Polaris Charter School

This school is one of the worst I’ve encountered. The staff, including Principal Lori Upham, are unprofessional, immature, and blatantly disrespectful. They show no real concern for students, ignoring serious issues like bullying and physical altercations. The quality of education is subpar, and the school itself is poorly maintained.On top of that, they can’t even handle basic procedures like dismissal properly—students are often let out early, sometimes by as much as 10 minutes. It’s clear that little effort is put into providing a safe, supportive, and effective learning environment.If you care about your child’s education and well-being, do not send them here. This school needs a complete overhaul, but until that happens, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

High quality education and fantastic teachers! Worth every penny!

I have never been so disappointed – and I had to PAY for this experience. Let’s start with the principal (crickets) – don’t expect her to return your calls or emails. She won’t and didn’t. After a couple of attempts, I just gave up.The teachers are mostly responsive. However, the teachers expectations of the students is, well….a lot. And that’s ok, but the thing is they don’t do what they preach the kids should do. For example, the kids were working on a project before Christmas break every day. When they returned from break, they didn’t finish the project; they worked on something else. This project sat on the sidelines for 2 months, until February vacation when the kids were told to have it hand it in Monday morning following vacation. Well, that’s annoying and unfair. Shouldn’t the kids enjoy their vacation? The teacher got to. Well, anyway, the project was completed and then there were NO GRADES, for 2 more months! What was the urgency? Again, do as I say, not as I do.Many of the teachers are older and do things in an old fashion way (write this word 25 times so you learn it doesn’t work for all kids). There is very little use of technology and lots of punitive type homework which doesn’t track back to their understanding. Also, if homework isn’t handed in IN CLASS the day it’s due, half credit! Oh, it’s another day late – no credit. What does this prove? The teacher won’t grade it anyway and whether its late or on time has no indication on the accuracy of the info and the kids understanding of it.These are my big gripes but I’ll also throw out a few more things. There are no busses and people bombard a small quiet neighborhood making drop off/pick up unsafe and time consuming (add in construction). The after school program is a joke. There is a lack of communication, all around. It seems that the expectation is, no one is new and has never done this before and they expect you to know about things that are going on at the school without being told. Finally, uniforms and appearance requirements – do not apply to the teachers. So it’s ok to have PINK hair if you’re a teacher, but a girl can’t wear the same color pink nail polish.We’ll be returning to the public school system. The education was the same, the teachers younger with modern ways of thinking, the principals are responsive and caring and there is bussing.

Our family had an exceptional experience at North End Montessori over about 7yrs (very consistent quality). Both our daughters attended, one from 4yrs through kindergarten and the other from 15 months to 5yrs (pre-k). I can’t say enough about the care, education and support from all the teachers and staff. Extremely helpful when transitioning kids into care (both from home care/daycare and when we gradually returned back during covid). Everyone is approachable & friendly/down-to-earth. The teachers are very attuned to the individual needs of the students and maintaining a community learning environment. Both our children responded well to the multi-age classrooms and Montessori approach. All teachers/staff treat the children with respect, kindness, and try to keep their day fun&educational. My youngest was always excited to show me each of the new works (hands-on learning activities) in her classroom. They have periodic parent conferences to discuss progress/concerns. The school also offers added specialized enrichments/classes, such as ukulele, ballet, science lessons, through external orgs (at additional cost). A good way to try a new activity/subject. The school community typically holds a variety of casual, family-friendly events, such as ice cream social, field day, classroom concerts, spirit week, Halloween parade, family valentines dance, holiday cookie party, friendship/grandparent/Mother’s Day/Father’s Days.