AGAVE Middle & High School

"My 13 year old daughter was going to a traditional middle school in a not so great neighborhood with not so dedicated teachers and administration. Now, she is no angel and often required redirection and/or alternative activities as she's extremely bright for her age. After being in a traditional school setting since pre-school, in the middle of her 8th grade year I made the decision to withdraw her and send her to Agave Middle & High School. AGAVE Middle & High School and GradLink 2 provide a TUITION-FREE online education alternative for middle and high school students. It is located in a building on the Catalina High School grounds and each student that attends is provided with a laptop to use while on school grounds (M-F 8:30am-11:30am; 12:30pm-3:00pm). They have a few teachers that are there to assist them, if needed. They even have "labs" (4pm-8pm) at local TUSD high schools that may be more convenient for families than driving to Pima and Doge. Alternatively, if my daughter didn't feel like waking up early or working in the middle of the night and on weekends, she had that option to work from home, on-line. Now, it is NOT for every child. The successful completion of an online class requires, at the very least, a high degree of self-motivation, a quiet place to work, a reliable internet connection, a computer and basic computer skills. Being an online student will work well for those who have the ability to self-motivate. Without a plan or some type of organization, your work will suffer in the online classroom, but if you set deadlines and prioritize your school schedule, you should see success. Interactions with instructors will still happen as an online student. It just happens to be through online video instead. Learning through online video can help you to focus more on independently learning and your classes may even go quicker without some of the distractions of a traditional classroom education. Blended education combines the intimacy and face-to-face interaction of a physical classroom with the flexibility and convenience of an online one. AGAVE's blended model works because it offers a reprieve from dusty textbooks and mundane human lectures. For us, AGAVE Middle & High School was the best solution. She just completed 8th grade yesterday and now has a few weeks off before her summer basketball camp begins. I truly wish we would have tried this sooner than we did."

"If you are considering putting your child in this school, don't! The teachers are horrible and don't help much. They sit in their offices all day and they have nothing to do with the lectures, they just give a final grade. The Instructional Specialists are great, but the campus is administered by incompetent idiots. Better luck elsewhere!!"