Research James Madison Preparatory School Charter Schools in Phoenix, Arizona

“James Madison is an excellent school for students who enjoy learning and parents who love being involved. We have had kids here for 7 years. We appreciate the high level of academics but also the amazing array of extracurricular activities. Our oldest son is very shy but became very involved in the high-quality plays and musicals which the school presents. This school, although very small, has a fencing club, a robotics team that travels nationally, and many other opportunities. I would add that many of the students here tend to be somewhat sheltered, including many from home-school environments. If that bothers you, this may not be an ideal school for you. James Madison is rather old-fashioned, but that suits us just fine!”

“I m familiar with many charter schools in the valley and haven t found a school this small with so many activities. With about 150 students, this school s extra-curriculars include cross country, volleyball, Ultimate Frisbee, basketball, track, soccer, softball, and baseball. There are also three school plays throughout the year, fencing club, A/V club, yearbook club, choir, drum line/color guard and strings. Many students participate in many activities at the same time. The school s philosophy is to allow every student to participate no try-outs or cuts. The teachers really care for the students not just for how the students behave in their classes, but for the students overall character development. If you are looking for a school that challenges and shapes, with good character development, this may be the right school for you. The curriculum is rigorous, but it is worth it for those students who can handle it.”

“This venue is meant to be a review of the writer's experience (good and bad) with this school and slamming them is a symptom of what many find wrong with the school. One school doesn't necessarily fit all. The mentality endorsed at JMPS is that you must agree with everything they do as evidenced by signing a parent/child agreement at the beginning of the school year. Whatever happened to doint what was best for your child - even if that meant leaving JMPS? There have been some tremendous losses of very good students at this school. They have left for a variety of reasons - all valid for them. It is not a perfect school and most important - it's not perfect for all students. This parent would be most satisfied if the school was shut down - the scales have tipped and it is doing more harm than good.”

“Its so much better than the public schools. The students all feel accepted, they can participate in anything and the academics are great.”

“Our kids came from a background of private, charter, and a gifted program in the publc school system. We could not have asked for a better school for our sons. James Madison has a high level of academic achievement, and there are many extracurricular activities from which to choose.”

“This is my son's second year at James Madison Prep. The first year was a bit overwhelming, which had to do with personal events that happened in our family. I am so pleased to say that this year he has learned to overcome a lot of obstacles in his life because of changing things as a family and the support and constant involvement at JMPS. I'm not sure why the other parents that wrote their reviews recently were upset with JMPS. The administration, staff, and student body as a whole are truly awesome! Perhaps, before complaining about certain institutions, we should all examine our jobs at home as parents? A lot of their 'education' starts at home. The school is another venue that either adds or subtracts from the whole experience! My husband and I found the discipline to be more than adequate. Our daughter will be attending next year!”

“Wow, Great Schools is really cool. I have been really appreciative of this site in the past as we searched for good schools when we first moved to Arizona, and we are really thankful that we found Madison Prep. Our child is always involved in lots of activities, and we believe that these activities and her schoolwork make up her education. Madison Prep is an amazing little school, where else can fewer than 200 kids have so many opportunities in and out of the classroom? The education is top notch, the staff and faculty are so helpful and they are clearly devoted to the mission of the school, the kids are polite and respectful. It is a great place. It looks like there are a few disappointed parents, but you can t please all the people all the time. I hope that they can find the perfect school for their child, or maybe they should start their own school, but Madison Prep is the perfect school for us!”

“I also was very disappointed in James Madison. We pulled our daughter after two years just like several other parents this last year.. It is a small school environment that trys to give the students some experience at everything. However, there is a cost. This is not a performing arts school and devoting so much class time (two weeks or more) to the play interupts the education of all students - even the ones not involved in the play. Extracurricular is supposed to be extra not in place of. Also, the quality of some of the teachers is less than satisfactory to us when our 9th grade student was correcting the teacher's errors during review of homework. And there are students that are given multiple chances to behave when others are disciplined immediately. They are not providing the education that they promised. It isn't good for all students.”

“Normally I wouldn t write in a comment, but the parent comment that I just read about Madison Prep really steams me because there are some things in it that I know are wrong and I don t think that that parent is very informed. I have not seen any decline in behavioral expectations at Madison Prep, and it has been true as long as my child has been at Madison that the behavioral expectations are very high. Having experienced the behavior at the public and private schools before coming to Madison, I have been very pleased with the friendliness, helpfulness, and respect that Madison kids show all the time. Also, teachers are very focused on providing help. There is study hall time every day, and my child has been able to get help from all teachers whenever it was needed. I spoke with one of the teachers who said that he is always available, but kids rarely ask him for help. Also, the musical is one of the greatest things that Madison does, no other small charter school puts on a play like the Madison plays, and the kids really love it. The whole school comes together and works hard on it for the last two weeks before they put it on. The principal calls it Education by another means , and that it definitely true. Last, about the test scores. From what I have read about the test scores in the paper, all test scores in Arizona went down because the special education kids now have their scores included with everybody else, and Madison s scores are way above the average. We really like Madison and we will continue to be big supporters!”

“I have been involved with this school for 3 years and am disappointed in the decline of behavioral expectations and test scores. The teachers are so focused on behavioral problems that they are not focused on teaching. This may not be everybody's experience but getting a teacher's help academically was like pulling teeth. Also, so much time is spent out of class on the musical that the students are not properly prepared for state testing like AIMS and TerraNova and so the scores went down.”

“My son has been attending for 2 years now. He was enrolled at a private Montessori school for 9 years previous to attending JMPS. We were concerned not only about academic issues, but social issues as well. JMPS has far exceeded our expectations! Our son has developed into a well-rounded individual with real-world skills like critical thinking, compassion, service, self-motivation and enjoys the sense of community of JMPS. Not to mention he is academically challenged each day. Any student would benefit greatly from the JMPS experience!”

