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October 2023 by Russell Spillers
Parents need to be aware and think critically before enrolling their children here.Our experience with Challenger School, Round Rock, Joyce LN began on a high note. Our child's Kindergarten year was fantastic, prompting us to stay for 1st grade. However, the subsequent year was a stark contrast.To our dismay, the school hired an unqualified teacher for the 1st grade who, unsurprisingly, didn't last more than two months. In fact this teacher was later seen working at Costco. That's right...you heard me...went from teaching 1st grade for $1200/mo per student to working at Costco.The replacement was an administrative staff member, again without the qualifications to teach this age group. These hiring decisions were baffling and concerning, to say the least and parent's were kept in the dark the entire time, only finding out when we saw a new teacher in the classroom or when our kids told us.What shocked us even more was the school's decision at the end of the year. EVERY SINGLE STUDENT in the 1st grade was informed that they wouldn't be recommended to proceed to 2nd grade. Mind you, this is after most schools had closed registration. The reasons given for each student were absurd. A classmate of my son's wasn't "independent" because a parent brought lunch every day. As for my son, we were told he wasn't reading at an adequate level, which was baseless as he was comfortably reading 2nd grade chapter books.The final straw was the Iowa test results (challengers standardized testing for evaluation). Our son scored in the high 90th percentile in all areas, further invalidating the school's reasons for holding him back. It became clear to us that there was no intention of opening a 2nd-grade class at this campus. When we transferred him to a new private school, he placed in the top 5% of the group, NATIONWIDE.The school's solution? A vague promise of potential advancement after summer school. No doubt a last ditch attempt to milk more money from the families. Disappointed, we soon discovered we weren't alone. Other parents had similar experiences and were equally disheartened.Upon a recent encounter with a former employee, I was informed that the school continued its pattern of hiring unsuitable 1st-grade teachers and facing staff departures.The underlying issues seem two-fold:1. The school charges hefty fees (we paid over $1,200/month for 1st grade) but does not compensate its teachers adequately, leading to a disparity in quality.2. The current administrators, Mrs. Caitlyn Bailey and Mr. Baker, seem out of their depth when it comes to hiring and administrative decisions. I feel confident that with them at the helm, the ship will continue it's downward trajectory.Challenger's evident lack of commitment and integrity not only to the parents but to their own students has left us with no other option than this 1 star review.ALL of the good reviews are from 3-5 years back. The school was in fact good back then. Not the case anymore.And the fact that they don't respond or try to address reviews here is indicative of an organization that is out of touch. Even mom and pop businesses make an effort to do this.
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October 2023 by Russell S
There are MUCH better schools available for the money they want. They simply don't take care of their teachers and they lack integrity and commitment to their students and parents. Simply look through the recent reviews and you'll see.
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March 2023 by Pradeep Gautam
The lack of transparency and consideration for our situation was unacceptable. It’s disappointing that this preschool doesn’t seem to care about its potential students and their families. We were left in the dark and had to keep waiting, which was frustrating and stressful. We filled out all the necessary paperwork and waited patiently for a response. They made us wait for several months and after a trial class we were told that they had already admitted another kid and there was no spot available. We eventually gave up and went with another preschool that was more responsive and welcoming.I wouldn’t recommend this school to anyone. I was so wrong about this school, they clearly don’t value their applicants and don’t prioritize communication.
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December 2018 by John Keagy
I have had 2 children attend the preschool and 1 through the 1st grade. The area admin, Mr. Baker, is the most amazing school official I have ever met. I highly recommend this school for academics and for instilling national pride and a real joy for learning.
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December 2018 by Srilakshmi Sunkara
We loved the school and the staff everyone so friendly and very responsive classroom teachers are very good at teaching to small kids their curriculum is perfect we liked their discipline . Our son love to go school everyday
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December 2018 by Jillian Pottberg
This school is, simply, the best education available. My 3 year old can read and she is having so much fun!
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December 2018 by sridhar guttikonda
Best school with high qualifying teachers.
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December 2018 by Karin Chopin
Both of my children have attended or are attending Challenger school. We love the curriculum as well as the expectations of the children. Everyone we have worked with over the last 4 years has been kind, professional and competent. Our kids love going daily and we see them enjoying learning. They seem to be learning much more than average kids their age in this environment but not just in math and reading. Their ability to communicate and take personal responsibility has been the most appreciated and unexpected result of this amazing school.
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December 2018 by Michelle & Eric Smith
I cannot recommend Challenger School enough!!! We absolutely love the school and our daughter loves going as well. It is academically phenomenal. Our daughter improved so much within a short period of time and it was measurable. We have been super impressed with the teachers and the higher level of subjects being taught, especially phonics, grammar and math. Kids at Challenger School are a year or more ahead of their peers who attend public school.While the curriculum is excellent, what we love the most about Challenger School is how much our daughter's personality has blossomed. She has become more self-confident and independent. She was super shy and had major separation anxiety issues, but she is no longer the shy kid who would hide behind me whenever she was addressed by an adult. Now she engages both kids and adults in conversation, and she happily participates in school performances in front of a crowd of her peers, teachers and parents. We are super proud of her progress and achievements.Challenger School is worth every penny, but it may not be for everyone. I will tell you that it is a very structured environment. You won't find any hand-holding or coddling, as they strongly encourage independence and individual responsibility. They also do not request that parents volunteer at school, contrary to what you often find in public schools, but you can drop in and observe your child's classroom anytime, and you can schedule meetings with the teachers to discuss your child's progress. No stuffed animals are allowed (except on designated days). No birthday sweets or gifts are allowed to be brought in, but they do have a special birthday spotlight to recognize each child's birthday and they encourage family participation. Also, homework is given daily, even for Kindergartners. My daughter doesn't mind the homework and completes it by herself. Rest assured that you and your child will adjust quickly.Overall, we consider ourselves blessed that we heard the radio advertisement about Challenger School and came in for a tour and information. We couldn't be happier and highly recommend Challenger School!
