Higley Traditional Academy, Gilbert | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Where do I start?? My son has been at this school for 2 years and we have already moved to get away from this awful school. His 2nd grade teacher Ms. Roth was terrible, just an unpleasant person. She acted as if she didn’t even know my son! He struggled with bullying and feeling secure in a new school and she was absolutely no help. I went to the principal with my bullying issues and was directed to the assistant principal. She informed me that this school HAS NO BULLYING POLICY! They called my son into the office for a conference and told him it was all in his head. The teachers are a BIG part of this schools bullying problems! I have personally witnessed a child get kicked on the playground and no teachers could be found! When the teachers have playground duty or morning parent drop off duty they stand congregated together and talk, paying absolutely no attention to what’s going on. These teachers don’t do their jobs and neither does the principal or assistant principal. The ONLY thing anyone seems to care about is standardized test scores! Teachers send home TESTS to be corrected and turned in the next day so they don’t get in trouble for low classroom test scores. Your child is taught anything except how to pass a specific standardized test, therefore getting this school a higher ranking and more money. I am appalled by the way this school is being run and it’s lack of leadership.

In 3rd grade my son has a much better teacher however it is obvious that she is under a lot of pressure to make sure her students get high test scores. This school needs to do an overhaul on their staffing and get stronger leadership with some PRIDE for the school and how it’s run. My son feels like just another number here, nothing warm or inviting about this place. Even the front office staff acts as if she hates her job! Just a completely unpleasant place to be and no place for a child!

When I was in 4th grade I had severe food poisoning and when the class was going to recess I couldn’t get out of my chair. I was too sick to tell my teacher exactly what I was feeling, so I said I can’t and she just told me to come on. I crawled and she got mad, saying I was acting like I was a soldier who just got shot on the battlefield and that I was going to sit out at recess because I wasn’t listening. It was only when I threw up 4 times that she had somehow realized I was sick and even then she didn’t seem sympathetic at all, she just said alright let’s go to the nurse in an irritated tone. I can’t help but think that being the only black person in my class and one of few in the school, she was short tempered with us. Not the only time I’ve encountered racial problems at this school, in 5th grade my teacher sent me to the office repeatedly for small reasons, such as me getting up to get another book because the one I was currently reading was too easy and I needed more of a challenge. This school calls themselves a Traditional Academy, yet I was sent to the principal because I wanted something that would challenge me more. In 6th grade 2 kids at my bus stop would bully me for being black, directly telling me my skin is the same color as s*it. While I am a sophomore at Williams Field now and you’d think things would change, my friend’s little siblings recently transferred to Chaparral because a group of kids made a circle and started chanting build the wall. Ms. Bacon ignores this and tells parents racism doesn’t exist in her school, don’t go here.

My 3 oldest are here and we love it. My oldest who is in 6th grade has been here since kindergarten. Never had any problems and have been lucky to have wonderful teachers all these years. If we run into an issue the teachers are always quick to work with us and all the staff are friendly!