My Nonprofit Reviews

In elementary school, my daughter's grades were always just above passing. The same was true in 6th grade. However, I was concerned that she really needed more math skills, so I hired a private tutor for math, twice a week. Suddenly, her math grades soared to 97-99 percent. Obviously, a regular school environment was not right for her. Initially, I then home schooled her for two years, which she enjoyed. However, I was worried that home schooling, in her case, was too isolating. Then someone told me about Voyagers' Community School.

I set up an appointment for me and my daughter to visit the school. She was interested in going there. She is now in her second year of high school. She loves it. The school treats each student individually. The staffs is incredible. They have allowed my daughter to begin to blossom as a young person.

Perhaps the best example of how unique Voyagers' is, is what I saw at least year's middle school graduation. Each student spoke individually. What was remarkable is that every single student said how middle school at Voyagers' were the best years of their life. I doubt many middle schoolers outside Voyagers' would say that, since for most, middle school usually represents an unpleasant part of growing up.

You might think that the curriculum must be easy. It's not, but rather allows students to achieve at their own pace. Last year, in her humanities class, there was a series of classes on the 20th century. I was suddenly reminded, by her reading list, about modernism, neo-modernism and post-modernism, subjects I hadn't thought about in years, but which suddenly became useful in my own professional life. How many high school courses can be said to do that?

She is learning American Sign Language, which has turned out to be one of her favorite subjects.

Last year's physics class had the students build a roller coaster from scratch. That enabled everyone to understand how the laws of physics may be put into practice. The roller coaster went along the walls of the entire classroom. Again, a fascinating way to teach.

All in all, Voyagers Community School has been transformative for my daughter. Going there was/is the best decision we could have made.

I believe if more schools followed Voyagers' approach to education, we would see more happy and successful students.