Raleigh Oak Charter

"We withdrew our child after 1 year due to the lack of Waldorf educational philosophy being even loosely adhered to. Most of the teachers left on their own after that same year, and some other actual good teachers were forced out by the leadership (or lack thereof). This school is the reason that charter schools get a bad wrap. They start with a good vision, but lack of experience running a school and understanding how to balance standards versus the charter's goals are seldom realized successfully. The BOD at Raleigh Oak Charter did an absolute horrible job communicating with families, and a worse job at providing their teachers with the proper training to be effective."

"The idea might have been good but execution is awful. Too many teachers and administrators focused on the wrong parts of “Waldorf” ideas that are outdated and trivial rather than taking the core principles that matter. Found many teachers to lack an formal educational training. Way too many parents sent their children there thinking it would be a good fit for those who were struggling at more traditional schools. Administration knew the number of children coming in with IEPs and were woefully unprepared and negligent. For the sake of the students school should shut down and try again with better leaders and teachers."

"ROCS is a wonderful school where every child is encouraged to be themself and to grow. You can see that its overall grades suffered in the pandemic, but that makes sense to me because Public Waldorf is very hands-on and doesn't translate to virtual learning (it would be like taking a chemistry lab class or a pottery class via Zoom). But the school has gotten back on track now, and my kid, in particular, has shown tremendous growth. I am thankful for their small class sizes, art- and play-centered lesson plans that keep my kid up and moving around, and their emphasis on teaching every child individually. Also, they have 2 recesses a day!"

"We withdrew our child after 1 year due to the lack of Waldorf educational philosophy being even loosely adhered to. Most of the teachers left on their own after that same year, and some other actual good teachers were forced out by the leadership (or lack thereof). This school is the reason that charter schools get a bad wrap. They start with a good vision, but lack of experience running a school and understanding how to balance standards versus the charter's goals are seldom realized successfully. The BOD at Raleigh Oak Charter did an absolute horrible job communicating with families, and a worse job at providing their teachers with the proper training to be effective."

"The idea might have been good but execution is awful. Too many teachers and administrators focused on the wrong parts of “Waldorf” ideas that are outdated and trivial rather than taking the core principles that matter. Found many teachers to lack an formal educational training. Way too many parents sent their children there thinking it would be a good fit for those who were struggling at more traditional schools. Administration knew the number of children coming in with IEPs and were woefully unprepared and negligent. For the sake of the students school should shut down and try again with better leaders and teachers."

"ROCS is a wonderful school where every child is encouraged to be themself and to grow. You can see that its overall grades suffered in the pandemic, but that makes sense to me because Public Waldorf is very hands-on and doesn't translate to virtual learning (it would be like taking a chemistry lab class or a pottery class via Zoom). But the school has gotten back on track now, and my kid, in particular, has shown tremendous growth. I am thankful for their small class sizes, art- and play-centered lesson plans that keep my kid up and moving around, and their emphasis on teaching every child individually. Also, they have 2 recesses a day!"