Thales Academy Apex K-5 1177 Ambergate Station, Apex, NC 27502

"From what I hear Wake County Schools are great. However, if you are debating whether or not to choose public or private school for your child, and are leaning toward private. You must tour Thales Academy. We interviewed 8 different schools in making our decision when we moved to the area and there is not a day that goes by that I am not thankful for the choice we made. There is a mixture of students from all over the world, there is a level of intelligence from these children that is exceptional, and the teachers leave me without words at their commitment and kindness. I have a 3rd & 4th grader - and both of them are both challenged and supported! I highly recommend this school to anyone moving into the S Raleigh area."

"In rebuttal to the 1 star review. To start off this school advertises and states it was founded by a conservative and up holder conservative values. So if you want the 50's simplicity and safety then you have to adhere to the rules which in turns allows learning without political nonsense, if you want a hippie liberal do what ever you want learning is subjective school MOVE to California or New York. As for the dress code they go over the dress code policy and rules during their open house and tour and tell you no piercings for boys and only 1 pair of earnings for girls. Hair color has to be natural colors if you decided to color your hair. They also go over their learning style and were very open on how strict they are. In fact they let you look inside the classroom to observe the children, which is sort of odd. The kids are smiling and respectful and raise their hands to answer questions or talk. So how strict is this school, think of it like a British school in the USA. They don't beat the kids, but they don't hug them and tell them their macaroni pictures are the best ever. They have have a 6 step disciplinary system per day, the 1st 3 marks are warnings, the 4th they lose their treasure box privilege for the week. If they get a 5th warning they have a silent lunch, or inside recesses. 6th a parent is called and may or may not have to be picked up. On the other side if they get caught doing something good they earn bonus points, which get them a treasure box privilege as well. So how does this work in reality? My son has tons of energy to put it mildly and went to a Montessori pre-school so it was a big adjustment, yet he didn't realize it himself. But he likes it their and has adjusted well, in fact he only has lost treasure box privilege once. The teachers in Kindergarten are very and warm, but they do push the kids to learn and behave and don't put up with shiz. Now for the good part the reason for being very strict is they are teaching learning style. They want to teach the kids how to learn so grade school is direct instruction, then hybrid in middle school then high school it's pretty much college style. Thales entire philosophy is the last 2 years of high school is exactly like college (minus getting drunk and skipping class). They read their assignment, come to class to ask questions on the material. So in the end if you want your kid living with you in his 30's while working on his music or art career, do not send you child here! If you want you kid to take you out to dinner after he or she actually graduated college in 4 years probably the place to go. As for the cost, it's not that bad only around $5,000 a year when compared to other public schools a $15,000 a year. Plus the more expensive schools didn't have any of their kids get into Ivy League colleges so take that into account. Updates, so it's been nearly a year with my son going to Kindergarten and I changed my review to 5 stars for sure. We are doing Love and Logic with my son in regards to natural consequences about being one time for school, the long of the short is he ended up getting ready in the parking lot, but instead of the administrative team condemning me and being all liberal hippy let you kid do what ever they want so they end up living with you until you die with a 70k art degree. They were very calm warm while also being stern this is school time, it's time to get dressed and go to school. I got him dressed in privacy of course then Mrs. Bradford came out as well to help him into school also not being a jerk just coming to figure out how to help. Honestly for both the child and parent you have to go to this school, not buying a new car and enrolling your child is the best money you will ever spend. Thales is building a better America by building smart, strong, polite and assertive children it's a must enroll!"

"I am a student here at Thales, and it is absolutely the worst school I have ever been to. I went to public school through middle school and I am now attending this school for high school. Public school was so much better and I learned a lot more. I don't recommend this school to anyone. The curriculum sucks and they don't actually teach you anything useful. The only arts programs are art and band. They only focus on math and science classes. Horrible school, don't send your child here. It's not worth it."

"To be brief, Thales is a school focused on a strong academic curriculum, building character and a solid code of ethics."

"this school was a prison, they would click dog clickers in your face and not allow you to pierce your ears. the punishment for everything was being sent into the "library" and eating lunch alone with the principal. one of the most oppressive schools i have been to."