Valor Flagship Academy

"I only went to Valor for one year thank goodness. If I had stayed there any longer my brain would’ve burst. They focused WAY too much on how “diverse they are” when they didn’t even listen to kids who had their own views unless it was the schools view. Also, the whole badgework compass thing is really unnecessary and pointless. 1 Star doesn’t say enough. And they CONSTANTLY prided themselves on having a “4.5 star school” and they literally said every day “we have a 4.5 star school and we want to keep it that way!” WHAT?!? They hardly cared if you were learning."

"I went to Valor Flagship Academy, one of the two middle schools, from 5th to 8th grade. Personally, I beleive that the school is trying to do good things ( such as promote diversity, promote social emotional learning, etc.) But in the long run, they have implemented a system that gets in the way of what its trying to do. Many of the staff members I knew would often argue against my own personal opinion, not even listening, just arguing against everything I had to say. The school also has an insane, hypocritical agenda which can also get in the way of accomplishing good things. And, personally, I'm mostly ok with that, as long as it doesn't hurt individuals of the community, a boundary that the staff often crossed. Overall, while the ideas behind the school look nice on paper, in reality, its not much like they lead you to beleive."

"It is a terrible school. Save your children. If I could give it negative five stars, I would. I attended this school for two years and I could not grow and improve in any classes. My family was in their founding class, and we felt severely mislead. I felt that all of the work was far too easy and the focus was on mandatory phasework, rather than academics. They offered no way to help students who needed more rigorous materials to grow, and there was too much homework. They were also far too focused on test scores and not on if the kids were actually learning. The school prides itself on its diversity, but they were never very open to diverse perspectives. I was constantly being shut down by my teachers and staff when I was expressing my feelings or views, without being listened to. They said we all had a voice and encouraged us to speak, but only if you were saying exactly what they were. This school isn't well suited for students who need to be challenged academically and don't need intense social/emotional support. I do believe it can be helpful for those who are behind academically, to meet grade level."

"As a student, I really like Valor. It is very rigorous and focuses a lot about education, and I find myself being challenged a lot. The school also focuses on diversity, and they value all types of people. I do have a few things I don't like about the school, such as the Phase Work that other reviews have discussed, but I also think it has helped me mature emotionally. It is also a new school, so many of the processes in the school still need to be worked out. Overall, I'm glad my parents decided to have me go to Valor."

"I have two kids at Valor and we’ve been there for 5 years. In our experience, it’s a small, safe school that focuses on rigorous academics and emotional intelligence. Valor has a tight-knit community of families, and my kids have made wonderful friends. We’ve been happy with the academics, sports and robotics programs. The teachers are dedicated and push the kids academically (getting them ready for what they can expect in college), but the homework load isn’t too bad. They maximize instructional time, so it’s a good environment for students who are motivated to learn but might not be a good fit for kids who are more interested in being distracting and goofing off."