The Phoenix Schools

My son has attended Phoenix for K-1st grade. We have been so happy with his teachers and the quality of education he has received. There have only been 15 kids in each class and the teachers are able to focus on the individual needs of each kid. My son has learned so much this year and is reading consistently at a 2nd grade reading level, even reading early 3rd grade level books. The school itself is small and has a very safe learning environment. My son is shy and can excel here whereas he would be left behind at our large public school. I have volunteered in his classes and see the wonderful interactions the teachers have with the kids and how their artwork tie into the unit they are focusing on. Some people have stated negative things about the principal, but I have only had positive interactions with Mrs. MacDonald. I feel that she has moved the school forward in a positive manner and has brought an excellent curriculum to the school. She is very professional and is quick to respond to my emails and in person questions. We have only had positive experiences at this school and I plan to continue to send my son here as well as my daughter when she starts kindergarten.
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter has attended the Phoenix school since an infant and now (almost 6). Her baby sister is next door. We LOVE the Phoenix schools and what they offer. The staff is so wonder, loving and caring. I never have to worry when I drop her off, she is in the best hands, she has become so bright and It is all what she has learned over the years attending the Phoenix. This year in kindergarten she has blossomed even more and is so bright, my favorite part is that she is encourage to read and she is reading like a second grader and she isn't even in first grade yet. I do not have one complaint. The teacher, principle and other staff members are always in communication with you with up coming events and so friendly. The entire school has a really cute monthly assembly which they recognize the students and they do special events such as Cheer and choir performances which my daughter is in, Melts my heart, I love it. I highly recommend this school. The best decision I made. Both Pre School and The elementary are amazing.
--Submitted by a parent

I continue to come to the same conclusion, that although some months are a struggle to send my children to Phoenix, it is well worth it in the end. The teacher communicates with the parent's regularly. They have a structured environment, personal attention to the child & childcare. I some how missed out on the multiple choice craze in school. I am so grateful to see someone actually say, teaching to the test and memorizing facts doesn't cut it. It could just be good luck or my course of study, but I managed to walk out of Murray State, with very very few classes of only multiple choice tests, as the vast majority were essay or some combination. My graduate program was all individual responsibility, no group think and a paper / presentation. You need to know how and why we got to a point, and that is not there anymore. It was all critical thinking. Learning is not just "factory work" having this answer fit into this question. Having an understanding of the historical knowledge is so important, and is lacking on so many fronts. It has been challenging to find quality employee's with the vast amount of people out of work, and new college grads have not proved any better.
--Submitted by a parent

I completely agree with the comment below that At phoenix you just pay for the "advanced" curriculum and not advanced teachers or personalized attention. The teacher never felt like it was their responsibility to communicate child s progress to parent. Assessment was handed over after 4 months they were done. I also felt that the teacher focused more the negative aspects of a growing child and took no initiative to steer her in the right direction.
--Submitted by a parent

In preschool program, some teachers are really good while others should not be teaching at all. I am not suggesting anyone to attend this school. I am moving my kid this year.
--Submitted by a parent

I d like to offer a different perspective from the recent posts. In our experience, we always found the new school principal/ administration very open to suggestions and to follow through both last year and this year. We signed our son up for the elementary school with the Phoenix school again this year, and we are not regretting our decision at all. Most parents chose to stay also: only 3 kids from last year s class left (2 moved to another part of the country, 1 went to the Gate Program). Our child comes back every day very excited with the science lab experiments, I m even learning all over again about cells, cytoplasm, nucleus, etc. Writing essays was not his favorite topic, but to my surprise he came to love it after only one month of daily practice. The new Accelerated Reader program, the upgraded computer lab and new text books are extremely promising. While the class size allows the teachers to spend some dedicated time with the kids, the class is still very multicultural. Finally the afternoon activities (e.g. Art, Fit Kids) are even more diverse this year with the addition of the First Lego League, the music band and more.
--Submitted by a parent

We pulled out our children after last year s debacle and am very happy with the decision. Our kids are now in Gate programs in public schools and they are very challenged academically. They love the bigger class sizes and activities public schools offer. I thought they would have a tough transition, they were at Phoenix since they were 8 weeks old and we had planned on staying through Middle School but they never even mention anything about their old school. Not surprisingly they have many friends from Phoenix that joined them in the public school. I agree with the comments here, the administration is just too adversarial. After awhile my children did not even want to play in the playground anymore so they can avoid getting in trouble. It got to the point we as parents could not even take the disciplinary reports seriously, everything was an infraction. It became a huge distraction. I urge parents to do their homework, there are a lot of great options there and you don t have to wait until the next school year.
--Submitted by a parent

I'm so glad i pulled my second grader out of Phoenix. Year 2010-11, his first grade was HORRIBLE. She was with all the teachers and despite my feeling that he was faring well, the report card showed differently and none of the teachers felt like it was their responsibility to communicate to me, what was going wrong and where. I felt that the teachers focussed more the negative aspects of a growing child and took no initiative to steer her in the right direction. I had even taken up the issue with the Principal who was supposed to let me know of my child's behavior, months later and am still waiting....In short, you just pay for the "advanced" curriculum and not advanced teachers or personalized attention.
--Submitted by a parent

Having given the principal the benefit of the doubt last year, we regret signing our child up again this year. The principal makes decisions without warning or discussion, does not listen to parents and we lack confidence in the choices that she makes. Even the teachers seem disconcerted, though they are trying so hard to stay positive. This year is not at all the way it was sold to us.
--Submitted by a parent

This is the first time in the years we've been at Phoenix (since infancy) that we are questioning whether to enroll our kids for next year. Apparently we are not the only ones. An email went out extending registration due to the families not reenrolling. The school continues to be in disarray. We volunteered to be part of the Middle School Parent Action Committee but after one meeting it was cancelled. There just doesn't seem to be any enthusiasm from the company/administration to motivate parents to come back. It's sad to see a great school like this go down this way.
--Submitted by a parent