nova Classical Academy Lower School

I was there for one year. I had teachers who threw pens, pencils, and even highlighters at students, mocked and humiliated them, and expressed to the point of outright stating they had favorites, and who those favorites were.

As a parent of several NOVA students for over 10 years, I caution parents considering sending their children to NOVA. We are leaving NOVA at the conclusion of this academic year. A large problem is that NOVA built a new school facility. Because of increased operating costs NOVA was forced to increase the number of students entering NOVA & to accept lateral transfers in the upper school. High performing classical schools do not accept lateral transfers in upper grades due to the difficulty in getting those students to do well in classes such as Latin. There is a small but growing group of liberal parents among these newer families who seek out NOVA only because of our high test scores. These parents are not interested in classical education but are well versed in catch phrases, wearing buttons and t-shirts instead of logically discussing issues. The high test scores are the direct result of parent involvement & the parents being the primary educators. NOVA was built on direct parental involvement. The board of directors this year just removed direct parent involvement in selecting curriculum materials and placed this power in the hands of a few board members who are social justice warriors. Several families that were at NOVA from the start have now left or preparing to leave at great emotional and financial cost. NOVA has replaced their original reading program for a less rigorous one, removed Singapore Math from the upper school, and removed the instruction of logic from the school of logic (6-8 grade). Logical? No, but necessary as NOVA moves further and further away from classical education. The dumbing down of NOVA has begun and a true classical education is being replaced by social justice. The most vocal parents have enlisted the help of outside community organizations who advocate for gender neutral bathrooms allowing boys and girls to share bathrooms and locker rooms starting in kindergarten through 12th grade. Like most ordinary public schools, the values of parents take a back seat to organized movements advocating social change by targeting our youth.

We have been a part of the community at Nova for many years now and have been pleased with the experience. A true model of the Classical teaching method, Nova has not only imparted academic subject matter but also a love of learning and greater sense of the world,its history, and our responsibility to its citizenry. We are grateful for our time here thus far and look forward to experiencing all the greatness that is yet to come, for ourselves and the Nova learning community.

This was a GREAT school, with a leaning toward classical education. Many dedicated exceptional teachers. Parent lead, and a community that compromised. In the previous 3 years the compromising has ceased, and a new administration and board have removed parent participation, chosen a less quality curriculum to make it easier on staff , and have embraced an agenda that will seriously damage performance and quality of a recently stellar public school. Very sad to see such a good school go down.

I couldn't be happier at Nova! Caring teachers who attend to the learning needs of my special needs child. Love it!!

The negative reviews of Nova below are exaggerated and, at times, factually inacurate. Nova educates EACH child according to his/her abiltiies. I hope that as parents read such reviews, they consider that there are multiple sides to each and every story, and that doing one's research is paramount to selecting a good school and working in a partnership between any school and family.

Our child was failing for almost a year. NOVA kept assuring us everything would be fine. A law known as Child Find states that schools have an obligation to take appropriate assessment steps when a child is suspected of having a disability. NOVA did not take these steps. NOVA finally agreed to evaluate our son, and stated that he did not have a disability. We were also informed that he would be held back the following year. We enrolled him in another school and found out that he has ADHD, Dyslexia and a Speech Language Impairment. Can you imagine propping up your test scores on the backs of disabled children?

NOVA is a one trick pony. They take above average students and produce above average test scores. This is not much of an accomplishment. In contrast, consider a local public school, Somerset Elementary. The percentages of challenging students enrolled at Somerset (English as a Second Language, Special Education, Free and Reduced Lunch) are 200 to 300 percent higher, and Somerset still matches or beats NOVA's MCA scores. Now that's impressive!
If your child is above average, he/she will probably be okay at NOVA. If your child is average or below average; your child will probably struggle, and be ignored until you remove him / her from the school. If you don't remove your child, your child will most likely be held back. You will be told that grade retention is usually a successful intervention. However, this directly contradicts the vast majority of research done over the past century. Finally, the systemic neglect of Special Education students at NOVA is deplorable.

Amazing school. A private school education for free! Great teachers, smart curriculum, great organization, character education, and so much more. I'm thankful every day that my child got in to Nova.