Harmony Science Academy - Cedar Park

"I served as the PTO Vice President, was voted Parent of the Year, and shortly served as President of the PTO before I decided to unenroll my children due to numerous safety issues. Harmony pushes a concerted effort for positive social media reviews, even to the point staff members are leaving multiple reviews, or listing it as a question on the Parent of the Year application, or asking the PTO - multiple times - to post reviews. Nevertheless, I wrote this review simply to share first hand experiences, or experiences parents shared with me, to inform parents researching their school choice. My child had an asthma attack. She went to the medical aid, as they did not have a nurse on staff, to get her inhaler. The medical aid was nowhere to be found. The office manager determined the aid left the campus for lunch with the key to access all the children's medication and no one had a spare key. The office manager decided to call me to ask to bring a spare inhaler. I informed her that I was 30 minutes away and she needs to get my child's medication and give it to her immediately. She ended up calling the custodian to take a crowbar to the cabinet and gave the medication to my child 20 minutes later. Thankfully it was not a serious attack, but my child is also prescribed an epi pen so my fear of systemic mismanagement of medication at the school was palatable. I immediately e-mailed Principal Bramble to bring it to her attention as she was not there that day, and described how the experience shook my faith in the school. She issued no apology, or no concern for my child's well-being. She simply said she will make sure another key will be made available should the medical aid be out for the day. How this simple redundancy was not thought of initially, boggles my mind. Simply put, this school is packed. When your first thought at the start of the school year is, what is the maximum occupancy of this building, you know there's a problem. As PTO President, and as a concerned parent, I met with city officials to discuss. I was provided blueprints and maximum per capita #s that each classroom and the building itself can hold. Unfortunately, city officials stated someone has to be onsite during a violation, call the city, wait for the city to arrive, and witness the violation. This has to happen 3 times before the school is required to go to court to address it. The officials said even if that were to occur, the school only has to pay a fine. When we left the school, several classrooms were at maximum capacity. This doesn't account for when a visitor or another teacher enters the classroom. I witnessed a teacher counseling a child for standing at her desk with her chair behind her because the teacher couldn't walk by. It was a sad situation, but I couldn't blame the teacher because she was absolutely right. Max capacity should be considered worst case scenario, not (what I can only fathom is Harmony's number one priority) "how can I get the most kids in here to make the most profit?". Due to Charter schools having even less prerequisites for teaching staff compared to ISDs, some substitutes have taught children who shouldn’t be teaching. One particular substitute teacher this school year grabbed multiple 2nd grade children in my child’s class and shook them as a punishment. The parents had to reach out to Principal Bramble to address this after kids reported it to their parents. How this woman was entrusted to teach children, I do not know. A parent of a Kindergarten student emailed the entire administrative staff and the PTO stating that her child was able to exit through the FRONT door of the school without any Harmony employee noticing. A PTO Board member confirmed she was the one who found the child outside the building, by chance, and returned the child inside the school building. No one notified the parent this happened, the parent had to deduce this days later and threaten bringing it to the media unless the school addressed this deficiency. There is more I could write, but Google has character limits."

"It is absolutely important to note that your school showed we the parents how much your cared for our children during the normal school days and above all in a time of emergency. Example, during the recent incidents of smoke observed in the premises at Stone Hallow, parents were notified immediately, every student was accounted for. Children were moved away from the building to a secured location. Only Teachers were allowed at the secured location, where they go and get your kid and ensured you have picked up your child. Let me use this opportunity to say Thank you for a job well done. Your organization skills is second to none. I will also say thank you for opening and shutting our vehicle doors for our kids when we come to drop or pick them after school. Your kindness do not go unnoticed."

"My family feels so appreciative to this school for the great level of curriculum and attention that they have given both of our children. Mrs Canales, Mrs Figaroa, Mrs Ramirez, and Mrs Griffiths have been an awesome part of our children's educational journey, and we are so fortunate that they have been. They have all given special attention, analysis, and solutions when needed to enhance or children's learning. We see the positive benefit of this school every day. If you want your Child to learn reading, writing, arithmetic, and science; if you want your child to be challenged; if you want your child to have sufficient levels of homework (granted, it can be a choir for us parents to manage) to reinforce your child’s learning; and if you want your child to be in a orderly learning environment, then this is a great school for you."

"I would not recommend this school. The teachers and staff are loving and supportive but do not receive the support they need and deserve from the people who were put in charge. The environment is unsafe and the administration is not transparent, nor interested in working with teachers, parents or even the PTO. Issues are either blamed on others or swept under the rug. The pre-k, kindergarten and first grade classrooms do not have windows. The AC in these rooms goes out intermittently when it warms up. Parents are not notified of safety issues such as the AC going out or the school nurse being out on extended leave with no replacement. The playground is overly crowded and understaffed. Last year, our child had 28 children packed into her classroom. A petition with hundreds of signatures went out asking for smaller ratios and dedicated teachers assistants, but the decision was been made to instead go the opposite direction and almost double the enrollment at the school this year. Infrastructure does not support this, and the car line reflects this clearly as well. Our child received high scores when assessed by state tests at this school and she had incredible teachers last year, but with the changes made we could not continue to send her to Harmony as the school has become dangerous for her physical and mental health. I could not leave her, packed like a sardine in a classroom with no windows and a faulty AC. Charter schools are not held to the same standards as regular public schools. They also receive less per student than the typical public school does. In this case that has resulted in the school turning into a business run for profit rather than a safe learning environment for our children. If your kids are enrolled in Harmony, please get involved and ask questions. If you are considering Harmony, insist on touring the grounds while classes are in session before you make your decision. You are your child's biggest advocate. We are very happy with our decision to switch to LISD."

"I can’t say enough about Harmony! We found this school on a whim as we were trying to find a school that supported science in the height of COVID. We initially came because the majority of students were wearing masks vs. our old school where nobody did. It was truly meant to be. The teachers and staff are amazing. They care so much for the children and take character very seriously. My kids are learning so many amazing things in comparison to their old school and there is always opportunities for tutoring, etc. If they need help. I love the diversity that is reflected as well. So much to love here!"