I wanted to love it, but I regret it instead
Pros
The students are great, it’s lovely to have summers and holidays off. They are committed to a classical education, and that is exactly what students receive— nothing more or outside of the box.
Cons
Many of the other reviews are spot on about the cons. Lack of transparency from lead office. Lead office continuously goes back on their word and there is a lot of fighting within their tier. Lots of turnover at the academy level as well as the lead office. I’d spent time at the new lead office for meetings and there were maybe 10 people working there at any given time, no one was interacting or seemed happy to be there. This is reflected in some academies. The lead office spent a lot of money for an empty office space when there are academies that don’t have libraries (at a school that teaches from classical literature and supposedly encourages the intellectual pursuit), enough room for their kids, or other building related issues, such as faulty A/c and leaks. Employees are generally not treated well or ignored (my experience) if they bring up reasonable issues, such as asking for temperature controlled working conditions. Some people experience harassment and I did not see any justice from these situations or acknowledgement of the problem from those in higher positions. There is turnover in HR, which means there is not always someone to go to when there is a problem at work. The flow chart for the org is a mess. Hard for women to advance; lead office is majority white man. Strong Christian identity that spills into classroom experience (outside of the curriculum— some are teaching religious opinion and facilitating in-kind discussion. These are public charter schools), kids told me they were very uncomfortable. There is major controversy surrounding the validity of trans students. Students are not allowed to have certain clubs due to factors of exclusivity, even for clubs for underrepresented students (multicultural, GSA, etc). Worked there for three years and did not receive a raise. Some Headmasters are great, but most are undereducated about how to effectively lead a school and seem to be in the role for the title and less for the experience. Lots of egos to manage. Teachers have not all received proper training. Most lack teaching degrees and it shows.