Renaissance Academy Charter School

I am a former teacher at Renaissance Academy. Never in my life have I worked with a harder working faculty and staff. These teachers care and work harder than anyone I have ever worked with. And that is sort of the problem. My experience was in the Upper School, so my commentary will be based on that. There is a culture of student apathy that is directly related to the countless official "intervention" programs and teachers that care so much that they will unofficially sacrifice ANYTHING to move a student along in a course that they don't belong in in the first place or are too lazy to do it on their own, knowing FULL WELL that they will be 'saved' by the intervention systems. It's not "why is this student failing," it's "why are you a bad teacher?" and "why aren't you helping them enough?" At some point, high school students need to be responsible for their own actions. Renaissance Academy does a very poor job of treating teenagers like future adults, and instead coddles them like they are still in the 6th grade. Student achievement at the high school level would be so much better if the onus of the responsibility for learning fell on the students.

My child is now in the 2nd year at RA. RA has proven to be a mixed bag. Some very good and caring teachers, some questionable academic decisions that were corrected after frequent request for review. Very prompt responses from teaches when e-mailed with questions. My child now loves RA and is doing very well there as are many of his friends. Surprised that there is no annual required science project for students. Judging from the 2011 PSSA's, this may be needed. Not able to be as involved as I like to due to distance and current disability but I do my best.
--Submitted by a parent

As a parent I would like to say that this school has the potential to be great. The class sizes are great and the assignments given seem to be on target for the students age and ability. most teachers that I have come in contact with are very caring and will take the time to address all concerns. problems that I see: The admin. does not take complaints serious and bullying seems to be a huge problem. Admin also has favorites which are the students who really excel so if your child has an IEP and needs special help they will honor that however, you are not a preferred student.
--Submitted by a parent

Parents with special needs children are welcome at RA. If children aren't being served appropriately, it is up to the parent to say something--just like any other school. Former Secretary of Education William Bennett once compared laissez-faire parenting to thinking they're sending their child through the educational equivalent of an automatic car wash--uneducated at one end, educated and ready to take on the world at the other--with no input or action on the parent's part. Well, guess what? It doesn't work that way. Yes, we had to push hard to get our child the services he needed. Yes, it was frustrating to do so. Yes, we waited too long. Yes, the results continue to be worth it. No school is a perfect fit for every child. My advice to you is to stop riding the system and do your part to make it better, or quit complaining when things don't go your way. I'm a parent of three Knights, a former public school educator, and I couldn't be happier with our current situation.
--Submitted by a parent

To the Parent who typed that their daughter graduated in the first class. I find it really rude that you would point out a few typo's and it's your kind of prejudice that is the real issue with what is wrong in the world. Do you think your children benefit from it. I am a very highly educated parent and guess what? I always have typo's don't care either. If you are not intelligent enough to look past a word spelled wrong then thats on you. I also have a student who has a learning disability and I am very much involved in her school activities but if RA decides to take children with special need they need to step up and provide the services that the are required to provide. YES I am a Democrat, so what? That really has nothing to do with it. Whats your point? The discipline as far as bullying goes, flat out stinks
--Submitted by a parent

My daughter has been attending this school for her 4th year, and my son recently started Kindergarten. I can't tell you how much we love the school compared to the public school my daughter started in. They hold the children to high standards, and the kids step up to it. The Code of Conduct is great, reminding the kids each day what they are being held to. If they do not follow it, they know what they did wrong. I wish every school had a code of conduct in place! I also appreciate the broad, liberal arts program they have, helping our kids to become well-rounded and motivated learners.
--Submitted by a parent

My children have attended RA for 10 years. My oldest graduated 2 years ago. RA was absolutely a perfect school for him, he had complaints about it while he was there, but had nothing but glowing compliments for the school when I overheard him talking to his cousins about how much better his relationship with his teachers was compared to how their teachers felt about them. My younger child is currently in High School and loving it. My major complaint about the high school is the focus that the (recently departed) upper school academy director and guidance counselor placed on having students take AP and on-line college courses. The pressure placed on my son to take an on-line course that he did not meet the pre-requisites for had the potential to negatively impact his college acceptances. On the other hand, the fine arts department is fantastic. I have most experience with the drama teacher - she is an amazing woman.
--Submitted by a parent

I have been going this school a wile. I went to a failing public school and I had bad grades. When I came here I became advanced in all subjects. -Thank you Renaissance!

Level of teacher involvement and working with each student at their own level are key components of making this school one of the best in the area.
--Submitted by a parent

I agree with the spelling comment. It's not indicative of anything. Least restrictive environment does not mean all the kids need to be in 100% hetereogenous rooms. That is not the least restrictive for the special needs kids if there's no aid in the room to support them. What's better?Phoenixville has different pockets of subgroups in each hetereogenous room so the special needs teachers are in the room with them. This way it's still mixed, but concentrated so there's enough support. I don't know if they have enough aids. What do the aids do anyway? My son said she does bulletin boards. Really though?