Challenger School - Lone Mountain

If I had to choose again, I definitely wouldn’t choose Challenger. My 3½-year-old daughter cried for four months at Challenger. In the beginning I thought it was my daughter’s problem — she just didn’t want to leave me. But after talking with the headmaster, I suddenly realized: it wasn’t my daughter’s issue — it was their teaching philosophy. 1. They believed my daughter couldn’t control her emotions, and they expected her to — but she’s only three, her brain isn’t developed for that yet. Expecting a three-year-old to “control her emotions” is like expecting a one-year-old to control her bladder — it’s a physiological development issue. And the headmaster should know that. 2. My daughter didn’t know any English when we first enrolled her. Within four months she could understand all the teacher’s instructions and even speak short sentences. Yet the headmaster still said she wasn’t speaking “long sentences.” As an early-childhood educator, she failed to recognize this progress in a child entering a completely foreign environment. 3.Once she cried so badly that the headmaster came over to comfort her, but my daughter refused to talk to the headmaster and threw herself into the arms of her teacher. The headmaster concluded that my daughter lacked the normal ability to communicate. But my daughter had only met the headmaster twice — she was basically a stranger to her — so when she was sobbing, she rejected the stranger and ran to the teacher she knew. To me, that is a completely normal reaction — yet in the headmaster’s eyes, it meant my daughter “couldn’t communicate properly.” 4.The headmaster claimed my daughter would cry loudly, scream, and stomp her feet in class. But from a very young age she never behaved that way; even in the first two months at Challenger she only cried quietly out of fear — never screamed or stomped. Only after being moved to a different class and failing to adapt to the new teacher’s methods did she show those intense reactions. She was using her own way to cry out for help — yet the headmaster and teachers didn’t see it. At home she also became moody and unreasonable. Because of what the headmaster said, we decided to withdraw her. We enrolled her in a new school, and I was worried she might not adapt — new environment, new teachers, new friends. But after only a few scattered days of crying, she quickly grew to love school! In talks with her new teacher, I, as a parent, deeply felt the teacher’s love for children, her understanding and acceptance. She treated my daughter like a child — a real child. That’s why my daughter was able to feel safe and confident so fast. Now she’s been at the new school for three months, and every day she’s very happy — her English communication is no problem at all. This has only strengthened my conviction: my daughter was never the problem — it was Challenger’s teaching philosophy.

Regret having my child enrolled here. If you want your child to be a robot academically then this is the school for you. Neither the headmaster or the regional director understand child behavior. Headmaster is very disrespectful and condescending. She is quick to assume. Broken record on repeat and made it clear her only concern is the schools reputation. My child deserves better.

If you love your children, please don’t send them here. • Teachers do not comfort children when they are crying. • My daughter had a fever of 100°F during the school day, and the teacher didn’t even notice. • My 3.5-year-old developed emotional and mental health struggles while attending this school. • The school consistently shows a lack of empathy toward both children and parents. • The principal is skilled at giving polished answers to parents, but not at solving problems. • Learning here feels robotic and outdated. In an era where our children will grow up alongside AI, this school shows no sign of adapting to the future. We transferred to another school. Only 2 weeks so far, my daughter’s mental health issues seem to be fading away. She looks happy again, and having fun in new school. So glad we left Challenger summerlin campus, especially this campus. No wonder why this campus gets the lowest ratings in the Las Vegas area.

Very disappointing experience. This school does not care about the child’s emotional well-being or personality. Their main priorities are money and the school’s image. They don’t offer individual academic support ,if a student struggles in a subject, they simply ignore it. After four years of paying high tuition and watching our son work hard, he was expelled without warning due to slightly lower performance in math. He was under a lot of pressure and received no help or understanding. I deeply regret enrolling him here — it was a waste of money and trust!

My two children (boy 4 and girl 5) attended Challenger for pre-K. This is a first class program that is very well run and organized. We interacted with teachers across the younger pre-school programs and all of them were fantastic. I felt that my children were in great hands and getting the best educational experience possible. If your thinking about placing your children in a challenger program, please know that they will "learn" and "grow" over the course of the year. It truely was a pleasure having my kids start their education here.