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December 2018 by Amanda Popovich
we are on our 3rd child attending challenger for preschool. Our first two have moved on to a local charter school for grade school and were the most prepared students in their classes. our third loves going to school and looks forward to school days and our youngest can't wait to turn 3 and go to school.
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December 2018 by Chardonnay Poole
Our 4-year-old son loves Challenger School! He has made such progress in such a short period of time, especially gaining confidence in his reading skills. He looks forward to reading to us every night. We are so happy we have found a home for him at Challenger.
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December 2016 by Andy Gonzalez
My wife and I sent our first daughter here. We then decided to enter her in elementary school and thanks to the years at Challenger, she excelled beyond any expectation.We just enrolled her 4 Y/O sister and will follow the same routine ... and once our 1 Y/O is old enough, he'll be there too.This is a testament to their program and the people in charge. I could not be happier with the curriculum or the staff. They do a great job.
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December 2015 by Regina S
We started out spending two days a week in this preschool and 3 in another preschool. We have two girls in the school. A couple of months in, it became very clear that this was a school far superior than any others we have had contact with!I Let me start by saying my mother taught kindergarten for 32 years before she passed, my oldest child was a national merit student, and my father a supt of public schools. We know a little about academics and there is no question that the academics at Challenger are far far better than any other preschools that we have ever dealt with. They use lots of games, songs, and playing and the children come home happy and loved! They want to go! This is now our 3rd year at this school. We planned to attend preschool and then move to public school at kindergarten. However, we have been so impressed that we have stayed! One of our girls cried when she realized there was no school on Saturday! For all three years, they have been thrilled to go to school. The directors, Ryan Baker, and Margaret Zachary are some of the best leaders (principals) I have ever encountered. The girls love both of them and run to hug them. Yet they set the expectations extremely high. They put a lot of emphasis on encouraging the children's responsibility. For example, they want them to carry their own backpacks, even at 3 years old. If a principal sees a parent carrying it, they will say to the child, "whose responsibility is it to carry that backpack?" These "small steps" end up making a huge difference and this type of attitude is encouraged in all kinds of ways. EVERYTHING is done in a positive and fun way. The kindergarten teacher used puppets and all kinds of characters to teach, and it seems they have a cute little song for everything! Lots of schools use little songs and games but this school really does it to an extreme and does it well. At one point my girls were laughing as they argued whether the teacher really had a twin sister that liked only irregular vowels or whether it was really just the teacher playing like she had a twin sister! I wanted to be in her class because it sounded like such fun! However on a more serious note, we have friends whose daughter attended Challenger for preschool. They then made the decision to put her in the local public school for kindergarten. Our elementary school is rated exemplary by the state. About half way through kindergarten, her daughter just wasn't as happy about going to school anymore. By the end of year, they had decided to bring her back to Challenger for first grade. Challenger tested her 3 times, trying to allow her to come back. She had fallen so far behind that she was nowhere close to the Challenger students starting 1st, academically. This family now brings their youngest child to Challenger and drives the older one to public school. I have been told by other teachers in our family who teach in other states, that our girls are past a second grade level. I guess I can sum it up this way - Challenger teaches to the TOP of the class and they do everything they can to help every child do well and also enjoy it!They even have an after school program where they help kids with homework and make sure everything is done before the children come home. Then when the kids get home, it is family time, rather than time spent struggling over homework. They don't send a bunch of stuff home for the parents to have to do. Instead they do school work - in school. However, they teach to a higher level - and if a child is acting out and being a disruption, etc. they won't be in Challenger long. It isn't for everyone. They will not hold all the other students back for one student. I suspect that might have been the "rude" behavior spoken of in another review because I have just NEVER seen this from Margaret Zachary or Ryan Baker in the three years I have been around! The children adore both Ms Zachary and Mr. Baker and it is a big deal to the kids when he or Ms. Zachary personally tells them they did a great job! You just
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December 2015 by Katherine Simon
I would give it 1/2 a star if I could. We had a very unpleasant experience with Challenger Round Rock newest director. Ryan, the former director was super nice and helpful. However, the newest director was super rude and judgmental. Her attitude here apparently is that parents should be lucky if their children are deemed worthy of admission. I'm sure Challenger is a great school, but they seriously need to work on their people skills in which they treat prospective students/parents. I was sent some unfriendly email about cancelling a tour due to my daughter being sick. I sent an email and an apology prior to my not showing up even though I had already toured the school TWICE with Ryan, the former director, the newest director, Margaret, told me I had to tour a third time. Why? I asked her to work with me on times and she was rude and unpleasant. It was like she was doing me a favor for wanting to enroll in a school that isn't even a prep school. It's a preschool! Very happy with my current choice of school and never recommending this school to anyone. It was a terrible experience for us. :(
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December 2014 by Zoey Lane
Just wish I wouldn't have to walk all the way
