Somerset Academy Kendall, Miami FL

This school has its pros and cons (like anywhere else) but since my experience with my own child is unique, I will discuss my review from this perspective. One of the benefits of this school is that first and foremost, all teachers, staff, and administrative people working here were kind and respectful at all times. Even with difficult circumstances occurring, they always maintained this. The education and teachers themselves were also good.

There are drawbacks to this school that I found despite this, and I will list them out:

1. The school itself has an extremely small parking lot. Logistically, this makes it hard for parents to visit the school itself more often to make a relationship with their children's teachers. There is often a long line of cars outside to either drop or pick up the kids from school. The small parking lot makes it harder for the school as a whole to function.

2. I was not told this when I first joined, but surprised after the fact, you're required to either volunteer (easily like 50 hours) or pay to fulfill these hours for your child. You either pay out of pocket or must pay for a teacher's school supplies like extra candy that they pass out or whatnot. On top of this, they are constantly ask for donations for this special event or that one, this also feels tiring. Although they'll make it seem like you always have the option to participate, it doesn't really feel that way if they are constantly asking for this.

3. My daughter was having behavioral problems at a previous school, these behavioral issues lasted well into the school year. While the staff was patient trying to deal with it, I was called into a meeting where the administration (principal, ESE chair, main teacher) called me in and told me that my daughter was having behavioral issues and needed a formal diagnosis. After this, I took her to a neurologist, and she was diagnosed with a combination of autism and ADHD.

Realistically, the school did not formally follow up with any other steps to assist her despite the fact that I had informed the school about this. I had to follow a formal process to have them establish the IEP process. The ESE chair kept telling me that as a charter school, they lacked the resources to really assist special needs children. They ignored the process of doing much else to help my daughter until forced to (as they could become legally liable) and basically, they lack internal structure or resources to assist special needs children.

If you find that your child is mostly well-behaved and you are looking for a smaller class size for them (aside from public school), this might be a good fit for you.