Ben Franklin Academy

This school has it all. We have the best and most supportive staff. We have everything we could ever ask for.

The fact that the principal has let bullying last many years in this school is ridiculous. She doesn't fix the problem, especially when the bullies are the children of the staff. It's really sad seeing a strong parent community leave and transfer out because the principal won't address and correct these issues. I feel really bad for the parents of special needs kiddos. Good luck getting help with that.

My gifted/special needs child is well support at BFA.

Run, don’t walk, away from this middle school, especially if your child is gifted and/or has learning disabilities like dyslexia. This school will put your child behind their peers at local public schools especially in math. They say all of the right words on the tour about advancement, however when push comes to shove, they are unwilling to consider anything outside of grade level for most students. For example, there are two sixth grade math classes - regular and honors (for gifted students). They use the same textbooks at the same pace, the gifted class just has way more work. My child had already completed sixth grade math, when I asked about getting him placed into the 7/8 accelerated class they told me they had only promoted a handful of students ever, then told me they needed to collect their own “data” and that process would take months to a year. So my child would have basically wasted a year. The gt coordinator views herself as a gatekeeper for the program and does not value input, even from other teachers and schools. There is a rigid list of requirements (things like a 98% in the current class which is ridiculous. If your child misses one question on one test this is blown. It might as well be 100%). At other schools in the area, 8th graders commonly take geometry and even algebra 2. The highest level your child will be able to easily complete at this school without a fight is algebra 1. This puts a gt kid in a state of catch up to their peers upon entering high school. We also had problems with the punitive nature of the school. They make you sign a behavior contract and spell out “violations”. Things like forgetting to charge their Chromebook at night will earn your child a level 1 violation and three or so of those will result in a detention. This gave my good kiddo so much anxiety that they would wake up in the middle of the night to check their Chromebook. They are ignoring decades of child development and behavior research. We had other problems: there is a seriously lack of diversity, my child was included on some group texts with some racist content. There was more meanness than you see at most other schools. There is a lot (hours and hours) of homework, most of which was not value-add. I really have a hard time finding anything redeeming about this school. The sports were ok, but even that had issues, you’d think sports in middle school would be no cut so kids could try new things, but even the sports were a source of anxiety.

We have been with BFA for eight years now with three kids attending and I have had many positive experiences with the staff, curriculum, academics, family engagement, activities/events, etc. Great communication too!