Research Accelerated School charter Schools in Burbank, California

“I 'have' been in love with this school since it's inception. I, however, have seen the model become distorted with red tape and power moves by administration. There have been so many teachers that have left. I am aware that there are many factors attributing to this. However, I share the beliefs of many many parents here and the overall feeling is that we are loosing too many teachers. Not to mention we are being promised things that have not occured. For one, the budget. We have been told over and over again that we would be GIVEN the budget. Now we are told that this is 'public' records and anyone can obtain them. That just feels really patronizing. I do believe that things are tough all over. I dont feel the board of directors nor the administration are in accord with the teachers, parents and students. What a shame.”

“Not again! Another year of great staff leaving without any explanation, few opportunities for parent involvement in school decisions, and starting from scratch. Why can't the school administration hold on to great teachers and staff. Aren't parents supposed to be very involved in the decision-making in the accelerated school's model? Why are great programs like Early College being cut? I have had it!”

“It's true that there has been an increasing communication gap between the parents and the administrators during the monthly mandatory meetings. What concerns me is the lack of linguistic resources and the wait time incurred by the Latino Family communities, whom already experience feelings of alienation and marginalia, during these meetings. If TAS is truly serious about meeting the needs of all in it's learning community, there needs to be more attention to, communication about and thoughtful facilitation of the same materials covered and discussed in the English-Only Meetings (In Spanish).”

“The maj. of teachers my 7th grader has had the privilege of learning from in 2007-08 at TAS are outstanding educators. Ms. Perez, Mr. Lemus, Mr. Elkouby and Mr. Wong inspire their students to much higher levels in keeping with the Accelerated philosophy. There are multiple teachers with Masters Degress as well as several Phds, and it shows. Mr. Arellano is a fine, hands-on, thoughtful principal. The school is in fact large with 1300 hundred students from K-12 and yet the campus is run smoothly & professionally. I should also mention the patience and sincerity of the front office who are wonderful. I am grateful that my child had this excellent experience and regret that we must relocate. If you live anywhere near downtown LA, no matter what your ethnicity or income level, you will not find a better LAUSD option. I know, I tried.”

“The idealogy of the school is wonderful. Many parents complain about changes that take place at the school and their lack of participation is to blame. Since the No Child Left Behind campaign, I have seen a decrease in creative teaching curriculum. This is not directly the fault of the faculty, rather the policy enforced by having to keep the 'scores' up. To speak of teacher turnover, it is not a huge number. There are many factors that come into play when dealing with teacher turnover. Salary, teaching styles, and administration are just pieces of the puzzle. Since The Accelerated School is a charter school, the teachers are on Yearly contracts. Something that is 'across-the-board' for all charter schools. The primary function of a charter school is to introduce the Family as a unit to actively participate, most complaints are from parents who refuse to participate.”

“I love the school and all the staff!! Everyone here understands family and it is personified everyday here. I do not appreciate unfounded complaints by parents who refuse to really participate in the infastructure. I go to meetings and become frustrated when I hear complaints from parents who do not participate in the social model but were begging and hoping to get their children into the program. It is not fair to all who do actively participate in bettering the school, have to be subjected to ridicule from parents who are lacking the time to spend at the school. To be perfectly frank, these are the same parents who wait until the end of the school year to volunteer their time here.”

“this school is a great school that helps both the students and parents achieve higher learning. although there are some flaws about it, like any great school, it also has great advantages. the only way we can truly make tas a great school is if we all put our best into it. not just the teachers and staff but the students and parents as well. we must all work together to make tas a great school.”

“We have been part of the TAS family for over 6 years. The school was great, but in the last 3 or 4 years the school has taken a turn for the worse. It lacks in quality teachers, some of the staff are unprofessional and lack common sense and you never know what to expect from TAS, they'll tell you one thing and do something totally different. There are some positive things about TAS, it has no gang problems inside the school and since the school is small, it's easy to get to know other families. The teacher and staff turnover ratio is alarming. It seems that all of the good teachers leave. The school was once a Times Magazine School of the Year and now it's a school that's on a Performance Improving Plan. I'm still hoping it will bounce back, but things seems to get worse every year.”

