IDEA McAllen Academy

An amazing staff serving the students in the south McAllen community.

This school sucks I have four children there and none are treated like they matter!

The staff goes above and beyond to make this a safe and fun learning environment for all of the students at McAuliffe Elementary. The administrators are understanding, fair, and passionate about making sure that the students are learning.

Feel extremely blessed for my son to be at Thigpen-Zavala. He has been going there for 4 years and we couldn't be any happier. He is excelling in every way with the help of everyone. He gets so much encouragement from the teachers, coaches and so many others. You can see that Mrs Casas, the Principal, plays a very vital role in the success of the students. She is very involved and makes everyone feel welcomed. We have and will continue to choose Thigpen-Zavala!

I've had a handful of issues in the the years my child has been attending. I've seen my child's learning process digress as this school has continued to place my child with children that need more specialized attention. I diligently drive to assist my child in advanced ideas and methods during the summers and after school only to have my child placed in a low expection class. My child is not challenged to grow and advance learning skills and now has a " I don't have to do more because it is not expected of me in my class" view. I am not okay with this minimal goal setting and this school needs to do more to encourage just the opposite mentality in these children. I've been told by a teacher that they won't push them to read so they enjoy reading more. Goal setting IS pushing them to read. Give them a higher goal and at least give them the opportunity to meet a higher challenge. The expectation from the higher level classes vs the lower level classes is extreme. The Starr test wouldn't be as stressful if some of these children were taught with a bit more confidence in their ability to comprehend. "Things are difficult if WE make them difficult" is what I have always told my child. Every child that is capable of being challenged at a higher level SHOULD be challenged. This school is creating a pool of children that will have to work that much harder in high school and college to catch up to the median. Unless this is this district's median. Needless to say we will be disenrolling; my child is worth more than this.