Annapolis Area Christian School

I am a former graduate of AACS. I can say firsthand the classes and school environment were helpful for my academic career after graduating. The school environment is really what you decide to make it. With a student body of roughly 500 people, there are plenty of opportunities to make new relationships and build strong social networks. When I was a junior, I knew sixty percent of the students by name, and loved every day I was there. Most of the teachers I had were quite social and kind. In an academic sense, I will agree that due to tuition, the school ought to definitely make a strong effort to establish after school study programs for those academically challenged to improve their growth in learning. I'll say I struggled greatly at imes in this school( in regards to the classes), but was fortunate enough to persevere and succeed through my devotion to learning. Perhaps there is no perfect school, but I believe in the future of my former high school, and the drive to sustain the Chrisocentric message in everything they do. For whats its worth, I attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School ( NAPS), and am now currently enrolled in the United States Naval Academy.

I love the School, this is my son second year of middle school and we are looking foward to the high school next year. The eachers are excellent and the Academics are great,the students have lots personality and are very respectful and caring. You must check out this school......
--Submitted by a parent

The one problem I have with this school is that alot of the kids are brats and they don't act like Christians.

For the most part this is a good high school. There are definitely some problems with teachers who are not able to get through to the marginal student. Unless you have a great deal of natural academic ability don't consider this school even if you're searching for the Christian education. In my opinion a teacher should strive help every student grasp the information in the classroom. If you're a quiet conforming student you'll definitely fall through the cracks and it will cost you a lot of money.
--Submitted by a parent

I came from a public elementary school to aacs. It was a huge change but i met friends here and they helped me adjust quickly. My old public school was horrible. The sports, academics and most teachers were pretty bad. Then I came here. It is the best school I have ever heard of!! The kids are great! The teachers? Even better! I love it here and the sports and academics are awesome! I couldn't be in a better school.
--Submitted by a student

First off, I would like to say that most of my teachers were excellent. This is an average school. If you think it will offer better academics or athletic opportunities than your local public school, you're wrong. Send your kids to public school, where they will learn to interact with others and there is no outrageous tuition cost. The worst aspect of this school is the students. There are some kind, intelligent, and gracious students at AACS. Most, however, are rude, spoiled little brats who do not tolerate anyone who is different from them (racially, socially, smarter than a five-year old, etc) or not rich. The teachers generally ignore their behavior. Christian values... you've got to be kidding me. I spent 7-10th grade depressed, largely as a result of my middle school experience and students here. The high school is worse, because most of the decent students leave by then.
--Submitted by a student

I'm a aacs student!!! we have mentor group !! it's awesome and good !! i like my school
--Submitted by a student

My experience is as 7 year AACS parent, so take from this what you may. Academically AACS is perhaps average. I see little beyond what parents in their 40 s might have experienced in their own education 25+ years ago. They offer all the traditional math, science, language, language arts and history classes but I the depth and breadth of the curriculum is not top notch. Little comprehensive support is available for children needing extra help. School activities and sports are what you might expect for a school this size. Thing is, they don t purport to be leaders in these areas and they are not. Unfortunately where they fail to live up to their billing is in the Christian-centered portion of their mission statement. Enforcement of the code of conduct takes a don t ask, don t tell approach. Children of high profile parents/donors do appear to get special treatment whether they do or not. Cliques and the stereotyping/ostracizing that they promote are so visible as to be almost defiant. The student body is much more diverse than it once was. Unfortunately it s more of a salad bowl than a melting pot, with kids from like-backgrounds more likely to hang together then integrate. Actively recruiting athletes to support the donor hunger for MIAA results undermines the entire premise of the school faith first. Once a very small, faith-based school in Annapolis, they have decided to make the leap and try to become a regional education presence. Making that leap has lead the school to make some unfortunate compromises. These compromises are inconsistent with their mission statement and the unbiased observer easily notes some significant hypocritical behavior. There is certainly a feeling of a caste system amongst the parents with the high profile donor parents occupying the highest caste. Just walk into a school activity and watch the finger-pointing and whispering. It s a Peyton Place. Worst of all is that the student body sees everything and is learning from their observation; money and influence go hand-in-hand.
--Submitted by a parent

Our child is an Upper School student. After the experience we had this year, we must say that it seems the administration has forgotten why AACS exists. In their own words, AACS exists 'to support Christian parents by providing academic instruction to students consistent with the Christ-centered teaching they receive at home and at church.' When our child encountered academic difficulties in the second semester, we received little support. We emailed all teachers: only 2 responded. No one else ever contacted us. We contacted the Academic Advising Office, who seemed unaware of the situation and gave little attention to it. Considering that tuition is around $12,000, we think we have a right to expect much more. We wonder if the emphasis on building a beautiful campus has caused AACS to lose sight of its responsibility to its families and to become more self-glorifying than God-glorifying.
--Submitted by a parent

We have had two children graduate from AACS and have only one more to go. AACS has a wonderful music program. My children have been involved in band, choir and Madrigals. All the teachers teach from a Biblical prospective bringing our Lord into every subject. I am so glad my children have been privileged to attend.
--Submitted by a parent