“The Accelerated School has grown from a small elementary campus to a multiple program network. The growth can cause families to feel a loss of closseness, however, the growth has allowed families to have their students in one school preK-12th grade. Challenges exist, but there are wonderful people at work here--we have great administrators, teachers, students and families. It is a school of choice and this choice may not be for everyone. You have to work hard and be involved. Teachers in the middle and high school work tremendously long hours; students are expected to work hard as well; parents are expected to support all of this hard work. If you're up for hard work--this is the place.”

“Our daughter is almost finished with her first year of kindergarten this year and our experience at TAS so far has been wonderful. The teachers are great and I think the future looks bright for the school.”

“I have had three years experience with TAS. During those years, I have watched big dreams and big ideas give way to high turnover, all too rapid growth, and lack of academic progress. This school with a wonderful vision and outstanding teachers needs to hold on to their educators and promote quality learning from the ground up. I hope that TAS can turn around this downward trend and return to their former successes.”

“I was so excited when my two children where excepted at TAS 4 years ago, until now. Articles mean nothing if you have nothing to back it up. Administrators feel they can change the rules on us, without alerting us. Can you really trust a school with this type of attitude?”

“I am a teacher at this school. We have an amazing staff of dedicated teachers-going home early means well after 5:00pm on most days! The families are dedicated, valued and are very visible in the classroom. Children can start in pre-K and stay with us until they gratuate from 12th grade. We focus on the whole child, not just the three R's, although those are strong. Children are nurtured in their emotional, physical and artistic development as well as in their intellectual growth. If you care about your child's future, run, don't walk to this school!”

“This school seems to be only concerned about how they look 'on paper' and the importance of the children has falling through the cracks.”

“This is a school that grew to fast. Intentions were good but they underestemated the students and parents. The lottery process is awful because you never know what you are going to get alot of these kids were awful. They desroyed the new school and deystroyed the spirit of the school. The adminstration has had why to much turn over. So nothing has been consistent”

“I am an Instructional Assistant at TAS. In recent months The Accelerated School has undergone a huge amount of growth. This raises a lot of concern with me about the quality of education and the sense of community at the school. The teachers are doing what they can with classes that sometimes are as big at 36 students. In order for the school to work better under the current strain, it truly demands full participation from the families both in and out of the classroom. Parents need to volunteer in their kids classrooms , attend all parent meetings, and support their kids academically and personally at home.”

“Academically strong to 5th grade and great access to extra curricular activites.”

“Accelerated has recently grown from a small school to a large school, which has taken away from some of the family-like atmosphere, but has at least give the opportunity to more children to attend.”

“The Accelerated School has an excellent elementary staff. Teachers and IA's are dedicated to their students' success and regularly work together with families to ensure the best for all children.”

“My families experience at the Accelerated School began seven years ago. At that time the school was small and the teachers were great. I am truly sadden by the the fact that TAS has changed so much and that no one seems concerned. To future parents wanting to get their child into TAS I would say, 'It is not the 'great' school you read about in all the articles.'”

“this schools curriculum is very inadaquate and their teaching style is unproductive.”

“Wonderful school with lots to offer students in the way of extracurricular activities.”

“The intentions and ideals are excellent; but I have a concern that we may be growing too big; too fast. There is a need to correct some issues as far as actions and consequences of students and I am concerned about the high turnover of teachers. We need teachers that are going to teach at our school for the long haul; not use us as a stepping stone.”

“Though I agree with the concept and intentioned culture, I am concerned about teacher turnover and strong consequences to unacceptable behavior”

“This will be my sons second year, and academically it can be challenging coming from a public school. Study time and home work are required and Parents must participate in Monthly meetings. I think all of the above is great.”