Minnehaha Academy Upper School

The experience overall last year was perfect. Now the teacher is just plain lazy and the Principal doesn’t care. Do not send your child to this school.

Best school to go to with your kids friends and family

This school has been forgotten by the district ever since they started it. The guy who created the school created it so that our indigenous children had a school of their own where their culture would be prioritized within their education and school life. It has been a home for many of the students that go there, and former students often visit and speak well of their school. The principal is an indigenous woman (the ONLY indigenous woman principal in the district) who is very dedicated to her role as a leader. She is very close to the families and is always ensuring that her school is well run and her students are well taken care of. The district has done a poor job of supporting their school, and they receive many incompetent teachers who are not dedicated to their children or their job. The staff that works there are like a family and treat their students and families as such. The staff that have been there for a long time are very dedicated to their students. They have a lot of struggling children and families, and they do everything in their power to help them through whatever it is that they need. They offer free clothing, jackets and snow pants if the kids need them. They do so much to uplift their children and prepare them for the next school that they will attend. They deal with a lot of issues, and therefore met a lot of challenges. But no matter the challenge, I have seen the staff there go above and beyond to do right by their students. The district doesn't help much that I've seen, even not getting them their own building that they promised 20 YEARS ago. This school is amazing and so is the staff, they are constantly looking out for everyone. They do end up with incompetent teachers that the district sends them. I wish better for this school.

We can’t say enough about Jean Lyle. It is just an absolutely wonderful place for children. The teachers are so experienced, kind, and approachable. I can tell (as a teacher myself) that the units have taken years to develop. The space is huge with plenty of opportunities for kids to move around, get the wiggles out, and work on gross-motor skills, and there are so many creative and fun ways to work on fine-motor skills. The other families are wonderful as well. My daughter loves going here, and we are so grateful.

There is so much positive here. The top 20 character-building program is excellent. The teachers are able to have a real impact as class sizes are so small and, frankly, every staff member and teacher in the school knows my kids. One of my boys has special needs and even though the counselor is there just one day a week, he gets far more one-on-one support than he would at a public school. I like that parents are invited to be very active. This is a school but also a community, and parents have stepped up to help me and my kids on many occasions. No school is perfect for all, but this school is an excellent fit for my two boys.