Flagstaff Academy is a charter school that I see as problematic. The math program in particular has…read morebeen an issue from the beginning and everyone in the administration knows this is true. A simple Google search will turn up research that proves that their various levels of mathematics for every grade level, discourages children in learning and creates math anxiety. When shown this research, the administration says there is nothing they can do about it because it's part of the charter. If your child is in a accelerated math group and then gets dropped to the next level down for the next year because of enrollment, etc. they will be learning the same math over again and will be bored and discouraged. When I transferred my children to public school after being years at Flagstaff Academy, my oldest, who was in accelerated math, had giant gaps missing in their math education. The teachers in the public school were not surprised they had seen this happen repeatedly from Flagstaff. My youngest child could not write more than a paragraph summation. I had to get my child extra summer writing lessons to catch up with their public school peers (who standard was riding five paragraphs). Also when we were there, not every teacher was teaching the same curriculum. The elementary had changed math curriculums so often that two of the teachers refused to switch. My kid wrote their college essay on the shock they received being moved from accelerated math at Flagstaff to public school math. I will never forgive myself. There are protections and standards in public schools that you will not find in a charter. Consider carefully your choice. My favorite part of their reply below is where they call me a liar. I would strongly suggest that you send your children to a public school that doesn't consider themselves a "business"

Great teachers, staff, community and resources. The PTO does a ton to support the classrooms and…read morethe variety of class offerings, especially at the middle school level, is exceptional. The school focus on safety and DRAGON PRIDE makes us feel comfortable as well.

This School provides a terrible education for both special needs AND gifted and talents students…read more Most of their staff including principals are more egotistical than educational and most teachers they hire are so bad at their job one of their students could probably do better. All in all this is a terrible experience for all involved

Worst experience we've ever been through. The special education team does not care about your…read morechild, they just want to make things easier for themselves. Laura Gold should take a class on empathy, it's sad a person like her is who is in charge of making decisions for struggling kids. They misdiagnosed my son and did not care about any of my concerns! Instead they treated us like we were stupid. Beware of the st vrain valley school district. I would hate to see what they did to my family and my 5 year old son happen to anyone else.

We have a son that has a medical condition of which prevents him from having good attendance of…read morewhich does affect his grades - we were told that he basically didn't meet their "standards" I would not recommend this school if you're trying to get your child on track for their future, which is what we were trying to do. Not only does this affect us, but it's made our son feel like dirt. Pretty upset about the decision the principal made in regards to our son. This is a direct reflection of the school as a whole because most likely they are only worried about their numbers. Instead of making children feel worse about themselves, especially since we toured and I did all the work to get the school the IEP and transcripts and then tell him no. Thanks Twin Peaks.

My neighbors have their two children enrolled and they are both doing great; the children show a…read morelevel of maturity and engagement far beyond most children at other venues. The school is small and offers very personalized education and activities.... highly recommended!

I have had two kids go through columbine elementary and there education from all teachers has been…read moreamazing. The third grade team was by far the best having such collaboration between teachers it was tough to know which one I was supposed to see for conferences. What a great school. It is a shame that the district and local families do not seem to realize the diamond they have in there local community.

I felt extremely disrespected by the way I was approached by my son's principal, especially on a…read moreday that is almost his last day of school. At 2:57 PM, when my son got out of school, I called the front office to let them know I was going to be late due to attending a funeral. I asked Gianna in the front office what time the office closed, and she informed me it stayed open until 3:45 PM. I told her I would get there as soon as possible, considering I was coming from over an hour away on the other side of town. I was rushing through traffic trying my best to get to my son. When I arrived, Mrs. Tallman immediately began shaking her head at me and telling me I did not give the school enough notice, that staff members had family meetings, and that she personally had to cancel a meeting because of my lateness. She also stated, "We are not your babysitter," directly in front of my son. I understand being late can inconvenience staff, and I take accountability for arriving after the office closing time. However, I had communicated ahead of time due to an unexpected life event, and this is not a repeated issue for me. The most I have ever been late before was 15-20 minutes due to traffic in Colorado. What upset me most was the manner in which this situation was handled. I felt publicly scolded and judged as a mother in front of my child, rather than spoken to respectfully and privately. Life circumstances happen, and while I understand school policies must be followed, I believe this could have been addressed with more professionalism, understanding, and compassion.

Great school in a very nice area. Staff and teachers are polite and pleasant. The little one raves…read moreof many good things and good times here.

