Challenger School - Independence

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Shriva T

This school is now deleting bad reviews... what does that tell you? The administration is unprofessional, unresponsive, and does not practice what they preach. Administration has driven away many families and staff members. They consistently avoids parents, rarely returns phone calls or emails, and has created an environment where parents are shut out completely. You are not allowed to communicate with teachers directly, not even by email, unless you go through administration. Parents are not allowed into the building, and there are no classroom events or volunteer opportunities. It is clear they do not want parent involvement at all. At one point, it took more than two weeks and multiple attempts before anyone from administration responded to a simple email. Even teachers admitted that communication from leadership is severely lacking. What is most frustrating is the double standard. Students are held to impossibly high expectations and harshly punished for simple mistakes, yet staff and administration are not held accountable for their own failures. The hypocrisy is staggering. As paying customers, parents should be treated with respect and provided with timely, professional communication. Instead, families are ignored and dismissed. Over 20 families left this year alone, which should speak volumes. Mr. Baker chooses to look the other way rather than acknowledge these ongoing problems. It is truly unfortunate, because there are a few very sweet and caring teachers at this school, but they too are being driven away. This school is failing its students, families, and staff. Do not waste your time or money here. Now that we have left and experienced other private schools, I felt compelled to share just how unsettling our experience was in hopes of saving other parents from the same frustration.

Ashley Tang

I wish I can give 0 star. My son had test before we can register him to the summer camp. The director ask him to read some books in the grade 1 and 2 level. Obviously he cannot. He currently is in PK. I am pretty sure his math is in grade 1 level and reading is in kindergarten level. And the director rejected the application after the test. He said my son reading is behind their PK class students. And my friend who took her son to have a test too. And her kid is in advanced level both reading and math. Also director rejected her kid application due to her son ask too many questions during the test. The main reason they rejected us. Because both my friend and me are looking for summer camp only. The director not allowed us to register the camp if we are not interested in the registers the full time class in 2025 fall. If challenger school can tell me at the earliest time, I wouldn’t spend that time to tour the school and bring the kid back to have a test. Waste my time and money! Not recommended to anyone!

Andrew Clark

My son has improved leaps and bounds academically; the staff here is caring, kind, and involved. Clean classrooms, not overcrowded. (Around 20 kids with two teachers per class). Dedicated schedules that are adhered to. Accommodations can be made and handled by the school - they will work with you. When he started, we had some attention and academic struggles - the school was upfront and honest about them, but worked with us to create milestones to aim for, and solutions and consistent responses to use at home to mirror the school. Security is top notch - I’m not going to describe it publicly, (duh), but your children will be safe here. As a dad, I wouldn’t send my kids here otherwise. Excellent outside activities for the kids - turns out boys need to run around outside, who knew? They have great playgrounds, and ways to keep the kids exercising on rainy days. The front office staff are truly sweet - your child will actually be excited to go to school.

Roger Ferneyhough

I have taken some time to write this review to share my honest thoughts. My daughter attended Challenger Independence from April to December 2024, covering the last term of Pre-K and the first term of Kindergarten, including summer school. Positives: 1. Her academic progress was amazing, especially in math, reading, and writing. The teachers during this time were fantastic. 2. Mrs. Nyssa, the receptionist, was always friendly and helpful. Negatives: 1. The leadership from Mark Shin and Caitlyn Bailey was disappointing. My daughter started with chess and Spanish as after-school activities, but suddenly both were dropped without any notice. When I asked Mark about it, he said it was because of "academic probation" and a "miscommunication," the reality is, it was a complete lack of communication. He promised she would be put back in Spanish, but that never happened, and we only found out when my wife saw she was not in class. 2. In a meeting with Caitlyn and my daughter’s teachers, it was clear the staff was uncomfortable being fully honest with Caitlyn in the room, which was later confirmed by a former staff member. Caitlyn led the meeting and mentioned that my daughter had become quiet and withdrawn after being removed from chess and Spanish. When this came up, Caitlyn admitted, “We dropped the ball on that one.” 3. Despite the school’s mission statement to “inspire children to embrace challenge and find joy and self-worth through achievement,” neither Caitlyn nor Mark took responsibility for how removing my daughter from those activities impacted her. 4. When we first enrolled, we were told the school would eventually offer grades up to 8. But a few months later, parents of kindergarten students were told there would only be one grade 1 class, even though there were four kindergarten classes across two locations. My wife and I are disappointed by the lack of communication, and professionalism here. Based on our experience, we cannot recommend this campus to others.