LifeGate Academy

"If you're considering cooperative schools, I urge you to carefully consider other options. Don’t let the positive reviews just posted cloud your judgement- they’re mostly from church members. Neither my family nor any relatives are affiliated with the school or its associated church. While the school and faculty possess commendable qualities, the drawbacks have outweighed the benefits for us, prompting us to withdraw our children. Other parents have shared similar sentiments, although they may not have documented their concerns formally. It's our view that Lifegate Academy may not be suitable if you seek an environment that encourages the uniqueness of your kids. Their religious and rigid perspective plays a huge part as it should to a point. We feel that If you are searching for an environment for your child that welcomes THEIR perspectives, styles of learning, and opinions, this is not the place. It is my opinion based on our experience that creativity is not consistently encouraged, especially in children who are unique and do not attend their church. While creative initiatives exist, and certain teachers do encourage it, instances of teachers shaming children for expressing unique viewpoints through their school work are disheartening. We've noticed instances of Favoritism towards church-affiliated students which could put others at a disadvantage. We are not the only parents to observe and express this. It is our view that Lifegate Academy fails to understand and nurture the unique qualities and interests of students as a whole, unlike our previous schools. Communication from the administration is consistently poor, with unresponsiveness and last-minute announcements for meetings. This was an ongoing concern which we are still dealing with today. If you want adequate support, unfortunately, you will not find it here. The safety of students doesn't seem to be the school's top priority. Despite expressing a desire for a safe environment, leadership of Lifegate Academy hasn't shown a continuous commitment to enhancing safety measures while our kids attended, even after recent school shootings. Safety concerns raised by us received inadequate and dismissive responses, only after posting on their Facebook group. Prior to that, we received no response for our concerns which were communicated to leadership. In our experience, certain leadership is resistant to outside ideas and struggles with accepting constructive feedback. They seem attached to established practices and defensive when faced with ideas for improvement. Do your research, but also know that relying solely on positive Google reviews, possibly being primarily from faculty or church members, may not provide a comprehensive understanding. Seek insights from homeschooling groups and connect with current and former parents for a balanced perspective. Regarding specific incidents: Emailed leadership regarding a child's absence, but received no response on 1/17/22. Initiated contact about scheduling conflicts and orientation scheduling, but leadership never responded on 6/20/22 and 8/1/22 Safety concerns communicated on 3/28/23 and 4/4/23, with no response from the Lifegate leader. The concern was then posted on their Facebook page on 4/10/23. Requested child's records on 5/17/23, received a response the next day asking where to forward records to, but when we said to send them to us, no further response was received. Follow-up email on 5/22/23 yielded no response. Leadership responded on 5/30/23, stating records would be delivered after final reports were submitted. After submitting final reports we receiving no response, follow-up was initiated on 7/5/23, six weeks later. On 7/6/23, leadership claimed that one report was not submitted On 7/6/23, we followed up, she did not respond until 7/11/23 There are good people on staff at this school. I hate writing this for their sake. A lot of them have nothing to do with our negative experiences. It just became too much for us not to post a review. I hope this helps someone."

"I can’t begin to express my gratitude and satisfaction with LGA. My son has been a part of LGA full time school since it began. After his first year, he tested 2 grade levels ahead in a subject he struggled in. Students are allowed to flourish, and their individuality and creativity is nourished and highly encouraged. If you’re looking for the best education in Madison, look no further!"

"I cannot say enough wonderful things about this school. My son was attending a public school in our area as part of the Technology program. He was invited due to his test scores. My high hopes of how he would benefit, were shattered by the pushing of political agendas, staff personal opinions, student bullying. When we found LifeGate Academy it changed everything. True classical learning, with emphasis on education. Student test scores are high, and scholarships from top schools. My son has graduated from the University of Alabama and contributes his high scores and abilities to his teacher and other staff at LifeGate. My daughter is currently attending LifeGate, and is a member of the Beta Honor Society. Do yourself and your child a favor…choose excellent education…choose LifeGate Academy."

"I enrolled my son in Lifegate Academy for his senior year of high school. After homeschooling for several years, we started my using their co-op. My son was in Mrs. Penton's English class- a subject he wasn't excited about, though was good at. He loved this class, becoming more engaged than I'd ever seen him. After prayerful consideration, we decided to enroll him full time. He had had a wonderful year under Mrs. Penton's tutelage and enjoyed school more than he did when at home and far more than he ever did in public school. It was an answer to our prayers."

"I enrolled my daughter in Life Gate academy as she was going into the fifth grade. Her testing showed that she was on a third grade level in most of her classes at the time of enrollment. She just completed updated testing, a mere Nine months later, and she scored higher than her grade level in every single subject. I cannot recommend this cool enough. The personalize curriculum, and one on one attention each student gets is unparalleled."