Austin Elementary School

My child is in Kindergarten at Universal Academy, and I am extremely disappointed in the communication between the school and parents. Information is unclear, instructions are not explained, and you constantly have to call or email just to get basic answers. It feels like they expect parents to automatically know everything without ever providing proper guidance.Another major concern is how inconvenient they make parent–teacher communication. They do not offer evening conferences at all. If you want to talk about your child’s development, concerns in the classroom, or grades, you have to take off work and meet only during the teacher’s free period. There is absolutely no accommodation for working parents.The dress code and spirit week expectations are also overly strict and inconsistently communicated. On out-of-uniform days, there is so little clarity that you never know what is actually acceptable. They nitpick outfits to the extreme. For example, on Candy Land Day, I sent my child in a red dress with a candy cane on it—completely on theme—and the front desk staff saw nothing wrong. Yet the principal said it was “inappropriate” because she expected a striped shirt instead of a dress. I had to bring a whole new outfit even though the colors and theme were correct. The rigidity is unnecessary and unreasonable, especially for young children.I attended private schools my whole life, and I have never seen a school so strict yet so unclear at the same time. The lack of communication, inconsistency, and unwillingness to support parents makes it very difficult to feel confident or comfortable with this school.

Do not send your kids here! I had to different kids from 2 different era of life! One born 1995 the other born 2014! They both went to this school and both were wrote off immediately and was just another kids in class ! The teacher let another kid constantly bullied and fight my kids for a whole month! The teacher didn’t do nothing nor the principal! I email every time something happened! No response half of the time and nothing was done ever until I told my son to protect himself then it was a problem ! They just want to send your kid to the alternative school! The his learning was not good he was behind in reading ..

I wish I could say this is a good school but I never got to enroll my child. The front desk person who deals with enrollment gave me the hardest time trying to enroll my child. The tip of the iceberg was when I was trying to give her documentation for proof of residency considering I already told her that the house we lived in at the time was passed down by family and the family members that owned it lived in another country. On top of that I had to submit an affidavit for my son immunization records and had to end up redoing it. After getting a new paper sent to me to fill out she tells me “we need the previous affidavit. How am I gonna re do an affidavit that’s already been signed and notarized. I sent an email back asking for her to tell me which EXACT documents were needed and asking her to explain how to get the exact same affidavit and redo it suddenly she can’t reply to email. This was back in 2023 by the way.

This is our 9th and final year of having kids at TCE and couldn't have had a better experience. The staff is great, and the teachers really do love their students. A lot of the teachers actually live in the neighborhood and are invested in the community. Walking field trips to the library, town hall, and Andy brown park make it really special.

The political system is strong here. The administration openly disrespects the parents in the hallways, and students are not supported, as the classrooms are overfilled, teachers are underqualified, as they lack experience, education, or skills. High-performing students are stunted in their development due to not only this underwhelming quality of teachers through a revolving door of administrators and staff, but also by the catering to the lowest common denominator. The students are not challenged and only are to meet the minimal requirements as defined by the children struggling. Worst of all, the adults talk down to students as if they are inferior, one-dimentional, one-size-fits-all. If you child is imaginative, creative, a big thinker, then be prepared to have your learner labeled, and cast aside. The school will do well to discourage your child enough to fit the status quo in a matter of one or two years.