Great school. I went here from grade 3 to grade 7. I made a lot of good friends here. The teachers are nice. It's a pretty small school so everyone pretty much knows each other. I felt home here more than I felt home in my house. This school made me happy, and exited to learn new things. I now go to deer creek middle, where I have been driven to suicidal thoughts. Please don't go to Deer Creek.
My daughter will graduate from CAC in the spring after starting there in 7th grade. The small class sizes and compassionate staff were exactly what she needed. During the spring they were on top of online learning and jumped in with full video classes from day one. They definitely had the smoothest transition to remote learning of all the schools my family attends. I could not recommend Collegiate more for the kids that need smaller class sizes and more attention from staff. This past summer there was a major reconstruction that is going to make the school even better with new bathrooms and upgraded safety measures.
Let me just start off by saying my son hated hisschool last year. Hated school. Didnt want to go due to bullying. We moved to a new home this past summer and i was told my 6th grader was going to go to Carmody. Nope no way. I looked into charter schools and was pleasantly surprised with CAC as they had an opening for my son. He has been attending this school since Aug now. He went from hating school and homework to a new young man who is proud of his good grades and he actually ENJOYS going to a school where he feels safe and listened to. No school is perfect but man this school is a blessing for my sons education. He finally found a place to belong to. A place where he is being acknowledged for his awesomeness. He has improved so much in the past few months that i cant wait to see how much progress he makes in the years to come. Thank u to all the hard working teachers and staff that make all these educational miracles come true. Cant say Thank you enough. This school has given my son a second chance at achieving his future educational goals & dreams. I would like to add too that if u do have a child interested in sports and attends this school they are eligible to try out for other schools teams. They really have all their bases covered here.
Collegiate Academy of Colorado is an incredibly amazing school! The teacher to student ratio is low, which helps each student individually. Our daughter has said multiple times that switching her to this school is the best decision we ve EVER made! She gets the full attention and help that she s needed for years and never truly received at several Douglas County schools. They have helped her get to where she needs to be and she actually LOVES going to school every single day and wants to go!
The perfect place for my kindergartener. Small class sizes, friendly staff and teachers. I like that this school requests more parent involvement. For this reason, CAC students have better social skills and better behavior than other schools in the area.
I have gone to collegiate sense kindergarten and now im in middle school and it has been a adventure the teachers try their best to help when a student has a meltdown and my last years teacher 6th grade teacher was freaking the best! I sware she taught and she made school fun for everyone. And middle school is rockin i can keep up with my grades and the sports teams are in basketball, unlimate frisbee and volleyball i am in volleyball and its amazing the kids dont bully each other. I recommend coming here but its up to you!!!
Collegiate Academy is a relatively small K-12 charter school (approximately 300 students) which means it has small class sizes, allowing each teacher to teach to your child as opposed to educating a generalized classroom, especially in the upper grades, where the class sizes are smaller. (Which may be frustrating to some students who like to meet new people lol).
(This review will focus on the middle school and high school which is where my children have spent the majority of their time at CAC).
The staff here is professional but is also kind, caring and compassionate and truly cares about educating the children. They want to teach our kids and have a passion for education that truly shows. Electives, for example, are chosen by the subjects that the teachers are interested in teaching and there is a wide variety available which varies by semester including music-guitar & piano, art, marine biology, photography, forensic science, drama, culinary arts, yearbook/journalism, strategic gaming (These are a few of the offerings in recent semesters).
Families are required to volunteer helping at the school for 40 hours per school year. Volunteering is easier now that we fundraise hosting a bingo night at Slammers Bingo Hall weekly each Wednesday night (which has also helped with our annual fundraising goals immensely).
Students in the upper grades are required to participate in four community service days where they go into the community to volunteer with their wolf pack (the middle schoolers and high schoolers split into four wolf packs to compete for points like the houses in Harry Potter throughout the year to encourage school spirit and development of peer relationships).
There are several after school clubs available for the kids to participate in; some are academically based, some interest related and there are service-related clubs as well. At the moment, there are limited sports offered at the school, boys and girls volleyball, co-ed ultimate frisbee and they're trying to start a co-ed baseball team. The kids who play, play hard and represent our school well. (Go wolves!)
At the end of the day, the school provides a good academic foundation for your child from teachers who care about the subjects they teach and the children in their classroom, which is what is important when choosing a school (at least in my opinion).
