Apogee Cedar Park

"This review is based on our experience at Apogee. I encourage parents to evaluate this (and any school) individually based on their children's educational needs and family values. Our son attended Apogee for less than six months. We noticed a significant change in his behavior and moods around October. I'd like to add, since we have removed him from the school, we've seen a positive shift in his regressions and abilities. The decision to withdraw him and this review is based on the below. 1.Language used by the leading staff. Tim Kennedy, who is the head of this school, used the word "Retarded” about a security guard during a parent chat. Language such as that has no place in an educational institution. He also referred to a female student as a "beautiful little brunette girl" - there is no reason to describe students this way. 2. Later, in the same parent chat, his Chief of Security used "nerds" negatively. Again, there is no reason to use these degrading words in a school environment. While attending this school, our son would come home using inappropriate language we do not use in our home (he is 4 years old and a sponge). 3. We liked Apogee for the mix of age classes and learner-based curriculum; however, the staff must be adequately trained to maintain this environment. Most of the staff do not have a childhood educational background. As a result, our son had significant regressions in his creative abilities, ability to answer questions, count, and even speak with a stutter. It got so bad he could not have many conversations with us when he was home. 4. Bullying: We noticed a change in our son's attitude towards the end of October. Thinking it was just everyday 4-year-old things, we would ask questions but didn't overthink it. Then our son started to "hate" (his words) his full name and the color pink. His reactions got so bad he would get distraught if we called him by his actual name or used something like a pink plate for his food. After conversations with him, he finally told us there were kids in his class who would make fun of his name and if he wore anything pink (like socks). He is FOUR and should not worry about that at a school we pay a decent amount for, where the class ratio is 10:1. I'd also like to add he was left out of school games, and this was brought to our attention when the director sent a picture of indoor recess with our child very clearly excluded in a lunchtime recess game because he was not following the rules. He's four; teach him to play. We brought our concerns to the director, and they were brushed off. The leadership team created this school to break the public education system. We may have been better off putting him in the public education system. I am disappointed Apogee did not work out for our family and even more disappointed in the leadership team's responses to our concerns. Proceed with caution."

"Overall, I found Apogee to be a welcoming and nurturing environment for students. The faculty and staff were friendly and approachable, and seemed genuinely invested in the well-being and success of their students. One thing that stood out to me was the emphasis on character education and social-emotional learning. The school had a number of programs and initiatives in place to help students develop empathy, respect, and responsibility, which I thought was a valuable addition to the curriculum. Overall, I would highly recommend Apogee to families looking for a supportive and enriching learning environment for their children."

"I love Apogee’s approach to teaching and learning. In my opinion, the methods they use will have all children prepared to become independent, free thinking, and productive adults."

"This school is amazing! My kids are truly thriving here. They are excited to come to school every day and they are with a community of learners that are happy to be here too. They are also learning so much and becoming leaders! I can't wait to see what this school grows into and I'm excited my kids get to grow right along with it."

"At Apogee you'll here terms like guides, mentors and heros describing teachers and students. Apogee is an institution providing for unrestricted growth, learning, and leadership in the next generation!"