Legacy Traditional School - Gilbert

"We have a second-grader and kindergartner at Legacy and the boys love it. Ms. Merrill has worked hard to build a cohesive, compassionate, dedicated team of teachers and staff who love those kids. We did have a rough first year when my oldest was in kinder, but we had a heart-to-heart with Ms. Merrill and her thoughtfulness and direct action set us at ease. For one of the few gay families here in Gilbert, we've always been treated with kindness and generosity. Yes, the work is tough. Yes, they have a lot of homework. Yes, they have 30 spelling words a week. And while I have had reservations about the structure and amount of work, the team and community is definitely amazing."

"We will be attending our 5th year at Legacy. I have done my research, and there is an elevated level of learning and teaching here. I have 3 kids and I am well aware that they each learn differently (school is work). Amid other reviewers (and families I know that have left, they do wish they never had), they may one day return. Compared in the national rankings, Legacy scored above the best Public schools in the entire Nation. Their Athlos/athletic, and Mozart/music programs are allowing kids to challenge other areas of their brain. They do require homework and rules to be followed - different from many schools out there... like I was saying, it is an elevated higher standard. My favorite reason my kids attend Legacy IS that it a campus full of diversity, and it has been unique in the Gilbert school setting to see families from many cultures and countries, it is what makes America and Legacy Gilbert beautiful!"

"I went to a girls basketball game there on Thursday. The teams were pretty evenly matched. But the coach of the Legacy, Gilbert campus was TERRIBLE!! IMMEDIATELY after the rules were read, he challenged the refs first call. After that egg teething went downhill. He screamed constantly, telling the girls to "Just foul them!" He showed them when you throw elbows, push, and reach over and grab! That team had 21 team fouls!! Embarrassing!!! He also is teaching then to Just grab the ball and force a jump ball. Once in a while, this is fine, but every 5-10 seconds, was ridiculous!! If my granddaughter were on that team, I would make sure she was pulled off. He's teaching these girls to be mean, to play dirty, and to generally have poor sportsmanship! He needs to be spoken to! And told, he's in a position to teach much more then win at any cost!! I have told everyone that Legacy is the best school around. Several of your students are there because of me and my recommendations! But I will no longer be recommending the Legacy Gilbert campus! In fact, I will tell everyone I know, about how awful my experience with that game was. Whay a disappointment that mans behavior is..."

"“Let them eat bread” If you want your child to potentially go hungry, then enroll them in Legacy Traditional School’s lunch program. Unfortunately there was a day when our child did not have enough money on her books in order to eat school lunch. Our daughter was told by the lunch staff that she could either not eat anything or eat a piece of bread. We did not receive notice that her account was low. I was so incensed when I heard that our child was allowed to go hungry I almost wanted to file a complaint against this school. In my opinion, this sort of draconian behavior borderlines on child neglect. This is a good school for learning, but any academic gain is overshadowed by its morally defunct sense of care for the students in my opinion. After talking with our daughter, this cruel policy seems to be a common problem because this exact situation happened to another student, but luckily my daughter was able to use her account so that this other child was able to eat that day. Our daughter is on the waiting list for a competing charter school – with a much better lunch policy. It was the first question I asked."

"Horrible experience. Legacy is a militant setting with zero tools or desire by leadership and staff to guide gifted students who are bored. Our 1st grade teacher Mrs. Huggins was awful and mean to students, even making them cry. A family friend 2yrs later had the same "bully" experience with her daughter. They claim to teach ahead, however that's not the case and it's just more work...my view is quantity is not quality. Children need to learn and be challenged, AND have fun. Our local Higley school not only provides this balance wonderfully, but also ranks higher! Avoid this charter school."