Neely Traditional Academy

Neely is truly an amazing school. We love the diversity of cultures of the student body. Advanced classes offered in Math, Reading, and Writing allow students to reach their learning potentials. The Spalding and Saxon curriculums give children a strong foundation for life learning. I love that the math programs continue to revisit concepts over and over as they continue to learn new ones. The students participate in "special" classes each week, including P.E., music, art, and computers. Choir, orchestra, and band are offered, free of charge. The principle and office staff know each of the children's names. We can honestly say that none of our three kids have had a teacher they haven't loved! Although test scores aren't a single measure of the success of a school, all grades tested receive at least 90 percent, year after year. Some advantages of attending Neely as compared to charter schools are buses, a cafeteria with "hot" lunches, free and reduced lunches, after school care, and other fun programs offered through the district. We love that our children do not have to wear uniforms and can still express their personalities through modest dress. We love Neely!
—Submitted by a parent

We have left the school and it surely was not because of academics (my child had straight As), but because of the teacher quality in 5th grade and the unbearable prison-warden attitude of the principal. The 5th grade teacher was completely disinterested in teaching and as we now see, the students fell way behind in most subjects, especially math and science. At Neely, teacher quality is a hit and miss issue, but they have more bad apples than good ones. The principal doesn't care because she is too busy writing parking rules.
—Submitted by a parent

The teachers are not approachable and when you try to go speak with the principal, well you pretty much get the same thing! The staff is not friendly nor they make it fun for the kids. Not to mention my child gets tons of homework, I believe in academics that's why we chose that school, but they over do it with homework!
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter attended Neely for Kdg and 1st grade. She is now attending the regular neighborhood school here in Ahwatukee for 2nd grade as we moved over the summer. My daughter misses Neely very much. She complains that she is not being challenged in her new school in the neighborhood. I almost want to drive her the half-hour to Neely and back every day just so she will continue with the LOVE OF LEARNING emphasized at the traditional academy. Her teachers were very caring, extremely organized and quite communicative. Every day we received graded homework or some sort of communication back from the teacher. She also learned to discipline herself during the school day, take responsibility for her own tasks, develop her character through Neely's six pillars of character program and read/write exceptionally well. Dr. Chilton, the principal, may seem formal (she is from England after all), but she really cares about your children and has a lot of students to keep track of. Parents are very involved and the kids who attend the school seem very polite. If you want your child to have a wonderful, enriching learning experience, Neely is the place to be.
—Submitted by a parent

Current problems with honors language need to be addressed. The last 2 years the honors language class has had 3 different teachers and introduced new Spring Board curricullum that parents and students are very unhappy with. Principal has not come up with a solution to the problem, so the last 2 years of language have been an absolute waste. My daughter learned very little grammar or writing. She wrote on e paper all year in her "honors" class - totally unacceptable!
—Submitted by a parent

Dr Chilton is less than desirable. She has no concern for the students. Walks around like a drill sargarent. My 5th grader had MORE homework than my 8th grader. His teacher this year was not at all interested in helping him learning/achieve. More interested in giving a "no". Wouldn't try and deal with issues. Worthless in my point of view as well as my son, no respect. At this time I would not recommend. The district needs to look at the concerns of parents and address the issue, get a new principal bring back Blanchard.
—Submitted by a parent

I agree that current administration isn't what it used to be. The principal doesn't seem to be involved in day-to-day matters, or have the poise, professionalism, and friendliness, that former principal Blanchard had. Blanchard was superb. Overall the school is decent, especially the teachers. They are great! But the school has not lived up to the hype you hear about. Having spent 7 years at Neely, my child has learned almost no history, has learned zero geography, other than 3rd grade has written almost no full page papers at all, and has only used a computer to take reading tests. Precious time is wasted learning how to break down words in a sentence under the Spalding program that could be better served elsewhere. Knowing how many vowels and consonants there are in a sentence isn't going to help my child in any job. Learning how to write a persuasive letter, or create a powerpoint presentation on the computer would been a better use of time.
—Submitted by a parent

So glad we enrolled our child at this school (after leaving another school which was unsatisfactory in our eyes). Excitement to do homework as soon as we get home and wanting to go to school on the weekends must be good signs. The front office staff is organized, friendly and knows students by name. Love how challenging the curriculum is and that my child's teacher is so encouraging, observant and aware. Could not be happier.
—Submitted by a parent

I have 2 children who attend Neely. We have been there for 5 years and could not be happier with this school. It is a rigorous curriculum. Our kids are always being challenged, but they love this school. Highly recommend.
—Submitted by a parent

GPS GIVE EVERY CHILD AN EXCELLENT START AT LIFE. GOING FAR ABOVE THE BASICS. THE TEACHERS AND STAFF ARE EXCEPTIONAL.

