Faith West Academy 2225 Porter Road, Katy, TX 77493

"Please heed the bad reviews - prejudice, favoritism, and hypocrisy run rampant here. Sit back and grab a snack; it’s story-time. I graduated from FWA in 2015. Their policy had /always/ been that if two students have the exact same GPA, then the title of valedictorian goes to whoever had the higher class averages throughout their 4 years of high school. This happened to me; I tied GPAs with someone, but I most definitely had the higher class averages (the fact that she had two more 5.0 classes to boost her GPA alone proves that). I get called down to the office one month before graduating and am told that, after changing my fine arts credits to P/F, I was valedictorian after all! I was over the moon. The next day, I get called back down to the office - “well, actually, despite established policy, Mrs. so-and-so wants you guys to be co-valedictorians, and if you have an issue with that, then we’re going to have to take into account other things like extracurricular activities, absences, etc., in which case you may end up being salutatorian instead” (they specifically mentioned those things knowing that she had less absences and more extracurriculars than me). So, you may ask, why would administration tell a child they’re indubitably valedictorian one day but then coerce them into being co-valedictorian the next? Well, her mother had already been a teacher there for a number of years, and both her daughters had attended the school for a number of years, so they were a family-favorite. They had immediately went down to the office upon finding out she wouldn’t be valedictorian after all, and I’m willing to bet good money that she threatened to leave the school if her daughter was made salutatorian. At the time, I tried to make myself okay with the situation by reminding myself that I’d still reap the benefits that come with being valedictorian - people’s comments of “we know who the real valedictorian is” were also pretty placating. However, looking back at it years later, I wish I had fought harder for myself. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the whole thing. I felt particularly hurt because I had actually liked that teacher and thought the girl was really sweet, but this incident showed their true colors as well as the true colors of the administration. I regret not taking action against FWA, and it’s obviously far too late to do anything now, but I realized recently that there is value in sharing my experience with parents that are considering this school. If FWA did this to me, someone who was a model student, then they can do it to your children too (unless you’re wealthy, white, conservative, religious, and a regular donor, then you’re guaranteed to be in their select group of favorites). The negative comments pertaining to their focus on athletics, uncertified teachers, and archaic technology/curriculum were true during my experience. I would also add that although cliques are prevalent in all schools, due to the smaller student body size (my graduating class was ~34 students), the exclusivity was far more noticeable and felt to a greater extent. In the interest of fairness, I will address my positive takeaways. A few teachers really did know what they were doing and more than adequately prepared us for college courses (Mrs. Martin, Mrs. Reed, and Mrs. Bickerstaff come to mind, very excellent). Not all of the administrators, parents, and students were two-faced; there were some genuinely kind, good-hearted Christians. Administration created a nice lounge for only seniors to relax and study in, and they allowed us little freedoms, like wearing jeans instead of standard uniform bottoms on Fridays and driving off premises during lunchtime to get food elsewhere. Our senior trip to Costa Rica was pretty sweet, and I look back on our experiences there with great fondness. I met a few lovely individuals that I’m still friends with to this day who I wouldn’t have met otherwise. Nevertheless, when I look back on my experience at FWA, I feel that the negatives considerably outweighed the positives. ~The End~"

"Ex-student of this school, I loved this school until they extended the school-day by a hour. It just added more stress! And on top of that, there was an unnecesary amount of homework each day! I enjoyed this school for a few years, If they have fixed some issues, I would recommend it! If they haven''t, then I don't recommend this place! Especially for kids with focus issues like me! I am giving four stars for all the memories, though."

"I was a student here 5th-11th grade. Now as I enter into my 4th year of college and having met other students from various high schools, I do have some suggestions. It would be nice to have dual credit for at least English & Math courses. I’m not sure how that works in private school, but I don’t remember being offered dual credit courses. I also don’t know if it is still not an option. One other thing I might suggest is more variety in electives and languages. This school however does offer upper level curriculum and has high expectations for its students. I remember my senior year in public school being so easy and I nearly made straight As when I would never achieve that at FWA. I say this because public school curriculum is so basic and the teachers don’t expect much, so my work was impressive to them. The test styles & essay writing of all sorts that I was taught at FWA are up to par with my college courses. Hope this helps someone!"

"Faith West has such a peaceful environment. Teachers connect everything to Christ, and are very kind and understanding. Though this is only my second year here at FWA, I have learned so many great things about Christ. Last year I accepted the Holy Spirit into my heart, and I wouldn't of done it without this school. There was a bit of drama going on at one point this year, so I went and talked to the teacher about it. Now, me and the girls who were also included in the drama are best friends. Also, we have chapel every week. Its great to be able to praise God at school. We also are taught new things every chapel. For example, we had a guy come in and talk about how you are never too young to spread the word of God. Another time a couple of kids accepted Jesus into their hearts at chapel. This school is not just a school, its a family. My name is Rachel Brooks, and I am so proud to be a part of this community."

"Faith West is outstanding!! It is totally worth the money!! The teachers are very nice and field day is awesome!! There is mud, slides, competitions, watermelon races and a lot of other cool things, Also, color run is awesome too!! It is where you run around the lake multiple times and while that is happening you get color powder all over you!!! For me, the purple stayed in my hair for about a week but it comes out easily!! Faith West is the BEST SCHOOL that I have ever been to in my life!! It is so fun and you get to learn about Jesus!! Which is AWESOME!!! I SO RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE THAT IS LOOKING FOR ANOTHER SCHOOL!!"