Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy

i had high expectations about this school when i first arrived. there are a few teachers that care for me and my future, however i’ve been contemplating leaving even if it meant leaving with only one year of high school left. the art instructor is amazing and one of my closest friends. the school does damage my mental health. i always thought that it was due to my own lack of discipline. i’ve soon come to realize that nwaca had the highest expectations with academics and behavior while treating even seniors as 6th graders.nnthe new high school headmaster is one of nwaca’s infamous steps downhill. he is invasive and unprofessional; pulling me out of class to talk about my personal life that does not affect the school, asking a 16 year old girl to close the door of his office so she could involuntarily talk about personal matters when i hadn’t talked to him once before hand.nni’ve had my skirt tugged at, hat pulled off and told to “run along to class”at the age of 17. i was hoping as a junior i would be treated less like an elementary student. multiple students find themselves cold in classrooms because we are not allowed to wear even a school hoodie but an expensive $50 jacket that hardly gives much warmth. girls stressing about ordering the right size skirt on top of the stress of their education just to be told it’s not appropriate. i’ve been told from across the hall in between class that the teacher can see things they shouldn’t from under my skirt. i find that highly inappropriate and disgusting. it’s embarrassing and my own mother isn’t comfortable with that; even after defending this school for years. i’m not sure i want to sacrifice my mental health for an “exceptional education” anymore.nna teacher i personally admired and looked up to was fired for not wearing a tie everyday to school. he was always nicely dressed wearing a button up with slacks or something just like that. he had an amazing mind and inspired me and my classmates. i highly suggest the school pays some attention to that school honor code that we recite every morning.

In my opinion, there are three things that make a school great: it’s curriculum, it’s teachers, and it’s administration. NWACA has a great curriculum, so there’s no need to focus on that. It’s the other two in which I believe NWACA has recently begun falling in, and my intuition tells me that these two things are linked together. An unnecessary number of amazing teachers have either been driven out or directly fired, and I feel the administration is to a large part to blame. Do I think the school is doomed? Absolutely not. But I can see that the school that I was once proud of graduating from is slowly losing its reputation, and if something does not change, I fear for the upcoming NWACA students.

One teacher I never got to really know was Mr. Offord. But once I took a quiz for another teacher in his class, and I was struggling very hard. I get stressed taking tests to the point where sometimes I feel like I might burst into tears. It’s just who I am. But Mr. Offord taught me something that was extremely helpful that day. I spent not even 30 minutes in his classroom and he taught me how to think when I thought I couldn’t. To push past “I can’t” when it comes to something academic.nnMy senior year, I showed up late time to time because getting myself and my 3 younger siblings to school each day could be tricky. Kids forget things, take a while to get ready, want to give mom one last kiss, etc. and so time to time I would be tardy. Maybe 5-10 minutes. I had a 100% in the class that I showed up late to. I was always a 4.0 or above student. My work was always turned in. My teachers knew I had a very tight schedule due to work and Athletics. I had a teacher tell me that I would be failed for showing up a bit late from time to time in a class they did not even teach. It was not their concern and it was also a lie. I had a good grade and they exaggerated the amount I would miss very heavily. I told the teacher that I would not fail and if they wanted to press that matter with the very little absences I had as well as the high grade I had, they would at least need to speak to my mom, who would say no. The teacher said this was not the case, and that they could and would fail me if I missed class. Our new assistant headmaster overheard this conversation, and pulled me out of class to teach ME a lesson about respect. He spoke to me as if he had consistently had issues with me, or that I had always caused my teachers trouble, even though he had no idea who I was. It was especially uncalled for because I was a senior and had been there a very long time and never had issues with any of the administrators or teachers previous. I have done a lot for this school and my teachers would tell you I am a good student. I simply said that if he would like the students to show more respect, the teachers should be taught to show the student respect first, and not threaten & lie to them.nnBut recently it has been revealed to me that our headmaster was the one needing a lesson in respect, as he fired Mr. Offord in front of his students. The reason of his firing was due to the fact that he did not wear a tie. Mr. Offord was always dressed very nicely, and if something as small as a tie is what caused him to be fired, I personally feel like a headmaster who doesn’t take up for a student being threatened and lied to, rather talks down to her and calls her disrespectful should be evaluated.nnAdditionally, a teacher I had, Mr. Horswell, put the most effort into this school and was always put down. Under-appreciated. He is no longer employed there, but was the light of the school.nnPrevious to all of the mess that occurred recently, I would simply like to say I have the greatest appreciation for the teachers I had and the school itself. When people ask me, I am constantly advocating for the school because it shaped me in a very positive way. But it is and has been going downhill slowly.nnI have graduated and I am grateful for my time and the people at northwest Arkansas classical academy, and the bond I had with my teachers will forever be with me, but the negativity and mistreatment of the staff that has slowly been arising in our school leaves a very bad feeling in me for the future students.

The teachers here were something from a Stephen King novel. I'm absolutely ashamed that I ever attended here. Uncomfortable staff who cannot control their classes. Gross.

NWACA is a great school. It has grown over the past years with number of students, courses and athletics. Students are provided a well rounded education that not only focuses on academics but character development as well.