We found Lighthouse Academy to be an extremely unprofessional and dysfunctional operation. We had a miserable experience in the lower elementary classe at this school and the academic and emotional development of our daughter suffered immensely.
We know of so many children who were academically neglected and fell significantly behind before parents knew what was happening. The teacher even failed to teach very basic lessons on history and science. Key historical dates, such as Martin Luther King Day and Women’s History Month were only acknowledge as, yet, another day off (they are only in session 159 of the 180 VA required days). I had to give my children lessons at home on who Martin Luther King was and what he did for our country. Much of the day here is wasted on things that have nothing to do with academics. I once arrived unannounced to find my daughter’s class begging to come in from their three-hour recess because they were so hot and tired. A recess has to be pretty excessive for kids to beg you to make it stop!
There is very little supervision or guidance or even individualized instruction, and almost NO communication with parents on how your child is doing or even what your child is working on in class. The Lower Elementary teacher and school Director flat out refuses to communicate with parents other than during the two short and poorly focused “conferences,” she holds during the year, where she spends most of the time talking about herself. Emails are ignored, nothing comes home in a folder or a backpack or a notebook. If you want to speak with her, you must track her down before or after school, stand in line, fight multiple interruptions, and carefully word your questions in a way that (if you’re lucky) will pry from her the vital information you need to understand how your child is doing in her classroom.
I discovered that while she described herself as a "reading specialist" she was actually sneaking out of the classroom regularly to go to the gym and having the unqualified administrative assistant from the front office teaching class. Unacceptable. When I called her on it, she got mad and said I was hurting her feelings. When I ask for more communication, for example, a folder that comes home regularly with what the child is working on, she scoffed and said, "if I did that, I wouldn't have time for other important things." You mean, like working out at the gym? We know of so many families who have left this school disappointed. Most of their kids had to repeat a grade. That's the sad truth.
