620 33rd St NE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52402

Please listen.This school has devolved into a place where if anythings wrong with you, your useless.Here is my opinion on this school and its teachers.There is like 300+ students here, and like 85% assault others and commit battery on a daily basis.The students are in a place where you either are a bully who everyone likes, or your a useless being with no friends. (I am the second.)Teachers don't even do anything about the bullying. I am constantly verbally bullied and i've been victim of around 65 counts of Assault and Battery.Your expected to keep up with 11 Assignments a day, and if you fail any, your dead.If your a parent reading this, DON'T bring your kids here unless you want them to have a high chance of failing, get bullied or become a bully, get no help from the office, and be a jerk/anxious person.I am a student, this is my honest opinion.

This school is a safe home for students of all types. You can be a jock in the band and be a little quirky and find your home here. My student who has a learning disability has been encouraged and supported in taking advanced classes. This school is a best-kept secret in Cedar Rapids and does not deserve the 3 of 10 rating given by Great Schools. My child is challenged, known by the staff, supported, and inspired. He has never felt unsafe and he has countless opportunities to get involved and discover himself.

This school is academically very, very poor. In two years here, my child has learned less than nothing. And I mean that literally; my child is backsliding due to lack of stimulation and presence of qualified educators. Worse than a daycare. I may as well start homeschooling, since I'm already doing it to keep my kid from falling behind despite being enrolled. This school uses substitutes, including long term subs, that are not equipped to teach or even tolerate children. My child has reported alarming behavior from staff, like refusing to let kindergarteners use the bathrooms until they wet themselves (multiple students), using cotton swabs inside kids ears in the classroom, not disclosing incidents to parents, yelling, and refusing to release an entire class (to lunch, recess, end of day) because of one or a few students behavior, but refusing to actually intervene on physical misbehaviors that put students at risk. Communication is poor; you're expected to constantly monitor multiple sites for updates, which they may or may not actually give you access to. Policies change frequently and are inconsistently enforced. Leadership is incredibly ineffective (especially for whatever a "leadership academy" is). This school also encourages kids to be a friend to everyone, which is all well and good until you're being bullied, harassed, and/or harmed and your teachers response is to 'just keep being nice' while they do nothing about it. It's a toxic life lesson in how to accept abusive behavior and kids don't need it. The golden rule and fairness is always better.I have yet to meet a satisfied parent with a child who has attended this school. I suspect the only decent reason to attend this school is it's level of ESL support. I grew up in this city, and if this is the quality of education I had received, I think my parents would have left. If you have a choice, stay away.