Renaissance Academy Charter School

My son goes to Renaissance, and he is excelling in all areas of academics. He loves his teachers and his classes. They have a great art program, where he learns about famous artists, and then replicates the their style... The music program is great, and he gets hands on lessons with many types of instruments, and musical styles, and he is learning to read music. Spanish is taught starting in Kindergarten, and by second grade, he can speak Spanish with proper pronuciantion, read and write (in Spanish). Their reading program is very good, and most, if not all, the kids can read by the time they leave Kindergarten, and are reading chapter books by second grade. The kids are grouped by reading ability, and in Math, by Math ability. The kids are expected to act with respect, be responsible for their actions (and their belongings), are are taught anger management skills, problem solving skills, and study skills. They also teach organizational skills starting in Kindergarten, including having the children be responsible for writing down their home work in their Agenda Book every day, and making them reponsible for getting their own homework in their backpacks.
They use a reward system and a 100% chart for behavior. The reward those who act in accordance with the Core Values of the school, and if they have a bad day, and mis-behave, disrupt the class, talk over the teacher, etc, they are given warnings (in the lower grades), and then are asked to move their name down. If they go down to 70%, they miss out on the end-of-quarter party. They are given opportunities to move back up throughout the day, so it isn't often that the kids miss the party. My son occassionally goes down to 80%, for talking, but he is learning to keep his talking in check.... All in all, this is a great school, and a good fit for my family. The only downside, is most of his friends do not live in the neighborhood, so it can be a challenge when getting together with his friends....