Imagine School at North Port

I have Kindergarten & 7th grade daughters attending Imagine. I drive from Charlotte County each day to take our girls to and from school. I happily pass schools in my own county that are 5 & 10 minutes away from my home knowing that each day our daughters are getting a better education, in a safe environment. This is our daughters' first year at Imagine. My 7th grader has had more projects in the first half of the school year, then she had the entire year in 6th grade at a middle school in Charlotte. The teachers care. You can tell the teachers care. Daily I get updates via email. Their website is up-to-date with grades, and learning tools. Both of our kids have been on field trips. My 7th grader has not been on a field trip in a few years, but at Imagine it is a yearly thing. In public schools, children are warehoused, and taught straight from the book. No creativity. Imagine has a strict dress code consisting of uniforms and strict behavior policies. Public school caters to the poorly behaved. My daughters are challenged, enjoy their school, and they learn more with creativity and fun mixed in. Public schools need to take lessons from this charter school.
--Submitted by a parent

I used to. Go to this school for 4th and 5th grade since the day it opened . I really miss my friends because for 6th grade I went to palmer ranch, which sucked by the way. I'm in 7th now. when I WAS there the school was great. The playground was huge, I got used to three teachers, qnd the old janitor was nice. My writing teacher, who is now the middle school pe teacher, Mr. Alvarez, really helped me become more of an outgoing person . I have no idea.what the middle schools like. Anyway , if I could go back here ( even though I live in georgia, moving to TN,) I totally would.

I've been dealing with schools for the last 16 years. Between my 4 kids, we've run the gamut of schools. Public, private, homeschool & now our adventure at a charter school for my youngest two kids. I honestly can say that I'm about as happy as I have ever been with state funded education. My 3rd grader isn't pounding homework every night. He is learning independent learning skills. He is guided with his academics and not force fed standardized testing information. The style of teaching here is not like any public education we've experienced. He comes home everyday with new knowledge and shares that with us. I don't think this school would be for every family as its way of teaching is very different from traditional public schools. If you can't step outside the box academically, in a world where our public education is failing daily, this isn't the school for the parents. The staff seems to really care about the individual student, their emotional growth and their academic well being. My son isn't "stuck" relearning the same thing week after week, but is allowed to move on and learn at his own pace.
--Submitted by a parent

We love this school. the teachers were extremely professional and the communication is beyond wonderful and way more than i had ever expected it to be. The school does not focus all efforts on FCAT stuff during the school day like most schools in FL. They teach our children during the school day what they need to learn and then if the child needs extra help they get it after school with free tutoring from a great staff of teachers!! I am so amazed at everything we have seen so far at Imagine North Port. they are ranked one of the best schools in our county and I am not surprised. We sent our kids to private school sthat we paid thousands of dollars every year to send them too and after 4 byears we realized taht our kids were not learning anything. They were honor studenst at the private school and we are not even sure why. When they started at Imagine they were tested and my daughter has trouble in reading and when at the private school she was told she was a genious. She is now getting the help she needs and is doing much better. we are so happy that we took the kids otu of the private school and into Imagine. Our kids are catching up and having a great time as well. A+++
--Submitted by a parent

My daughters grades in math were not doing so well. She was offered (not mandatory) an after school camp run by teachers, one day a week for free! Math teachers took extra time with all those in her grade level that needed more help. Her grades improved the next quarter and she began understanding the concepts she was struggling with. Thanks Imagine for the extra effort you put into my child. We couldn't be happier.
--Submitted by a parent

At first I thought this was the best school for my child. I've heard the motto "doing what's best for kids" thrown around and really thought, yes they do what is best for kids. Slowly I realized that from most teachers it is "do what's best to make myself look good".
--Submitted by a parent

They promote that they don't "teach the test" Well, my child brought home practice sheet after practice sheet of old FCAT tests & copied pages from workbooks weeks leading up to the test. Not only that but my child was asked to attend weeks worth of after school FCAT prep. I didn't mind, but if they'd focus on the standards appropriately in the classroom they would avoid cramming all this information into my child at the last minute, then pressuring them into an after school camp of more FCAT worksheets. FCAT is very much a part of this school, even more so than the local public schools, which is where my daughter will be next year. This is not the place for her. If you read legislation--charter schools are not held to the same high standards to that of the public school. They get more funding, but really spend that to make themselves look good & on copies of FCAT worksheets.
--Submitted by a parent

I love, love, love this school! I could never say enough good things about it. I'm very happy that my daughter has attended this school since the year they opened!!
--Submitted by a parent

Most unprofessional staff I have ever encountered. My middle school student's education is comprised of the "more work" theory. The advanced program is a joke because all the classes do the same work, except they expect them to do more. Some of the teachers teach as if they are a college professor and all they do is give notes and make my child memorize a bunch of random facts. My child does much better in the local public schools where the work load is realistic for a middle schooler & they learn by doing--not copying facts down.
--Submitted by a parent

I believe Imagine is an excellent school. My son began in the 6th grade when the school opened. My son has an IEP and though I have had to advocate for him at times, I have found the teaching staff and administration to be open and responsive to his needs. He has had several teachers over the last three years that I believe would meet criteria for teacher of the year on a national level. Fabulous, excited, great teachers with passion for the kids and the subject matter and creative, contemporary teaching methods- I love it!
--Submitted by a parent