Better quality and lower cost than Boulder schools, without the drive! This school is great. My…read moredaughter is learning more than her cousin in Boulder and we are paying less than my relatives. Small class sizes, individualized program for every subject, and my daughter loves it for four years running. Who could ask for more?

From the owner: Mountain Peak Private School is an independent, nonsectarian school offering classes for 3 year old…read morepreschool through 6th grade. We have guaranteed small classes(15 or less K-6th, smaller for preschool), individualized curriculum, daily PE, art, music, foreign language and technology.

Our children have attended school here for 3 years. We are so thankful we have been able to be a…read morepart of the LCS family. This school is committed to it's values and our children have grown and developed more than in academics but more importantly, Christ like character and becoming Kingdom Warriors!

LCS is the best school I've found where everyone is important and can attain success. With today's…read morehustle and bustle, kids often get left behind in large schools. Not so at LCS. Teachers, administrators and volunteers consistently help students in all phases of the educational process, including career learning and people skills. I RECOMMEND.

Our older son (now 14) graduated from BVWS last year, having been here since his early years…read more Looking back, we're amazed at how the school shaped him -- not just academically, but as a whole person. He left with a strong foundation in math, science, and writing, but also with creativity, confidence, and a deep sense of compassion. The combination of academics, arts, music, and hands-on learning really gave him a well-rounded education that will serve him for life. Our younger son is now in middle school at BVWS, and he is thriving. Middle school can be a tough transition, but the small class sizes and dedicated teachers make such a difference. He feels seen, supported, and challenged in ways that bring out his best. The curriculum balances academic rigor with opportunities for growth through orchestra, theater, outdoor education, and practical projects -- things that keep him engaged and excited about learning. What stands out most is the sense of community. BVWS feels like an extended family where teachers, parents, and students truly know and support one another. It's a nurturing, values-based environment that helps children grow into capable, compassionate young people. We're grateful to have found a school that educates the head, heart, and hands -- and we would highly recommend BVWS to any family looking for something more meaningful than a traditional school experience.

This is not a review disparaging BVWS. It is about the lack of transparency and consideration my…read morefamily and I were given through the application and enrollment process. My daughter is no stranger to BVWS: she attended in early childhood and has spent a couple of summers there and loved it. When I reached out to the admissions director, (s)he expressed that my daughter would be welcome back and that there was space for her, so I submitted an application and she did a 3-day shadowing. To my surprise, my daughter's application was rejected. I spent several months trying to get a clear answer as to why, unsuccessfully. The following is a summary of events post-shadowing. My husband and I met with the teacher who discussed my daughter's shadowing experience and stated multiple times that (s)he "saw no red flags". I then asked questions about the founder's philosophy including topics that touched upon racism and how they have evolved, as my husband and I come from diverse backgrounds. The teacher answered them with openness and transparency, which further solidified my decision to send my daughter there. A week later, I receive an email, "after careful consideration...we do not feel that (student) is a good fit for our program." I requested a meeting to better understand the decision and sent numerous follow-up emails over the next 2 months to which I received no response, or the admissions director was sick, out of town, or catching up on work. Upon finally setting a meeting, I mentioned that I had emailed the teacher to get more specific feedback regarding my daughter's experience and if (s)he could be encouraged to respond. The response from the admissions director: "to be clear, I will be talking you through the application process...but not discussing re-opening the process". I thanked them and wrote, to "make sure I'm understanding correctly - you will not ask (teacher) to give me information about my daughter, nor will you speak about her experience at BVWS," to which I received no reply. On the call, the admissions director explained that the enrollment process was a collaborative, complicated and nuanced process. It included not just the teacher's opinion, but also input from ALL the Grade teachers, consideration on the age and maturity of the class, and the fact that the teacher is new to Waldorf teaching. If that were the case, then the shadowing, which caused disruption for everyone involved, was pointless and in fact, no new student could join. My insistence on following up was to have an opportunity for an open and transparent discussion regarding my daughter's application. If the teacher had told me during our debrief that (s)he felt the class dynamic with my daughter was not right, I would have respected the opinion. Funny that while my daughter attended BVWS there had never been any concerns raised. I can only deduce from the lack of response and transparency that this decision had less to do with my daughter and more about the questions I raised during our meeting with the teacher. In my last email after our final call, I expressed my hope that this experience be shared with the faculty and board as a learning experience and that I would always be open to dialogue. Since I never received a reply, I assume this issue had been swept under the rug. Though I know no big change will come of this, this experience will serve as a lesson when my daughter is older so that she may learn to advocate for herself with awareness and discernment. BVWS states they support DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and boasts that it cultivates a welcoming, inclusive community. A few qualities of inclusive leadership include fairness and respect, collaboration, empowerment and growth, and emotional and cultural intelligence, none of which I received. It is a shame that fear and avoidance of tough questions will now directly impact a 7-year-old's education. DEI has become very trendy in the past few years but simply taking a training without putting the principles into practice is not enough. Let's do better for our children and set the examples we want to teach them, not just have empty words on a website. That is when you muster the courage to step forward, not back.

