Nova Classical Academy Upper School

Nova is a great school trying to do great things. It saddens me to read the reviews below because the school is trying to be more inclusive and some parents hate it. The "controversial issues" below are actually sexual education and a Gay-Straight Alliance club; if you don't want your children around those ideas, go to a private, religious school ,not a public school. It is also ironic that one review says that we can't be parents here but also says that the school needs people to step up to be parents. This is a great school, but not a religious school. Get over yourselves.
--Submitted by a parent

Couldn't be happier! My children are thriving. Great work to the staff, students, and everyone for keeping this gem of a school going!
--Submitted by a parent

Nova is the most unique school I have ever worked. Each day brings new challenges and opportunities to inspire and to push students to be more than they believed possible. I enjoy working with parents to help them to see what their children's potential truly is. I am sorry that not everyone is happy, but I believe we are doing good work here and that with the proper partnerships in place, every child will thrive at Nova.
--Submitted by a teacher

Nova just keeps getting worse and worse. The upper school attempts to "form your children" beyond academics. You better be darn sure that this is the type of formation that you want! I find the lower school better than the upper school. Important information: The principle of the uppper school does not have the experience of having raised children of their own. I have found many decisions that are made lack the consideration of things that you only understand by having children of your own. The upper school lacks greatly in setting expectations of implementing virtues and respect. Your kid will be smart but will lack character that you need to truly be successful. The student to teacher ratio is getting worse year by year. It is not uncommon to spend several hours a night on homework. In Math, my child has a B but has failed every test. This is because you get 5 out of 5 just for handing in the homework given each night - never checked or graded. The teacher never knows if the child really gets it or not. Contraversal topics are NOT made transparent to parents. Parents lose their ability to be parents at this school. Don't regret your decision - choose another school.
--Submitted by a parent

Nova is the best school from K-4, then it starts getting ridiculous in the upper school. History lessons include memorization of dates, minutiae, and people (16-20 or so of these for each chapter) and complicated family trees for ancient royalty. The readings go up to the 11th grade level or so in 6th grade, so be prepared to tutor/teach your child extensively. English class in 6th grade is about at the 9th-11th grade level when it comes to grammar and reading lessons. Children read no American literature, and the books are "classical", yes (ie. slow and cumbersome). My son finds the books boring, and he loves to read. Homework per night is about 3-4 hours PLUS indoor recess PLUS tutoring PLUS weekends, so it will be your child's entire life, save maybe a club after school for 45 minutes. Even a haircut might mean a worksheet doesn't get done. There is NO adjustment to the curriculum if your child is struggling. If he can't read the 11th grade-level ancient text, he needs to "work harder". My child tested at an "academically superior" range, and gets Fs. Major issue for college entrance/self-esteem. Needless to say, after K-6 at Nova, we're going elsewhere for 7th grade.
--Submitted by a parent

We love this school. I have one child in the upper school and one in the lower school. We are definitely returning for high school and are very excited about the new building with a unified K-12 campus, and large gym. First of all, this is an awesome curriculum. I love how art-music-history-literature all are tied together so that when students study literature from a time period, they also learn the music/art/history of that period. Every family has its own perspective on homework, but I'm going to be the contrarian: I don't think there's too much. My fifth-grader averages less than an hour a day, and the eighth-grader has about an hour and a half -- sometimes far less. Sure, when there's a project or research paper due, the older one might have a block of a couple hours working on research or rough drafts over the weekend, but she's learning interesting stuff and seems to enjoy it. In addition, I like that the athletic program is growing, with the varsity level sports (soccer, volleyball, basketball), and more to come. We have been very pleased with the mock trial teams, choirs and fall and spring drama productions, which are quite impressive.
--Submitted by a parent