Metairie Academy for Advanced Studies

It surely is a great school. If your child is doing progressing according to his/her age and enjoys learning at the age of 4 .. parents get him/her tested for metairie academy. Beacause you want your child to be exposed to the currculum to stimulate the mind to keep up with his calliber. My son and daughter both scored above 99.9 for the test and school is just the right fit for them. It is certainly not about pushing the child and giving overload homework. They make sure the kids learn what they need to rather than those schools which will focus on just following school board mandate.
—Submitted by a parent

In response to the prior message, it's obvious by your lack of knowledge in very basic grammar (by not knowing the difference between there/their) that you do not qualify for a school like Met. Acad. It's easy to believe you failed out. It is first and foremost an advanced study/accelerated program school and, yes, the smart kids do excel. My child is going into his 5th year there and loves it. While I do agree that it's a little unorganized (but improving every year) and a couple of teachers do speak too harshly, overall it's a very good school and great academically. My child loves school and most of the teachers. Because he is well-behaved, he doesn't get yelled at. No school is 100% perfect and all have good and bad points. No school is going to please every single parent, but overall, the good definately outweighs the bad. If your child is gifted or even very smart, I highly recommend it.
—Submitted by a parent

They taught nothing to me ... I failed most if my classes because the teachers failed to teach most of the parents did there childs work for them and claimed there child was a genius.. kids would often cry over b's because of the parents pressuring them and the kids that didnt have there parents do there work were looked down on like they were stupid. Honestly I hated this school so much it makes me never want to put my kids in an academy.

My daughter has been going to Metairie Academy since second grade. Before her second grade year she went to St. Catherine of Siena, what a joke academically. She went from making straight A's at St. Catherine, never studying a day in her life, to making A/B's at Metairie Academy. My daughter has never had 5 hours of homework, so I am not sure what others are speaking of? I have only one complaint and that is the P.E. teachers speak to the children way too harshly, and so do some of the 5th grade teachers. My daughter loves school, but hates more than half of her teachers. They really need to pay closer attention to the parents comments on the teachers actions, they side with the teachers automatically. Academically the school is great if your child is gifted!
—Submitted by a parent

Great school! My daughter loves this school. She is in Pre-K and is learning so much. I can't wait to see what Kindergarten is like.
—Submitted by a parent

Excellent academics. Poor communication. Does not have a nuturing environment. Lots of screaming and yelling by teachers and especially coaches, which truly breaks the spirit of the children. Sad that it has so much potential, but falls short.
—Submitted by a parent

Because the education is diverse; the children are so creative; and because is affords those who could not pay for a better education.

I love my school. the teachers are nice, and make sure we stay focused on our work. The behavior system is excellent, but is a bit too much. The only downside is that there is a bit too much homework, sometimes so much, it takes 5 hrs. to complete. It's also a bit unorganized. For example, they send home a reminder for the bakesale a day before, or they don't post the homework. Overall, it's a excellent school.
—Submitted by a student

There are pros and cons to Metairie Academy. Certainly, the work offered the students is more interesting/challenging than they would find at any mainstream school. The downside is that, somewhere along the way, 'quantity' replaced 'quality' in the teachers' approach. In other words, they throw so much at these kids all at once, that nothing 'sticks.' Sure, if the kids 'cram' for tests, they can make the grade but, ask them the same material in a week and it's gone. The school would be better served in teaching a bit less and giving the students time to absorb it. You can tell that they are teaching to standardized testing schedules by the way they just keep shoving more and more at these kids. Someone needs to point out that we are educating children for a lifetime, not just for this year's LEAP. And, some basics are simply skipped - like phonics.
—Submitted by a parent

This school was a living nightmare for my child.As a straight A student, he entered this school with ambition and hope.I saw this part of him shrink every day as he was unable to finish the heavy work load, and the 5+hours of homework per night.The parent/teacher meeting we attended was also a tragedy. It turned out to be a shouting match between the teachers and parents.One teacher was very rude!This set the tone for a constant conflict.Rather than working together with the families of the kids to make sure they succeed, it seems they did everything they could to make it impossible.I talked with several other parents who were having similar problems, and we all decided that we were not going to let this school rob our kids of their childhood, and their joy. I feel sorry for the kids who still go there.
—Submitted by a parent

I was thrilled two years ago. My son was in a private school...now there was a school that would cater to what he needed as a student. We have been at Metairie Academy for three years. Each year has been different. The work challenges the kids to think and do differently...higher order thinking. I love the fact that my son wants to go to school. He loves school so much that at the end of last school year...he was very upset. I have never met a child that did not look forward to summer vacation. This kid would rather be in school. My hat is off to the teachers and prinicipal for making school a place where students want to go. The school is making strides to upgrade the facilities, of course with the help of dedicated parents. Hopefully, my almost four year old will be able to attend next year.
—Submitted by a parent

