Sumner Academy Reviews

Most miserable years of my life . Ignore whatever they tell you about it's reputation. I hate it so much here

This school taught me very important lessons of a community at a young age. It helped to further my understanding of democracy, simple, and complex conflict resolution. This school has a very tightly knit community that allows for everyone to feel at home and safe and I'm glad to have met the people from here. Thank you to the members of this school that have helped me through my early teenhood.

I'm currently a Senior at Sumner Academy. I did not take the Full IB Diploma opportunity but I took 3-4 classes of IB classes each year for Junior and Senior year. It is an excellent school for any student, with any learning style. There is tutoring provided for students almost everyday after school and plenty ways to become involved, sports, clubs, etc. Teachers are very open to students who need help and change their teaching styles to that of the students. Sumner is a great school for anyone who likes challenge! It's ranked #1 in the State of Kansas for college preparatory schools and around #67 in the US. You cannot go wrong with going here for high school!

Graduate of Sumner High Schol - Class of "1960" - Go Spartans !!!!

I unfortunately didn t make it but it s worthy of 5 stars

My son was well prepared for college and life due in large part to what he learned at this school.

its a good school for smart people that is really smart

A good school with tons of potential. However, Sumner has a ways to go. I am a senior this year, and my experience with Sumner has been that it focuses more on grades than the quality education of its students. Of course, just like any school, there are good and bad teachers, and good and bad classes. Yet the problems at Sumner extend far past the classroom.

The traditional way of teaching, of taking a class of 30 individuals and teaching to the average student, leaving a third of the class behind and another third bored out of their minds, is not an efficient way of teaching. It is NOT a good school for all learning styles. It only suits the organized, traditional learner.

Yes, Sumner is a vigorous school with strong curriculum. However, according to the Kansas Dept. of Education, Sumner has maintained an average ACT score of 21 or 22 for the past 6 years (which is about the National average), some years falling below the State Average. This is because Sumner has virtually no ACT preparation classes, workshops, tutoring, etc.

There is a no late work policy as well that states any late work will be a "zero" (will receive zero credit). In the world of progressive academics, this is considered ludicrous because a failing grade is being assigned to a paper that the teacher never saw. It could be the most well written, powerful, organized paper in the school, but if it's turned in 5 minutes late, it doesn't matter. The student receives zero credit. This policy does not encourage excellence in the classroom, it encourages obedience and compliance. It is more important to turn in completed work than to turn in quality work.

Furthermore, the school was recently rated in the top 100 high schools in America in terms of College Preparedness. This ranking is assigned by the ratio of students who take higher level classes (IB or AP) to the percentage who graduate.

For Sumner, the ratio is 1:1. Every student is required to take 2 IB classes: IBH English and one other. This forces students to take the IB exams at the end of the year. Exams that are scored across the world. Your score on them determines whether or not you...

Well, nothing really. You receive the scores the summer AFTER you graduate, AFTER you have already been accepted to College. AFTER you receive the last of your scholarship information. The IB scores are only valuable IF you take all IB classes (At least: 3 higher level IB courses, 3 standard level IB courses, and Theory of Knowledge). This is called "Full IB" and will earn you an "IB Diploma" if a student passes all classes AND receives a sum of 24 or greater on their 7 IB tests.

(Tests are scored on a scale of 0-7, 0 being worst and 7 being best. The average score varies from class to class, but a good estimate for Sumner is a 3 or 4 average. This, compared to other IB schools in the area, is somewhat lackluster to their 5 average).

This diploma makes for a nice centerpiece on your office wall, considering it doesn't help with your degree.

Now, don't take this all the wrong way. Sumner is a good school. The students are encouraging towards one another and there's a home for every student, whether it be in theatre or choir, sports or cheer, magic the gathering clubs or art, there's a place for everyone.

There are some simply outstanding teachers who relate well with the students. Everyone 9th-12th grade receives a MacBook Air laptop to use throughout the school year (as does the rest of USD 500). There's tutoring available most days and it's not hard to make good friends.

However, at the same time, Sumner has a ways to go. There is so much potential bottled up in this school. It's just been hard unleashing it. I would encourage everyone to come to Sumner if given the opportunity.

Unless, that is, you have a learning style that is very different from most students. In that case, be prepared, because without an IEP (for "Gifted Students" only) or a 504 Plan (A government disability form), very few teachers will work with you to try and accommodate for your learning style.

The best of luck,

Daniel

Students are Very successful when they graduate from here

I personal went to Sumner Academy of Arts and Science and they teachers care about their students, they want each student to succeed and achieve your goals.

Best years of my life! Prepared me so much for college! The teachers from class of 2011 cared so much about us

Sumner is focused on quantity of work more then quality of work. That is never a good thing. Nice community though, I've never felt as if I wasn't welcome. With most of USD 500 being unwelcoming to me, this was a nice change.