Accelerated School

I 'have' been in love with this school since it's inception. I, however, have seen the model become distorted with red tape and power moves by administration. There have been so many teachers that have left. I am aware that there are many factors attributing to this. However, I share the beliefs of many many parents here and the overall feeling is that we are loosing too many teachers. Not to mention we are being promised things that have not occured. For one, the budget. We have been told over and over again that we would be GIVEN the budget. Now we are told that this is 'public' records and anyone can obtain them. That just feels really patronizing. I do believe that things are tough all over. I dont feel the board of directors nor the administration are in accord with the teachers, parents and students. What a shame.
--Submitted by a parent

Not again! Another year of great staff leaving without any explanation, few opportunities for parent involvement in school decisions, and starting from scratch. Why can't the school administration hold on to great teachers and staff. Aren't parents supposed to be very involved in the decision-making in the accelerated school's model? Why are great programs like Early College being cut? I have had it!
--Submitted by a parent

The maj. of teachers my 7th grader has had the privilege of learning from in 2007-08 at TAS are outstanding educators. Ms. Perez, Mr. Lemus, Mr. Elkouby and Mr. Wong inspire their students to much higher levels in keeping with the Accelerated philosophy. There are multiple teachers with Masters Degress as well as several Phds, and it shows. Mr. Arellano is a fine, hands-on, thoughtful principal. The school is in fact large with 1300 hundred students from K-12 and yet the campus is run smoothly & professionally. I should also mention the patience and sincerity of the front office who are wonderful. I am grateful that my child had this excellent experience and regret that we must relocate. If you live anywhere near downtown LA, no matter what your ethnicity or income level, you will not find a better LAUSD option. I know, I tried.
--Submitted by a parent

The idealogy of the school is wonderful. Many parents complain about changes that take place at the school and their lack of participation is to blame. Since the No Child Left Behind campaign, I have seen a decrease in creative teaching curriculum. This is not directly the fault of the faculty, rather the policy enforced by having to keep the 'scores' up. To speak of teacher turnover, it is not a huge number. There are many factors that come into play when dealing with teacher turnover. Salary, teaching styles, and administration are just pieces of the puzzle. Since The Accelerated School is a charter school, the teachers are on Yearly contracts. Something that is 'across-the-board' for all charter schools. The primary function of a charter school is to introduce the Family as a unit to actively participate, most complaints are from parents who refuse to participate.
--Submitted by a parent

I love the school and all the staff!! Everyone here understands family and it is personified everyday here. I do not appreciate unfounded complaints by parents who refuse to really participate in the infastructure. I go to meetings and become frustrated when I hear complaints from parents who do not participate in the social model but were begging and hoping to get their children into the program. It is not fair to all who do actively participate in bettering the school, have to be subjected to ridicule from parents who are lacking the time to spend at the school. To be perfectly frank, these are the same parents who wait until the end of the school year to volunteer their time here.
--Submitted by a parent

this school is a great school that helps both the students and parents achieve higher learning. although there are some flaws about it, like any great school, it also has great advantages. the only way we can truly make tas a great school is if we all put our best into it. not just the teachers and staff but the students and parents as well. we must all work together to make tas a great school.
--Submitted by a student

We have been part of the TAS family for over 6 years. The school was great, but in the last 3 or 4 years the school has taken a turn for the worse. It lacks in quality teachers, some of the staff are unprofessional and lack common sense and you never know what to expect from TAS, they'll tell you one thing and do something totally different. There are some positive things about TAS, it has no gang problems inside the school and since the school is small, it's easy to get to know other families. The teacher and staff turnover ratio is alarming. It seems that all of the good teachers leave. The school was once a Times Magazine School of the Year and now it's a school that's on a Performance Improving Plan. I'm still hoping it will bounce back, but things seems to get worse every year.
--Submitted by Robert Wilkins, a parent

It's true that there has been an increasing communication gap between the parents and the administrators during the monthly mandatory meetings. What concerns me is the lack of linguistic resources and the wait time incurred by the Latino Family communities, whom already experience feelings of alienation and marginalia, during these meetings. If TAS is truly serious about meeting the needs of all in it's learning community, there needs to be more attention to, communication about and thoughtful facilitation of the same materials covered and discussed in the English-Only Meetings (In Spanish).
--Submitted by a parent

The Accelerated School has grown from a small elementary campus to a multiple program network. The growth can cause families to feel a loss of closseness, however, the growth has allowed families to have their students in one school preK-12th grade. Challenges exist, but there are wonderful people at work here--we have great administrators, teachers, students and families. It is a school of choice and this choice may not be for everyone. You have to work hard and be involved. Teachers in the middle and high school work tremendously long hours; students are expected to work hard as well; parents are expected to support all of this hard work. If you're up for hard work--this is the place.
--Submitted by Catherine Castillo, a teacher

Our daughter is almost finished with her first year of kindergarten this year and our experience at TAS so far has been wonderful. The teachers are great and I think the future looks bright for the school.
--Submitted by a parent