Wesley International Academy

My son has attended WIA for two years now. He will be entering 2nd grade next year. We have been very pleased with Wesley. Academically and socially, it really has surpassed our expectations. The curriculum is challenging and my son is very engaged in a positive way. He tells me he loves his school always wants to attend Wesley! We've had very positive interactions with his teachers and administration, and have no problems communicating concerns with them. I look forward to watching my son's progress as well as watching Wesley grow.
--Submitted by a parent

I am a parent of three children who attends IMW. This is our 3rd year here and it has been extremely hard and challenaging for me. I found the school to be very unstable with keeping teachers and principles. The expectations that IMW have for our kids, in my opinion is to pass certain state tests verses instilling college readiness, structure, discipline, along with education. There are some very good teachers at IMW which keeps me here. It would be an A+ if they could have more male teachers to help keep our 3rd grade boys under control. I just would like to see a more structured environment.
--Submitted by a parent

Without doubt this school has hit bumps. It's new & it was damaged by the relationship with Imagine Schools. Now, our local board makes decisions. We are still waiting for our first great principal, but the current principal who is a caretaker for a few years performs solidly. Our second grader has had an excellent education. While there have been concerns re: the boys classrooms, the test results are great. The parents might not like it, but the boys seem to be learning better in their rambunctious classrooms.
--Submitted by a parent

We are having an amazing start to our 5th year at Wesley International Academy. We continue to have amazing teachers who inspire students to be creative, think independently and globally, and work collaboratively. WIA has the most diverse population of any APS school with families from numerous countries, from various Atlanta neighborhoods, and with homes with a wide range of incomes. The Chinese program continues to be strong and unique, providing daily instruction from kind hearted and fun native speakers. Despite some studies that show boys may struggle in reading/verbal communication without girls in their classes, our boys have incredible verbal communication and reading skills shown both in test scores and in their daily interactions in the classrooms where they encourage each other and share books enthusiastically.
--Submitted by a parent

Great school with world experiences. I have been a parent of WIA from the beginning. There have been changes, ups and downs. But I think highly of the school. The fact is no matter the changes the school experienced, my son felt no effect and neither has his education. I am a military kid and I would not be able to give my son the experience of the world and other cultures and thought processes as I had without him being at this school. I see the relationship with this school very similar to a marriage. The first 5 years you are still working on a system, getting to know eachother and how to make the relationship work. In the end, it is all worth it. My son will continue and I plan on having my daughter attend as well. The principal WIA have now is just what WIA needs.
--Submitted by a parent

IWIA Board Member Comments: Part 1 of 2 Hello, I am a Board Member for IWIA, a parent with 2 children at IWIA (with a 3rd child in K next year), and a local business attorney. Charter Status: We are not in jeopardy of losing our charter. Our charter is for 5 years and 2011 will be our 5th year. I am very confident that our charter will be approved. We recently submitted an application for an amendment to our charter and APS approved it in November 2010. There has been no indications from APS or otherwise that suggests that IWIA will not have its charter renewed next year. Imagine Relationship: We recently amended our charter to have our school governed by an independent non-profit Board. As a result, the new board negotiated arms-length contracts with Imagine, who is a for-profit management company. Because we are a non-profit, we cannot have the name of a for-profit company in our school name - the IRS will not allow tax exempt status for promoting a for-profit company. Therefore, we will change our school name to Wesley International Academy (WIA), but we still have a contract with Imagine even if there name will no longer be a part of our school. (cont. in Part 2)

IWIA Board Member Comments: Part 2 of 2 Imagine's Image: As a board member, we are fully aware of the issues surrounding Imagine in our state as well as nationally. Despite their public relations, Imagine and our non-profit board have a good working relationship. At the end of the day, we feel secure that our school's relationship with Imagine will not serve as a detriment to our charter renewal or as a deterrent for attracting good students and parents. Teachers: My children have been at the school since the inaugural year, and I have all the confidence in the world in our teachers. Our school has culture of community where students, parents and teachers work together, often times in off hours, to volunteer and enhance the educational experience of IWIA children. The Board of Directors supports our teachers wholeheartedly and will continue to do so. In sum, our newly formed, independent Board of Directors is in a strong position to manage the school and the issues that arrive. Furthermore, I fully expect that the comments on this site going forward will reflect our commitment to excellence. Thank you for your attention. David M. Walker, Esq. IWIA Board of Director

I am a parent of two current Wesley students. The BOD has been clear with the direction of the school and has been very open to answering questions regarding the recent changes (i.e. establishing the board, changing the name etc.). Thus far we have been very pleased with the level of teaching our children have received, how the IB curriculum is implemented in every day teaching and the strong Chinese Department. Both of our children are happy there. We also feel secure our school will not close and will not be affected by the APS accreditation problems. Our classroom numbers will remain at 22 students/class unlike other school where there are no limits on the # of students allowed per class.
--Submitted by a parent

I am getting concerned that parents aren't being told the whole truth about the behind the scenes workings of this school. I have also heard from teachers and from a friend who works at the APS offices that the school is in danger of not being renewed next year because of Imagine Schools. Teachers say it too but if you ask anyone official they all say that isn't the case. I believed that it was just a rumor but in the last year there have been some really bad press for Imagine around the country and now I just saw that the Georgia Charter School Commission reviewed one Imagine school for renewal and one for a new school opening and both of them got a recommendation to deny the charters. On top of that, I saw tonight that the IWIA board is taking off the word Imagine in the school name. I may not have inside scoop but I do know that 2+2+2=6 and if teachers are saying the future of the school is in doubt because of Imagine, the Commission is rejecting 2 Imagine schools and the board is dropping Imagine from our name, the people with the scoop obviously know something they aren't telling. Didn't Dr. Hormes's old school get rid of Imagine? Is there a plan to do the same for WIA?
--Submitted by a parent

To the IWIA board member, as a parent I have been worried about the fate of the school given the rumors here and some of the national bad press for Imagine Schools. I can not attend board meetings because of my work schedule. It would be really helpful if they could be posted on the web site. There have been no updates on the minutes since March of last school year and I know there has been a lot of important things happening. It would help address rumors if those minutes would get posted on the web site. Communication is something I think needs to be improved across the board for the whole school. When I asked a teacher about the rumor she said she didn't think it was going to close at Christmas but she didn't think the charter would get renewed when it is back up for review either so she still thought the days were numbered. What is being done about that to keep it from happening?
--Submitted by a parent