Our second child went to K, 1, & 2 grade here. first two years were great but grade 2 was a nightmare. He was subjected to heavy bullying & we have met with the school principal 5 times between August to December. We were extremely disappointed with the lack of discipline in the classroom & a very noisy learning environment. The grade 2 teacher was very cold & lacked teaching skills to inspire students.She was very impatient, intimidating & screaming & yelling while dealing with kids.the teacher was very hostile during our in-class observation &was demeaning the students all the time.Things got very tense & our child started to regress emotionally.. The principal is very incompetent & lacks compassion . We finally removed our child from the school in spring as the bullying from peers & his grade 2 teacher was not resolved. Our older child went to this very school when Mrs.Nance was the principal & thrived under her friendly & loving care. The class rooms are crowded now & focus is more on the ranking & less on the holistic growth of the child. very disappointing to see Mrs. Nance's hardwork tainted currently due to very ineffective & incompetent leadership.not worth the hype.
—Submitted by a parent

I'm a former student of Neely and am now going into sophomore year of high school. I'm not sure if it was the school or the parenting I received that let me become a straight A honor student, maybe a combination of both, but this school must have helped somewhat. The math was challenging, in my days Mrs. Gordon had a program in which students could learn new objectives at their own pace, as well as the regular curriculum. The spelling program helps students remember rules to spell words. Overall, a pretty good elementary school, although I don't have anything to compare it to. The only thing I can say that was bad, was the ability to give a child a "no" in their PRIDE folder, just for talking. I know that it's trying to teach students discipline, but sometimes I felt it was unjust, especially once when I was given a "no" for laughing, or when people would use appropriate humor in the daily writing journal they had. And ultimately I would like to impart on you the reader, wisdom from a fifteen year old; it's not the teacher's or code that make a school great, it's the students.

My children have gone to Neely for the past 5 years and we love it! I really like the advanced curriculum, the traditional approach, the high amount of parental involvement, the extra curricular options (two of my kids are in school orchestra), and opportunities for advanced placement classes (math and writing). All four of my kids have done very well and I would recommend Neely to anyone.
—Submitted by a parent

Overall I think Neely is a good school, however it has not lived up to the excessive hype. We were sold so hard by the reviews here and by the school orientation that the reality has been pretty disappointing. First of all, there is a good deal of bullying here and more than a few disciplinary issues. Of course this happens everywhere and there are policies in place to deal with it. But the principal saying that there are "less" issues here than at other area schools is not productive and does not project a desire to improve. Also, the school is quite old and the facilities are showing their age. I know the district is trying to deal with major budget issues but when things break or get to the end of their useful life they are not repaired or replaced. Finally, the academics at this school are not as challenging as I was led to believe. Neely is still a step up from the majority of GPS, but there is still much room for improvement.
—Submitted by a parent

My children have gone to this school for two years and those two years have been quite dissapointing. Yeah they are doing well in school and are being taught what they need to know but what ever happened to the days when teachers enjoyed their jobs. All the teachers that I have met seem to be miserable and they seem to treat our children as a name and a number than a valued human being. I have also heard alot of bulling and name calling going on in the school, but Oh well, deal with it, was the words from one teacher. I am dissapointed and will not be taking my children there next year.
—Submitted by a parent

This is just an awesome school!! My son loves it. It has a very strict traditional approach to teaching. My son is just thriving!
—Submitted by a parent

Routine assessment and advanced program placement; parents are very involved; great after school programs for arts and academic programs.
—Submitted by a parent

Neely is a amazing school. My son is going into third grade and my daughter will be a kindergarten this school year. The teachers are great and the parents are very involved. They stick to a very strict curriculum. Which is great, I just wish they would incorporate more fun into the learning. Like art projects, hands on activities or using more of there imagination and creativity. It seems to be very by the book. But don't get me wrong. I love this school and I'm grateful my children go to Neely.
—Submitted by a parent

i love this school! my child has been there sense kindergartenand she has gotten straight a's every year. i suggest you send your child here it is the best school i have ever seen!!!
—Submitted by a parent

Neely is an excellent school! It is like going to a private school without the tuition. The teachers are amazing, the families are kind and take the time to get involved with their childs education. This is the best public school Gilbert has to offer. Your children will learn and be excited about it!! This school is not for those who do not want to be involved in their childs education. Excellent, Excellent school!
—Submitted by a parent