Elementary is great especially for special needs children but it goes down hill quickly from there. Small size may offer good 1 on 1 time with teachers but it also means that everyone knows everyone and gossip spreads fast. Speaking as someone who attended this school from 1st grade all the way till the end I've seen first hand the double edged sword that is this school.
There were great teachers(though literally half of the high school teachers quit the summer after my senior year) but there were also terrible ones. Some teachers would come in after school and go over every single topic anyone was fuzzy on and even give the kids pizza. Some teachers would gossip about kids with eachother on school time.
The administration is also a mixed bag. The principal, Mr. Becker, is apathetic and petty. I had to deal with him multiple times in my 4 years on the HS student council and even when asked a yes or no question he would only ever reply with a shrug and the most bored expression. The vice principal, Mr. Johnson, was the most caring man. He would do everything in his power to make sure no one ever got away with breaking his fairly reasonable rules but also made sure the punishment not only fit the crime but fit the kid too because he truly cared about all the students, including the trouble makers. Unfortunately he also left the school.
If you're looking for a counselor who is even capable of doing their job look elsewhere. Mrs. Brock is the single most useless staff member. In 2014 most of the highest achieving students in the senior class were not allowed to graduate because Mrs. Brock failed to tell them that there was a required minimum of 5 classes per semester to graduate and because they had already earned most of their credits junior year she only scheduled many of them for 3 or 4 classes. I could go on but aside from her habit of gossiping about students and the fact she cares almost as little as Mr. Becker I feel like I've said enough.
The food is pretty typical of Jefferson county schools. Insufficient in both nutritional quality and amount served. At least they no longer put a large red stamp on the backs of the hands of any children who can't afford lunch anymore. Another first hand experience I'd prefer to forget, children mocking each other because they couldn't afford food.
It almost felt ironic at school where every single year administration would say "we got the roof fixed!" Yet there were still buckets full of rain water in the gym and rotting ceiling tiles in every classroom. One especially bad ceiling tile that had started to bow and crack to where it looked like a demented face my class named "Herbert the demon tile" There was also the annual promise that "they really fixed the hearing this year!" yet every year there was still very good reason as to why me and a hand full of other students would come to class with blankets around ourselves in winter and not a single teacher ever asked why.
Even though the school would rent classrooms out to a Japanese cultural school at night and the low-quality turf field, that left anyone who touched it covered in shreds of plastic grass and tiny pieces of ground up tires, was rented out to anyone who wanted it every weekend the school still had essentially no funds at all. It even came close to bankruptcy one year when it was discovered that an administrator had been embezzling funds.
In summary:
-Uncaring administrators
-50% great teachers, 50% absolutely terrible
-High enough turnover rate for teachers that it almost doesn't matter
-Funding to be absolutely ashamed of.
This is the worst school with terrible administration and no sports! Do not send your kids here they are sure to fail and be miserable. Save your self the headache and go to a real school..
Our daughters have been at Collegiate Academy of Colorado for a year and half, attending elementary and middle school. We are very pleased with our choice to attend this school. It is a small school with a family/community atmosphere and a focus on quality education, values, and parent involvement. Since we had moved here from far away and things were hard at first, we reached out to the administration and faculty, and they provided great support. The teachers have been very good and responsive (with detailed follow-up from parent/teacher meetings), and the administration has continued to provide excellent communication and support, with strong, steady, and caring leadership. We appreciate the focus on character, safety, and college prep at CAC. The school did a very good job this spring of transitioning to remote learning, though the continuation of remote learning again this fall has been challenging for many. This small school may not have all the offerings of larger schools, but there are pros and cons with that, and the education and social and emotional learning opportunities and supports are strong. A terrific school with professional and caring educators and staff.
Our son has been at Collegiate Academy for 2 years. His teachers have been amazing. He loves the administrative staff, specials teachers and his homeroom teachers. We have been pleased with our choice to attend this public charter. A few of our favorite things are the smaller class sizes, the close knit environment, small groups adjustments for skill and academic levels, and the parent involvement.
Since his first year was interrupted with the pandemic and second year started off crazy, I can honestly say that his teachers went above and beyond for their students. The virtual learning experience, teachers preparedness and availability for questions and to help students was exceptional.
The core values are great for students and future leaders.
Amazing teachers and staff that encompasses all that teaching children should by nurturing and caring.
