Cpcd Academy District 20 Preschool

Unfortunately, I would have to agree with the poor reviews for Academy District 20, especially with our experience at Encompass Heights Elementary School. The concerns we have had are mostly with safety due to parents and staff describing the administration as “toxic, militant, non-inclusive, shady and dismissive.” I have also been gaslight many times by the admin as they also are not held accountable by the district due to nepotism and favoritism. Sadly, this school has been unsupportive of mental health issues even though the county has one of the highest youth and teen suicide rates. Moreover, my 3 girls have been bullied and exposed to being physically assaulted with threats of violence in their classroom and at recess. To the point, they have been referred to mental health providers by their doctors. This school in particular is a nicer facility because it’s newer and has some amazing veteran teachers, although there has been a very high turnover of new teachers due to the lack of support and admin issues. It also has very good dyslexia and STEM programs; however, it has failed in supporting other areas, particularly in math and special education. Academy School District 20 is very disappointing because their leadership cares more about politics and its reputation versus helping children. And this school’s PTA is also disorganized and mismanaged due to politics that the school nor district holds accountable because it’s “separate.” If it were truly separate, they should not allow them to hold fundraising events during the school day and solicit directly to other parents and children without being able to opt out or miss school. This PTA is exclusive since it hand-picked the board and was created even before this new school opened. Parent rights, concerns and complaints are ignored, and issues are not resolved. And the main reason this district boasts its high-test scores is because it’s an affluent area and the parents are the ones who do everything. Until D20 takes into consideration parents’ input and actually work on resolving their issues, this is not a school or district I would recommend.

Growing up in Colorado Springs D20 was known as a the best. Comming from district 11 and 2. Im disappointed. The lack of organization is frustrating. Way too many places to login. The online portals are hard to navigate. The communication lacks. Parent involvement activities lacks. They definitely are better as far as sports, and enrichment opportunities. Although the fees can be outstanding aswell. It feels as if older schools have been left behind. Im giving the district a chance. Recently there has been alot of staff changes through out the whole district. Probably Growing faster than they can handle and trying to incorporate new tech, new staff.

Regarding Encompass Heights Elementary: Our personal experience was very poor, unfortunately. Our child thrives on a nurturing environment and not being rushed from one thing to another without the ability to complete an assignment to her best ability. If your child has an ounce of anxiety as ours did, this school only worked to enhance that anxiety and foster a true disdain for learning as a whole. I am sure this is a fabulous fit for others, but for us, this was too stressful. The lack of parent involvement and communication was heartbreaking. Our daughter had a 3rd and 4th grade teacher who would routinely single her out (knowing about her anxiety struggles). Our child knew "I'm not one of the favorites," which we were ok with, yet a child/student should never know this. Blatant gossip seemed to be another heartbreaking factor we observed among staff members. Of note: our child has zero learning disabilities, and the school would routinely say "her data" shows she is doing great. Our child was referred to as "data," not a name, and certainly not a person with a soul to be nurtured and encouraged to love learning. For others, again, this might work. For us, and our sensitive, once loved learning, soft hearted girl, this certainly wasn't an appropriate fit. As parents, we are well educated and have some intelligence 😉 yet, our daughter's 4th grade teacher spoke to us as if we were absolutely ignorant and inept. We did take our concerns repeatedly to administration to only be met with deaf ears and the thought to "toughen up" our daughter. Resilience is so important, yet, in this world so are compassionate hearts. For us this environment simply doesn't jive with a place that should foster a true love of learning, compassion, coaching improvement, pushing appropriately to grow steadily, and partnering with parents. This environment is heartbreaking, full of rushed kids who cannot even fully absorb the material because they must get to the next thing, or the next "rotation". I typically stray away from being outspoken but my Mama heart felt so compelled to share a glimpse of our story and the heartbreak it certainly tossed into the realm of our child, and us as parents.

Im gettting taken out of the ddistrict for D38 help they are gon take my email adress i had since 2nd and all of my data with it!

Staff are soft. Also bad at deciding when to keep school open, closed, or have two hour delays.