We came from the Catholic school system and I have found that my childrens' needs - academically and psychologically - are met so much better at Metairie Academy. Here they flourish because their gifted quirkiness is celebrated. My only concern is that some of the staff does not understand that 'gifted' does not mean 'possessing innate knowledge.' In other words, just because children are exceptionally bright does not mean they don't need an adequate amount of instruction before they are expected to have mastered any topic. Sometimes material is breezed through too quickly. While these bright kids loathe redundancy, even they need a bit of healthy repetition to fully grasp some things.
—Submitted by a parent

The school academics are wonderful and the teachers and principle are wonderful! The school however is horrible, I'm actually afraid for the children who use the bathroom facilities ... deplorable! They don't even have soap dispensers in some. This school is in desperate need of repair and TLC!!! Concerned Parent
—Submitted by a parent

I have two children at Metairie Academy, and this is our third year here. The work is challenging but interesting, not the rote memorization of dull facts that I recall from elementary school. The school is also the most recially diverse school I have seen in Jefferson or Orleans Parish. Many teachers incorporate the differences in cultural backgrounds into lessons, giving students a broader cultural education than most schools. While it is my understanding that the school is not actually a true magnet, but an advanced school, it doesn't really matter because the level of education is excellent. My only complaint would be a sometimes lax discipline policy regarding behavior problems, and a catering to those parents who don't seem to believe that their little angels sometimes do misbehave. Regardless, it still offers a better education than the other public schools and most Catholic or private schools in the area.
—Submitted by Holli Castillo, a parent

Academically, this school is excellent compared to the average school - public or private. The students are not your average students, though. Many people think of this as the school for gifted students and that is not what it is. The kids are bright, many are gifted. But outside of the great staff 5 or 6 gifted teachers, there is very little knowledge of the emotional, social and intellectual needs of gifted children. Principal is great. Very committed. Aftercare and morning care are a joke. No meaningful supervision at all. The entire facility is in a state of disrepair. This school looks like paradise only when compared to other public schools in the greater New Orleans area. If you have a child who can do this work, and you want a public school, this is as good as it gets.
—Submitted by Bev, a parent

My granddaughter just finished PreK at Metairie Academy. She had a great year and learned a lot. Her teachers were wonderful. My only quarrel is with the reward system of discipline and with the fact that it is difficult for preK parents to learn the ropes because of the no walk in nature of the school, The grandparents club started this year was a great resource (I'm a grandma, not a mom to this student)
—Submitted by Dorothy, a parent

This is an excellent school. I am very pleased with the academic quality at Metairie Academy. It is so amazing with the math and reading curriculm. The principal is amazing and works with the children very well. Nora Held
—Submitted by nora, a parent

This is an absolutely fantastic school. The mix of children is great. The children that attend this school are just different than your regular school of kids. This is our third year and I couldn t be happier. There is a good amount of parental involvement. The teachers are energetic and original and fun. The school has numerous electives available each nine weeks to all the kids. The kids learn most of their material in class which to me is the way it should be. They are reading books several grades ahead of their grade level. Math is taught a grade level up and you receive credit a grade level up on your report card (i.e. 4th grade kids get credit for completing the 5th grade math curriculum). The principal is fantastic. I have no complaints whatsoever.
—Submitted by a parent

This is an excellent school for gifted/advanced students. Be prepared to work extremely hard. The textbooks used are more sophisticated than those found at any other school, private or public. It can take up to 2 hours daily to complete homework assignments and study adequately for tests. The math curriculum is especially impressive, as it goes way beyond standard computations. Instead of having a reading textbook, students read award-winning children's novels. The school's offering of electives shows that it cares about the students' other interests besides education. Thus, in order to foster an emotionally healthy student population, parents should remember that our children are, first and foremost, children. They just also happen to be academically advanced. It should not be about how many grades were skipped to get to this point.
—Submitted by a parent

My son has been attending Metairie Grammar since kindergarden. Before it was changed to a magnet school in 2004, I have to obtain a special permit annually because we live outside the school district. My son has been a gifted student since 1st grade. The school even allowed him to skip the 3rd grade and go straight to the 4th grade due to his outstanding academic performance. The teachers and the principal are wonderful. The class are challenging. The electives are interesting. The students are friendly and displined. I will never regret my decision to send my son to this excellent school.
—Submitted by Xiaoming Xu, a parent