School info

I have had a few people ask me about the Charter School I send my kids to, If you are interested in my opinions keep reading and please know that they are MY opinions and I am not judging anyone if you do not agree with me :)

Knowledge is power!!

Thankfully we have the wonderful world wide web to look up all sorts of information, I encourage everyone to read up on all the schools in your area, I even did this for the kids preschool. Heck, I do this with every decision lol.

Look up test scores, staff, reviews, curriculum, everything and anything you can. Be careful with word of mouth, everyone has different opinions and it is important you listen to the good and bad and make your own decision. Then visit the schools with your child, you will know if it has a good feeling and if it would be a good fit for you and your children.

We live in a really nice area and our public schools have great scores, the charter school was around 6-8% higher on the CRT testing. I really liked our elementary school teachers and staff but I didn't feel like my son was being pushed, he learned a lot and his scores were above the state average but I felt he could be learning more.

Public schools and charter schools both have the same requirements such as State qualified teachers, and the students are tested the same. You do not have to pay for either, they get money from the State.

The main reason I chose GWA was because of their curriculum, every charter school is different but GWA uses Saxon Math and Core Knowledge Sequence. The kids also have a different teacher for art, music, and PE, our public school only has a different PE teacher, the do not offer art or music classes.

I love the uniforms, especially since we live in an area that is really into name brands, when your kindergartner wants TOMS, you know you have a problem. Uniforms really do make a difference in the class, and saves a ton of money!

I love how involved the parents are, each family has to do 40 hours per year or pay instead. Parents are always at the school and truly care about their kids education, sometimes too much :) I was room mom for Brielle and some parents were mad we had a party for an hour 2 days in a row during Christmas time!

I also love its K-8 and once they are in High School they can do all the extra curricular activities but also start college courses and get a head start and possible get their associates while getting their HS diploma!

I do not like the fact that I have to pick them up and drop them off everyday but I would have to do that anyway since we are not in a bus zone. And I have to pack a lunch everyday too, since they do not offer school lunch. It does save money and is healthier plus Hunter is picky anyway lol.

If you are interested in Charter schools here is a great link to get you started http://www.publiccharters.org/

I am in no way saying that if your kid goes to public school they are dumb and you are the worst parent ever. This is just my opinion and not every child is the same. There are kids that would do better at a public school and the rigorous curriculum is too much for them, and some Charter school may not teach what you would want your child to learn.

So there you go there is a small reason why we chose GWA :) Hopefully I answered some of your questions or at least got you thinking!