Great school, community and parish. Best parenting decision ever was to send my kids there!read more

St. John's is a beautiful community that has devoted and charitable families surrounding its school…read moreand parish. My husband attended St. John's elementary and middle school and our (5) children have all attended St. John's too. We never entertained another choice because we know that Catholic education is the best gift we can give our children. St. John's school staff & administration are dedicated, exceptional individuals, some teachers have been here for 20+ years. St. John's provides the highest academic standards to our children and nurtures and forms strong faith filled students that also learn compassion, virtue and worthiness. My own children have gone on to attend Holy Family High School with great spiritual and academic successes. Thank you St. John's for helping me raise five beautiful human beings with gracious souls.

Sunset Academy has a great UPK program. The teachers are highly qualified and passionate about…read moreteaching! I love their morning reading time!

When our son was brought into Sunset Academy for a tour we set the expectation that he might be…read morebehind socially, as well as a bit bolder or more assertive than other kids due to his size. He would also have trouble with eating on his own and naptime, especially in a new place. The director told us not to worry and helping our son along with all of this was their job, they were the experts with college degrees and training in child development. He did have trouble sleeping, but within a handful of times spent at the center he knew to go to his cot and be quieter, he was learning to model after the other children. However when he awoke crying for mommy and daddy, a common occurrence, they sent him out into the hall alone, then called for his mother to pick him up. This taught him that crying would result in getting what he wants and this was ok, also that nobody at the center would be there for him. The center (on their website when we had signed up) had indicated that we could be part time for the first 2 months our son was in daycare. It was brought up multiple times to the owner during the tour as well as the office Manager Nina that this was the case. our son's first week at the center, the owner and Nina approached our son's mother and indicated that they weren't aware he was only part time. She made it very clear they'd stated that and the owner agreed verbally to allow 2 months to be part time. At the end of May, the owner approached Crystal and indicated that he never said "two months" his policy was "one month" which had at that point changed on the website as well. He told her that she could start June 7th as full time and we adhered to that and started him full time on June 7th. That day, we showed up as planned on Monday and after 1 hour, our son was sent home because they were "understaffed" and unaware that he had been switched to full time (despite the owner being the one who insisted on it, we did not). This was the same monday of the week he was kicked out on Wednesday. Two days before our son being kicked out of Sunset Academy (the day after the above incident), our son's mother was sent home in the morning with a series of 'Incident Reports' from Sunset about our son's trouble sleeping, eating at the appropriate times, and not "interacting" with other children. This is a clear violation of the "Parent's Handbook" that is provided on the Sunset Academy website that indicates they will make every effort to work with the child and their family before forcibly removing them. Two days is not a reasonable amount of time, especially since there were no real details or plans for how we could help improve, just problems we were aware of now. The only thing that was offered was that our son should have his occupational therapist come into the building, which we immediately (that day) arranged with the occupational therapist to find the best day that would work for all parties. In addition, these "incident reports" were handed to us all at once and there was only one with a date on it, which was from a previous week. We were suddenly expected to solve all of these problems in 2 days (with literally only that amount of notice). To be clear, these were not brought up in any official capacity prior to this situation (our son's teacher had indicated he had problems sleeping and adapting but they were working on it, they had reached out asking for some ideas, and we provided them and it seemed to be improving, the teacher even said as such). Before we get into the date he was kicked out, we're like to provide additional incite into the center and how they treated our son during the time he was there. Our son was sent home early from Sunset 2 out of the 3 days he was enrolled . There were a variety of reasons that they provided to us: they had meetings to conduct during our paid time, our son did something they didn't like, or they had some staffing issue. One time in particular one of their faculty was sent in while already injured and they asked for volunteers to come pick up their children-- which we complied with despite it causing us additional stress and our son having had little time in the center. Often when our son came home after being at Sunset, he would be extremely hungry and thirsty. When we would watch on the video, they would place him in front of his food, he would wander off, and occasionally they'd put him back but in most cases that we saw, they did not... More here... https://bit.ly/3y0nBVG