Achieve Charter Academy

Cant even afford to keep the lights on, where does that money even go? their school is like 2 feet big
Aug 16th, 2021

My kids hit overdrive when they started here. The staff is beyond caring! The education is first rate as are the faculty! I can not say enough good things about Achieve!!!
Mar 21st, 2021

Oct 29th, 2020

Oct 9th, 2020

As a part of Achieve's class of 2019, I can say in retrospect that Achieve was overall a pretty positive experience. Starting from elementary and especially picking up in middle school, work ethic is built in order to prepare students for high school. As a student now taking multiple honors and AP classes in high school, I can say that 8th grade at Achieve prepared me well for high school. I distinctly remember complaining about the work load in 8th grade, but looking back, it was very necessary for preparing me for the amount of work I would start getting in high school (honors biology in 9th grade hit me like a truck but I recovered very quickly compared to students from non-charter middle schools). I would also like to add that Achieve provided some valuable leadership experiences (in their middle school sports teams and NJHS). This experience will be needed if your child is planning on taking on leadership opportunities in high school, which are extremely selective and competitive processes in larger schools. With that said, it cannot be guaranteed that your child will be able to enjoy these positives of Achieve if they do not put in the effort. The staff can only do so much for your child, so it would be irrational to blame the school for the things your child should be doing on their own. Not trying to bring anyone down, but I noticed that some of the bad reviews from students on Google are from people who struggled due to their own problems (lack of work ethic, bad attitude, etc.). Now, moving onto the cons. Achieve is a small school, and with that comes a very sheltered environment. To some, this may be a good thing, and to others, this may be bad. Take it as you like. Personally, I struggled a little when I first entered a high school campus with 6,000+ students, but I wouldn't worry too much because most students will become acclimated to a new environment within the first two months, but I will say that there was definitely a shock factor there. Another point is that especially in middle school, there was a rather toxic culture of competitiveness among students (and their parents). To make it clear, this is not the fault of the school, since most of the impetus for this con comes from students and their parents. I think that some competitiveness is healthy for driving students toward success, but at times it became suffocating. Finally, I feel that teachers at this school are not treated as well as they should be, and out of that arises many problems. What I'm pointing at here is the obvious underpayment for the amount of work they put in (which I understand is an issue not unique to, nor is the fault of Achieve, and rather is an issue all teachers are victim to especially in charter schools). Because teachers are underpaid, a few will move to a different school after being offered a higher salary, leading to mild instability in the school's staff. For the teachers who stayed and the ones who just got started, I would like to give a shoutout to all the dedicated teachers who continue to put in their 100% every day at work. Disclaimer: Take everything I said above with a grain of salt. After all, it's been a while since I was a student at Achieve, so my experience may not apply to the present. Furthermore, every person's experience is unique to themselves.
Apr 14th, 2021