American Leadership Academy

The only reason I absolutely love this school is because of the show choir and the other fine arts. Other than that, it is pretty iffy. The school food is not the best, at all. The lunch ladies are rushed, most of the time if I don't go to the lunch line right when the bell rings, I don't even get lunch. I always bring snacks to school in case I don't get lunch in time. Most people are nice and such, but there are also the fair share of shady figures. There are many kids who have had a rough past and a LOT of druggies. All in all the kids are good though. One thing I have learned is DON'T GET ON THE BAD SIDE OF TEACHERS. It is scary just watching some kids getting on the bad side of a teacher. If you are going here for sports, don't. It is not a very good school for that. I made many good friends there and I love the fine arts program. A nice just below average place. (By the way, don't touch any pills you find on the bathroom floor.)

American Leadership Academy, like other schools, isn't perfect. I personally have found my experience here, (now a graduate), highly successful. As a whole, it's a decent school to go to for a great education. It seems to me that a lot of the students there haven't been on the best behavior as they could have been, but there are still dozens of great students that anyone can be friends with. The following tips are what I have discovered can help enjoy and help develop the great memories from this charter school: 1. The very first impression that a student gives on their teachers is what will create the teacher's viewpoint on the student for the whole year, or until they graduate. Since I was one to follow a majority of rules, I didn't really have a problem with any of my teachers. I wouldn't say that every teacher was perfect, for I personally felt like I was being attacked, even if it wasn't targeted at me at all. However, there is no need to worry, since I've only noticed this with at least 3-4 teachers from all the other teachers I had. There are many nice teachers at the school, and a lot of less nicer ones too. 2. Dress code is frowned upon on a majority of students, and even though I personally wasn't a huge fan of it, realizing now that I only had to be dressed in it for an average of 8 hours a day really isn't that bad. I do admit that some things in the dress code are a bit too extreme. For such, you can only wear 5 different shirt colors: red, blue, white, black, and tan. These shirts are not allowed to have any logos on them, even if the logo is small. Hoodies have to be in school colors and must have a school logo visible on it. (I believe on the front of the clothing.) I personally don't understand why we can't have certain colors or why the rules have to be that extreme. There are many more bizarre things with the dress code, and many things about it I personally don't agree with, but it wasn't a horrible experience for me. It just wasn't really fun at all. 3. Following their rules is key, even if one does not agree with the rules. This current last school year, they forced everyone to eat lunch inside the lunch room, and no one was allowed to leave until the bell rung for the next class. In the past, they had punished the students as a whole since dress code wasn't being followed, even the ones who were following the rules, by taking away what is called Spirit Day. That is a day when students can wear jeans and a t-shirt. Admin absolutely hates dealing with dress code. 4. Being involved in a Fine Art activity, or a sports activity, is a great way to make friends and to be involved with the school. For fine arts, which is what I did throughout my high school career, I recommend the dance program and the drama program. I had teachers for both, and both were fantastic. Of course, the student should feel free as to what they want to do. Even though this school isn't perfect, and sometimes communication with teachers or administration can be a bit iffy at times, this school was ok. If you find the right friends, the right classes you're interested in, and the right way to deal with problems professionally, you should have a good experience. Unfortunately, administration and teachers haven't always been fair to students.

Me and all of my siblings went to ALA, and we all had a good experience. It's a good school if you want to try a lot of things. We all did fine arts and sports, and it was a lot of fun. A lot of people had issues with the dress code, but I never had much trouble with it while I was there. It was nice to have all of us at the same school and be able to carpool to the same place.

I've gone to this school since 3rd grade I am a Junior now. There is nothing wrong with school at all. All the parents freaking out over dress code... Buy your kid a dress code jacket. If you don't want to don't complain, dress code is the simplest rule to follow here. There are some teachers here that are a little power happy that is for sure. If you don't like the student-drop and pick-up tell your kids to meet some where else so you don't have to worry about. Don't make things harder then they have to be for you and everyone else . Also there isn't really bullying here 7th and 8th grade kids try to act tough to impress girls that's all. If I raise my kids in this area they will go to ALA because it is really such a nice genuine school for all ages, There also are not a lot of druggies here maybe 15 to 30 kids out of the whole Junior High and High School. Great school all around!!

The school is very disorganized and crowded. Pickup and drop-off is a nightmare. My child had Mrs. Graham and she was an absolute mess. She even lost one of the children and just could not keep it together. The principle was no help and insisted it happens from time to time and would brush off any concerns we had. We did a mix of school lunch and home lunch (full day kinder) and everything they serve is highly processed. They serve some type of pizza item more than once a week (remember, only a 4 day school schedule) and keep their fruits and veggies on a pallet in the back of the cafeteria in huge cans - very little fresh foods. Nothing is made from scratch... I would never recommend this school.