Rocky Mountain Academy of Evergreen

Today is January 20, 2017. I am the current Principal coming to RMAE on November 7, 2016. I have 20 years of experience as a Jeffco school leader and 10 years at Platte River Academy, a K-8 Charter School in DougCo. I was asked to come out of retirement to lead RMAE. I know what I am sharing here. Yes, RMAE experienced a very difficult fall, but with the very hard work of the Board, PTO, supportive parents, and caring teachers, RMAE is back on track. RMAE is doing a "re-boot" with Version 17.1.0 for 2017-18 which demonstrates a commitment to what will be its 17th year, a Number 1 Program, and Zero Tolerance for Mediocrity. Dismiss the ugly comments taht may have been posted elsewhere. That is history. Come visit us and see the present and the future for yourself and the choice that you would have for your child to attend a quality school. Dismiss the ugly comments made below. Feel free to contact me at RMAE. Thank you, Dr. Gary Stueven

We were at this school for several years and the new director is running it into the ground. So sad. We had to leave bc she was singling out my child for things I said at board meetings. The curriculum has steadily gone down so the test scores can go up and she can claim success. Far from it. I hope it can survive.

Love the Core Knowledge curriculum. The teachers are excellent. My kid returns home from school happy every day, and enjoys school. He has good friends and is rewarded for character strengths. I couldn't be happier.

This K-8 charter school is the best school in the area by far. The core knowledge curriculum is far superior to common core. The class sizes are small and the teachers are amazing. The teachers will go out of their way to make sure your child is learning whether that includes extra reading help or advanced math. The new director has proven herself to be a great leader. The parents are extremely involved in the school with in-classroom volunteering to PTO to being on the board. The school offers specials such as art, music (including music history), P.E., technology, and Spanish starting in kindergarten!!! My children love to go to school and are thriving. Parents go out of their way to choose this school - this is not a district school. Take the time to take a tour and check it out for yourself. I promise you will not be disappointed.

This is a top notch preschool through 8th grade public charter school. We started in preschool and Debbie Caruso and her team of teachers and staff are truly special in their care of the wee ones. We are now in the elementary school at RMAE and my kids could not be happier. I have 2 VERY different kids. My oldest struggles where my youngest does not. In both cases, the small class size and extra attention either in advanced curriculum or in filling in deficiencies with my kids have been incredible. My struggler is back on level reading and really thriving. He truly is excited to go to school every single day. My little smarty pants, has advanced work and is also thriving and happy. ++ to this school are amazing in tune teachers, Core Knowledge curriculum, a stress on Random Acts of Kindness and core values, dress code, preschool - 8th grades, small class size, wonderful special programs like art, music, spanish, STEM, and after school programs. In Evergreen, you really cannot go wrong with the neighborhood schools. RMAE is a choice school. And I feel it is the best choice for my family.

Unlike the last 1-star review from a disgruntled parent 2 years ago (which was great, then) the new principal and board as of 2015 has the school in tatters. Enrollment is down nearly 100 kids. More are leaving by the day. Their "dictatorship" style of leadership has teachers leaving in the middle of the year because they're not valued. A sub has been assigned to multiple positions because of this. More are planning on leaving. What was once a great charter school is now the worst place in town to be. :(

This school is a terrible example of a charter. The staff thinks parents should stay out of any important decisions, even though it is explicitly stated in the charter that parents will have high influence over every important decision in the school. If you are looking for a traditional conservative Core Knowledge school, this is not it. The Director's way of "leading" is to allow the teachers and staff to do anything they want, with no accountability whatsoever. He does not believe in TCAP results, nor does he believe in survey results. TCAP scores are right under the neighborhood schools, but one must ask, why? They have smaller classroom size and what is supposed to be a more rigorous curriculum, why aren't they scoring better? Middle School is a mess with electives like the Justin Bieber fan club and poker, if you can believe that! There is not even a technology class or elective offered in grades 6-8. Middle school math is also horrible, with bad scores, math only 4 days a week and no real leveling. Many of the students that take Algebra will have to retake it in high school, as most of the class is not yet ready for the class. Evergreen has great local school options, if you can't do private school, go with those. Their scores are better and they treat the parents like they count.