I have 2 boys at this school. We love the small class sizes and teachers.
I don't know if it's still the same as when I was there, but I sure hope not. Elementary here was great. Some of the best teachers I've ever had. Middle school wasn't quite as good, but it's a hard age group to teach, I understand that. The real issue was high school.
It was like the administration was trying some new idea that they came up with every month, and they all didn't work. For a while, any student who had less than a B in any class (not less than a C, less than a B) had to go to detention during lunch. Oh, and we couldn't eat in the detention room. In other words, we couldn't each lunch. Yeah, depriving kids of food, that's really going to help the students learn. I snuck some food in for myself on occasion, at least.
I was switched around to different classes in the middle of the semester when neither I nor my parents had been notified. There were some good teachers, but I could tell they were under a lot of stress. Most of the others just seemed to have given up. I had an English "class" where for the whole semester, all the teacher did was read aloud out of a screenplay while three quarters of the class goofed off. On the off chance she asked us to read aloud, I honesty wondered how much of the class even could.
Leaving this school was one of the best things that ever happened to me. "Small class size" isn't much of a plus when a bunch of the kids are delinquents kicked out of other schools and the administration couldn't pass most of the classes.
Switched my son to this school 3 years ago. It was a hard decision to make since it is not as close as our neighborhood school. I love the sense of community, small class sizes and awesome attentive teachers. Leadership is also amazing. So happy that we switched and I will be sending our youngest here also.!
It s not the best school, the elementary school side is the best your gonna get out of this school , otherwise middle school/high school staff is some what bad and the principals aren t the best , also I haven t learned a THING since middle school :| also there s a lot of bullying and rumors at the school .
My daughter goes to this school and loves it. I love the small class sizes and how involved parents and the community is.
I miss this school, I miss my friends, I'm sad now, this was a great school
We have kids in 2nd and 9th grade at CAC. Administration has been very impressive in all their duties. Very "hands-on" and "in-the-know" with everything going on in the school. Small class sizes, caring and professional teachers, challenging and relevant curriculum, involved community of staff, parents, and students - isn't this what we're all looking for in a school in today's world
Having moved from a first rate small school out of state we we're used to a great school and a great admin staff. CAC admin failed every time a situation required their assistance. From a girl swiping nail polish down a new polo to no response to bullying from kids or the elementary front desk or the principal protecting just his ego and salary and vice principal s following in his footsteps including not reacting when a kid threatens to eliminate others (paraphrased nicely), kids are not safe. The principals even lied to h.s. students helping lower grades to report back on parents who were helping out. This was ultimately so admin could bully parents and their kids at will. The teachers are good but must fall in line to keep jobs. There is a heirarchy. There are better schools. CAC has major problems because of it's deftly lacking principal and leadership. Kids need role models and structure and it is not here.
The small amount of student per class may be frustrating at times(mostly not meeting new people), but academically this school is phenomenal. The small classes allow for more one on one time between the teacher and student to work out and solve any problems or struggles you might have in class. When I first arrived at CAC I was not fond of it; but the 3 year experience I spent at this school has changed me forever. I went from failing almost every class, to getting nothing but straight A's fallowed by 1 or 2 B's each year. The support the teachers give to the students is fantastic. Going into high school I had no plans on attending college when I graduated. However, this changed very quickly when I arrived at Collegiate. Mr. Johnson(Dean of the school) will take time to work with you on a personal basis and listen to whatever problems you are having weather its school related or not. He helped me immensely throughout my high school experience and always motivated me to try my best. CAC has no doubt given me the material and education I needed to get to college. With the help from all the teachers, I have received a solid education along with the ambition and desire to continue on for another 4years of college.
its awesome, i think the teachers are awesome, as well as everything else
CAC is a decent school...good education but not my favorite staff.
This school is amazing! The principal & vice principal take full responsibility of the students safety as they are guided through the pick up/drop off line. The front desk lady is very nice & always knows whats going on around the school & there is always someone available to help. The teachers are very professional & you can definitely tell they enjoy doing their job. They always notify you of any concerns with your child academically or socially & they have extra support teachers for special ed who will pull your child from class for one on one time. They acknowledge and teach the aspects of empathy, anger management, & the importance of accountability & money which is very important to master growing up. My child has thrived since she started school here & I will recommend this school to anyone who is looking for a great education for their child.
collegiateacademy.net
