Mountain Valley Academy

It's three years after someone posted “Horrible School” etc. but I couldn’t be happier. This is my 12th year of having my kids in MVA - with 5 years to go. I’ve had 3 highly successful children graduate, go to college, immediately get jobs, and pay off all their debt in their first year. That doesn’t come from going to average schools, turning in an average amount of work, or giving average effort. My guess is that negative parent comments are given by those who want the teachers to constantly motivate the students in what is clearly stated as an ‘Independent Study’ school. If your student can’t do their work on their own, this is not the place for them. If a parent doesn’t want to be a 100% adjunct teacher to their child’s learning, then again, this is not the place for either of you. A student can go to MVA and earn their AA Degree at the same time if they want. What they can’t do is try to squeak by with the least amount of effort in Independent Study. There is a required parent, student, teacher meeting every six weeks K-12 and, in the high school, seven weekly tutorial periods are available for homework help. If your child does not actively seek needed help or pursue knowledge to satisify his/her own curiosity, then an Independent Study school is probably not the place for your child. I have never known of any teacher who “doesn’t want to teach.” I’d say your dealings with staff and administration did not go your way because you did not fully understand what was being asked of you and your child in this In-de-pen-dent Study setting.

This school has been an absolute gift to my family. It enables my children to work ahead of their grade level but remain with students their ages and social level. The teachers have all bent over backwards to accommodate our family and I am thrilled to have this remarkable campus available as a public school.

This school is too much. The amount of work given to the students is intense. They receive very little instruction and are expected to know everything. If you're trying to learn a language or math, forget about it. There's just not enough instruction! You can't learn Spanish if you only have two class sessions a week. I just don't understand how any of the teachers there are qualified to even teach. If you're already struggling with your grades, DO NOT attend MVA. It is not a fun place to be if you're not doing well. Also the grading system is insane. The tests are worth too much and give students a greater chance at failing. Overall this school is way too stressful. We, as parents have already tried talking these problems over with the teachers and other staff, but they would only fix the work load for a week, then go back to the truck ton of homework they usually assign. Just do yourself a favor and don't give this school a second glance.

This is a public school. However upon inquiring on my son attending, I told them he is behind in his reading and writing. They told me he cannot go to their school unless he is at or above his grade level at all subjects. Which I'm pretty sure is ILLEGAL if they are indeed a public school.... So my son didn't have the opportunity to try the school since they wouldn't accept him based on him being behind in one subject. ??? I was planning on doing independent study also. So not too sure what the problem would be. This school had me scratching my head.