My daughter is only 3 but I'm already looking into schools because we won't be able to afford an actual private school but i'm really unhappy with our public schools in our area. I'll have the flexability to drive and pick her up so i'm interested in my options. Was wondering if anyone has had good or bad experiences with any of the charter schools? I' live in east mesa.
My son attended Noah Webster and we ended up not liking so many things about it. Then, my kids attended gilbert public schools, it wasn't terrible but far from what I want for my kids. Two of my friends had their kids at ASU polytechnic and it didn't really work out for any of them either. One now has her daughter in Mesa Academy and the rest of us are homeschooling.
Both my parents are teachers and I had them look at the websites of 3 schools. They said they weren't impressed with what Noah Webster and Imagine had on their websites. But, I have talk to parents whose kids go to Imagine and they really like. My parents were actually impressed by Sousa Elementary.
Great question. I would love to hear some options in Central Phoenix as well.
My kids go to San Tan Learning Center www.santanlearningcenter.com in Gilbert (Higley and Ray) and we like it. I've also heard wonderful things about Edu-prize www.edu-prize.com on Stapley and Baseline. Both charter schools teach a year ahead (1st graders do 2nd grade level curriculum, etc), both go up to 8th grade, and both have more of a hands-on approach. San Tan has a self-contained gifted program and also offers tuition-based Montessori preschool. Edu-prize has an option for a shortened day where your kids get the exact same amount of classroom time as the normal schedule classrooms, but basically do lunch and recess at home instead of school.
Zaharis is a public school in Mesa, but has open enrollment and I've heard wonderful things about that school as well and was impressed on my tour of it. Check out www.greatschools.net for parent reviews of all these schools and other ones. There are a few Montessori charter schools in Mesa that I toured and I love the idea of Montessori (both my kids attended a Montessori preschool out of a lady's home -- I can give you the name of a fantastic lady who does it in Mesa and one in Gilberti) but I couldn't bring myself to be that outside the box by putting my kids in Montessori for elementary. I would have loved it still for kindergarten though. good luck! Shopping for a school can feel as intense and important as finding a spouse!
I would not recommend ASU Polytechnic.
Try Franklin Elementary. They have several campuses in east Mesa. They are small ~ 500 children/campus. Program is 1 year ahead comparing to public. Everyday homework starting from kindergarten, poem declaration and many other staff. Still not perfect.
