Maumelle Charter Elementary School

The Academics Plus Charter Elementary School ( Principal Paula Newton ) experience was the most disappointing and frustrating experience, as parents, that my husband and I have ever experienced in a school system. It feels as if this school did all they could to make the experience unbearable. Enter your child at your own risk.

We started our young son with the school with high hopes of a great experience from their above average test scores posted online and our general optimistic mindset for a great new adventure but... this positive view of this school quickly dwindled over a period of eight months due to the amount of pushback we received from our child's Kindergarten teacher ( Ms. Hale...synonymous for Hell If your child is assigned to this teacher request a change or be on guard ) and Principals telling us one thing and then not enforcing "this" teacher to make corrections and the nitpicking of the school's staff on the smallest behavior infractions of kids.

1st impressions are huge....Meeting this teacher at KinderCamp, she was distanced and didnt showcase the friendly personality that is generally associated with a Kindergarten teacher to "us."

Simple things were an issue: We asked for more direct communication after she noted he was misbehaving continuously. Son has speech impediment and would come home and say kids made fun of his stutter. We wanted to know what was happening to cause this...triggers, bullies, any difficulties learning and acting out as result etc....Our emails & calls were ignored or answered in delayed emails with short , quick responses stating she was already doing what she needed to do. Any strategies we suggested to help in the classroom for our son were ignored. The School then resorted to In-School Suspension ( son is 5 yrs old, not violent or aggressive....very social, friendly, happy and playful ) every couple of weeks.

As the year progressed, I started calling to speak with the teacher to discuss things better for the benefit of our son.....messages were left unreturned and possibly an email was sent that didnt address all my concerns. She then elevated to documentating that our son was below expectations ( son had done well in learning at a prior learning institution ). After doing classroom observations, this teacher wasnt friendly with students and didnt give much explanations of concepts. High expectations I love but with kids at the very beginning of their learning path, their is a not a "one size fits all approach" to each student's learning. As well, throughout the most of the school term this teacher would be absent for personal issues for a week or days at a time.

This school won and we withdrew our child immediately after the principal went back on her word and told us that the teacher would only communicate with us in email ( We hadnt done anything wrong but asked that we speak with her by phone as well ). We were tired of the unneccessary fight over trival issues.

Son is happy & excited at new school and getting very positive reports! :)