Thomas MacLaren State Charter School

Religious-military is the best description. Way too many students here end up needing professional mental help, have suicidal thoughts, or becoming hospitalized from the treatment here. No grace is given. Concerns are swept under the carpet or not allowed to be talked about. Students with 504 or IEP are held to a GT standard, chastised & withheld from activities due to the ridged standards & inabilityto be high achieving in all arts. The school makes up their own rules above CHSAA. The 504 coordinator is new to education with no SPED/disabilities background, the 2nd is the GT teacher also with no SPED/disabilities background. The elem education is ok. Athletics are frowned upon! No dual enrollment. Can't afford new shoes, belt torn, can't afford a hair cut detention. The detentions/office referrals thus lead to being ineligible for activities & sports. Get a better start to college by going to another school who supports dual enrollment, athletics etc.

Wonderful experience and curriculum for my students in both the upper and lower schools. Love the variety in the curriculum and especially love the orchestra program. Teachers have been wonderful and pushed my students to excel out of their comfort areas.

Top notch experience that allowed my kids to be kids, but grow into successful adults ready to contribute to their community.

Performance speaks for itself. So does a culture of community, of goodness, truth, and beauty.

Our daughter loves this school and has embraced the culture of learning.

So glad my granddaughter was accepted here 5 years ago. Amazing school, teachers, faculty and now a real school building!

This is the best school in the world. If you want your students to learn an instrument, send them here. Orchestra teachers include members of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic.

A wonderful school, MacLaren is set up to help the kids achieve excellence. Between teachers who care and love what they do to a tutorial hour where anyone can get the help they need, this school strives to give kids the tools to achieve amazing things. Coming from a homeschool background this school was exactly what my kids needed. My kids have attended for three years and it's exciting to see how the school is growing with opportunities for them.

Thomas MacLaren School has been an excellent school for our daughter. In the three years she's been there, we've seen wonderful growth in her time management and study skills, abilities in written and oral communication, and overall excitement about learning! We have found the culture of the school to be built on mutual respect between students and staff and very accepting.

The rigor of the curriculum is balanced by the supportive environment created by faculty and staff. It is small enough that a child doesn't go unnoticed, and large enough to provide great opportunities in the curriculum and in after-school clubs and sports.

The school challenges my children to think outside the box. They read the classic literature that has become absent in most curriculums today. They are doing algebra in 8th grade and moving into the higher maths the first year of high school. The school is known for its exceptional music program, although I do think there is value in more than just strings and classic music. But it's a great jumping off point into other genres, giving the students a firm grasp of music theory and an appreciation for where music comes from and how it has changed through time. The staff is caring and student focused, seeing each child as whole.

Maclaren is still a relatively new school and, as good as they were in years past, it continues to get better each year

I just graduated from MacLaren and honestly, it could not have been any better.

The school really took learning to the next level. Students who didn't want to work hard were the ones who didn't last very long. In the end, you were left in your class with only the people who wanted to work hard, which was good. You were constantly encouraged to do your best. Some students thought that the curriculum was too tough or the rules too strict. The students who did well at MacLaren were the ones who realized that the school is the way it is because it teaches you to focus on the classics, and not on your cell phone.

The school taught good morals, confidence, and the teachers were always there to help. It was honestly the best thing that could have ever happened to me.

My student has attended Thomas MacLaren for three years now (transferring from traditional public schools) and it is the best thing we could have done for our child. The teachers take a genuine interest in the students and rise to meet the needs of each individual learner rather than taking a one size fits all approach. The intentional simplification of curriculum allows the students to master their subject and be continual learners. We could not be happier!

It's an excellent school with an excellent curriculum. It really has a sense of community to it and the teachers are fantastic. All you have to do is ask and they will help and they really care about both what they are teaching and their students without exception. You know everyone in all of your classes very well, but that can be a burden. The biggest problem with the school is that it is so closed. It is completely removed from the outside world. Students cannot leave once they are there for all hours unless they are sick or have a doctor's appointment or something. So if they just want to get away or text someone during their lunch break they can't. They will not be in touch with the outside world at all. They have to be happy with the people in their class, and i'm sorry to say that if they cannot relate to the other students they are out of luck. If this school was less like a prison I would have given it five stars. There's a lot I like about it, but it's definitely not for everyone, especially people who would like just a little bit of freedom. High school students can't even go walk to panera or just meet a friend outside school on their lunch break. Nobody is ever let off campus and that really bothers me. After all we're almost in college.