Harmony School of Science - Austin

"The only reason I'm giving one star is because it makes you give something. The second grade teacher my daughter considers a monster didn't bother to help her in the subjects she needed help with. It took 3 weeks for them to give tutoring to my daughter. this school is the worst ever. The teacher called my daughter a loser and popped my child on the hand. The principle got involved after seeing that the Assistant Principle and Dean had dug themselves into a hole via emails back and forth with myself of failed promises to help my child. I wouldn't allow my child to go on the class filed trip because I was scared something would happen. I should have known better when I saw the custodian shoot snot out his nose to the ground and then wipe his hand on his pants. (red flag one) The front clerk is lazy. When i called to request my daughters files on a Friday I was told they will be ready on Monday. I decided to give her more time just in case Monday's are crazy due to it being the 1st day of the week. I came on a Wednesday and she hadn't placed anything together and I explained its been 3 days. I sat down and waited for her to do her job. I pulled my daughter from this school and I regret bringing her here. I officially hate charter schools because of Harmony School of Science and Harmony School of Political Science. Please chose another district."

"Lets get to cons out of the way. Yes, the pick up and drop off was horrible in the beginning of the year but has improved greatly. All the other schools my son has attended were just as bad. The school is not fancy by no means. The school can be unorganized at times, but I will deal with all those cons, because the pros out weight them. What is important to me, is not the appearance of the school, but what is taught in the classroom. My son is in 5th grade and has always struggled academically. He has never passed a STAAR Test, but this year I have seen so much growth. He actually passed the STAAR Test in Reading and went up 1.5 grade levels. All his teachers have great communication skills with me. They even went above and beyond by attending his last basketball game. My daughter is in kindergarten and has improved so much as well. In the beginning of the year she was behind her peers, but she is now excelling with flying colors. I love HSS even with their flaws."

"I should have known by the email correspondence when trying to set up a tour. The person was very curt when I couldn't read her mind. She said tours are only given at 4:30. So, I selected a day where 4:30 could work for me. She replied "Ma'am, tours are only on Thursday." Well excuse me. GOODNESS. We had a tour yesterday and were appalled by the condition of the campus. Trash was everywhere, inside and out. Kids running and screaming through the halls without a teacher in sight, or if they were, they didn't seem to care. My daughter was almost run over by children horsing around in the front office area, with either teachers or parents watching (couldn't tell). Had I not pulled her out of the way, she would have been creamed. You can't tell who the teachers are because their dress code is very casual. I need to be able to tell the difference between a parent and a teacher in the halls. I need a school that will help my child grow into a respectful member of society who has integrity. This school is very obviously not teaching that."

"We wanted to find a better school for our first grader we thought we did. However this place is an unorganized mess. Orientation was a train wreck. They seemed to be under the impression that everyone should just know where to go and what to do. There were no signs on where to go, tables were scattered in the cafeteria and easily lost among the congestion of people. I still for the life of me can't understand how the teacher isn't there for orientation. It said meet returning teachers in the email but I guess that does not include all teachers. They also don't allow you in the school on the first day so yeah let me drop off my 6 year old with someone I've never met before. I mistakenly left the school supplies there but shortly after leaving knew it wasn't the school for us. So we called at 8am to pick them up by 4 pm. By no surprise I showed up at 4 and nothing is ready. I finally left with half of what we dropped off but after interacting with the staff and witnessing their unprofessional attitude even bad mouthing another parent, and excuses for their inadequacy i felt it best to leave before I said something that warrants a call to the police. But hey let's be honest don't wine about how busy you've been... This is what you do. Figure out a system and be better. These people felt shady, disorganized and unprofessional. By no means did I feel comfortable leaving my daughter with them. A parent should feel confident in a staff that you trust to care for your child I left with zero confidence in this school."

"We will be starting in Aug. and we are very excited! So far the process has exceeded my hopes! The staff is awesome! My tour was done by the principal! (Not sure what all the fuss is so far I have had top notch customer service). I will leave another review once we start. The location is fine. Any elementary school has drop off & pick up crowded issues! Please form your own opinions. What bothers one has no issue on the other."