Alberto Falls in Love with School
Prior to coming to the Phoenix Academy, every school day for Alberto was a struggle. In second grade, he started to fall behind… and then COVID struck. Alberto’s grades worsened, despite his mother’s desperate attempts to get him the support he needed.
When students returned to the classroom, he continued to face challenges. His mom even cut back on her hours at work to try to provide extra help for him, but nothing worked.
“I’d push him to do his homework, and he became so depressed, that he didn’t even want to do homework anymore,” she said. “He didn’t care about homework. He didn’t care about doing anything anymore.”
She became increasingly worried about Alberto, and as a single mother, she experienced immense stress every day as she tried to find someone – or something – that could help. Then, she heard about the Phoenix Academy, and at her sister’s urging, she enrolled Alberto this fall.
“The second day he went (to Phoenix Academy), I saw a smile again. The third day, he said ‘I made a friend.’ Now every morning, he gets up… and he’s just ready to go to school. He gets his homework done as soon as he gets home. As soon as we get in the car, he asks ‘Can I start my homework?’”
Now she says Phoenix Academy has totally changed her son’s life – and hers.
Ellie Mae Earns Her First A
When Ellie Mae first started at Phoenix Academy, she was a fourth grader – but she could barely read. Thanks to Phoenix Academy’s research-backed instruction methods and individualized approach, things started to turn around for Ellie Mae. Reading has become much easier for her, and now, in her second year at Phoenix Academy, she’s received her first-ever A on an assignment!
Ellie Mae’s mom, Sarah, said Phoenix Academy’s amazing teachers and staff played an instrumental role in Ellie Mae’s success: “Everyone is friendly, warm, and caring. I feel the kids pick up on this. It is just positive and supportive.”
Schyler Follows in His Mom’s Footsteps
A traditional academic environment was not a good fit for Schyler. He was always getting into trouble, and his grades were tanking. He was receiving Cs, Ds, and sometimes even Fs.
That’s when his mom, Kirstie, decided it might be time to send him to the Phoenix Academy.
Kirstie attended Phoenix Academy herself when she was younger. School had been a struggle for her, too. Due to her dyslexia, she struggled to read, and every day at school was filled with difficulties. In fact, she was so terrified to read out loud that she would refuse to do so and be sent outside the classroom.
When she enrolled at the Phoenix Academy, our unique way of teaching reading – the Spalding Method – helped her tremendously, so much so that she found herself trying to teach it to Schyler while he was in public school.
Now that Schyler is attending the Phoenix Academy, he’s experiencing the same success that Kirstie did. She says she’s never seen him get better grades, and thanks to the individualized attention he receives, he doesn’t struggle with classroom behavior.
“I always rant about the Phoenix Academy,” Kirstie said. “You guys are just awesome!”