“This is my son's first year at JMPS. Coming from a homeschool environment, we were pleased with the small class sizes, concerned and loving teachers, and the emphasis on Integrity, Morals, Character, etc. My son is very shy and every single kid and teacher, I might add, made him feel welcome from day one! Now he's more than half-way through the year and even though it's been tough, he bugged me to get his re-enrollment for the Fall in ASAP! This says a lot. He's learning valuable lessons that he will be able to apply to his adult life. This is a great school to check out. No expensive private school fees but a 'private school' setting and all the perks too!”

“I am very happy with this school generally. I think my son is happy too.”

“James Madison offers a strong curriculum in an environment of integrity, respect, and high expectations. The administration and faculty know each student. They work hard to provide strong academic programs along with extracurricular activites supported by the staff and parental involvement, It is an extremely safe and supportive environment. Students feel valued and are well prepared for college, are independent thinkers with strong values.”

“This is by far one of the best schools I have ever been to and probably one of the top three schools in AZ, the discipline is great because almost always everyone gets caught for their wrongdoing. I don't even care about the dress code because everyone else is wearing the same thing so if they're judging you the're judging themselves. The small classes are terrific and the teachers are humorous, but don't mess around when it comes to getting the job done. This is my second year at the school and i hope to see four more following this one.”

“My first year here was the first year the school opened. There wasn't much going on. Choir, PE, and a small theatrical production were the few things beside academics that were offered. By the end of my senior year, there was football, soccer, baseball, cross country, track, volleyball, and not only a few small theatrical productions, but also a musical. Adding all these great things, academics never suffered. They stayed top of the line with top of the line teachers. This is a great school for students who want to experience all the athletics and extra curricular of a large high school, but have the one on one focus of the teachers of each class. How do I know so much about JMPS? I've not only seen the effects of this school, I was also a student! You can't go wrong with this school. ~Tevye”

“I love this school. I am currently an eighth grader here. This school has wonderful academic programs, and I love the emphasis on history. The extracurriculars, everyone can join, except for the fall play which is High School only. And the parent involvement is wonderful. The teachers are great too. I don't even mind the uniform.”

“JMPS is a great school where learning is the number on priority. The children are given a sense of responsibility toward the school unlike any other. They teach life lessons by assigning chores and making sure that everyone follows the code of conduct for the school. The teachers are proactive in the everyone school work. The small class size makes sure that everyone is learning the subject being taught. Extracurricular activites are available but not the school's number one priority. The uniform policy keeps the children on track with learning instead of trying to out do each other. They do not just teach the AIMS test to ensure that everyone passes but the children pass the AIMS test because of the quality education that they receive allow them to pass the AIMS test with excelling results. Even though this is high school they still have parent/teacher/student conferences twice a year.”

“I graduated from jmps.It was a pretty good-school.I enjoyed it as much as you possibly can in high school. I learned a lot.It was very hard for me to skim by in some of the classes.”

“Our daughter is attending JMPS after being homeschooled for almost 5 years. The teachers do seem to care about the students, and we like the small class size ( and small school size), and the communication seems to be good. However, most of the work is too easy for her, so far, as she is covering things we covered at home two years ago.”

“I never thought I would find a school that offered an outstanding education, ideal teacher to student ratios, and a safe environment where strong morals and character development were stressed, but thankfully I have. James Madison Preparatory School offers all of these benefits and more. However, if your child doesn t want to learn or excel and if a quality education is not a top priority for you then this is not the school for you. This is an exceptional institute with excellent staff and high standards.”

“If you want a school that takes teaching back to the basics this is it! JMPS teaches more then just the basics it teaches Values, Morales, Dicipline and great leadership. I travel an extra 30 min ea way to make it possible for my child to attend and look forward to each new year!”

“James Madison Preparatory (JMP) is an outstanding school that promotes and teaches academic excellence, participation, responsibility, and character. My daughter has attended 8th - 9th grades at JMP and she truly likes the school. Her attitude about the school is not unique. There is no better testimony to a school than to have students that want to be there, want to learn, and want to participate. The administration and teachers of JMP are clearly very committed to the vision of the school, and the education and character of their students. Our family highly recommends this school.”

“James Madison Preparatory offers a private school education in a charter school setting. If you are looking for strong curriculum, challenging classwork and outstanding leadership, this is the school for your child or children. The director of this school, David Batchelder is outstanding he seems to care as much about the success of the students at his school as the parents. He definitely maintains control in a healthy way. Don't let him scare you he's truly delightful!”

“Madison Prep is an excellent school. It is small enough that the teachers and principal know every student. It also has excellent academic standards and the curriculum places a strong emphasis on character. I would hightly recommend this school to any parent.”

“This school has great academic attributes. In the short time the school has been active, the yearly results of graduates and their reports after their first year in collage it very encoureging. This school has a good grasp of the basic fundamentals of individual accountability. Which includes character developement and responsibility. In todays world this is a real plus and lets this school stand out from the rest. This reinforces what my children receive at home and then some. The school measureables not only include academic value, but they measure each students character performance as well. For example, should a student not attend a school fund raising event their grade point can drop as much as 25 points per event. Thus they are able to enforce accountability right where it counts, at home. Thankfully only the children suffer grade point difference and not the parents. Although somewhat disconcerting as it may appear, it is comforting to know that school is no longer a matter or reading, writing and arithmetic. There are principles, policies and procedures that each student must be prepared to comply with.”

“I have been very pleased with the level of excellence at this school. My daughter was formerly homeschooled, and has found an easy transition here. The school has a high code of conduct, and so the students are respectful and well behaved. The faculty is caring and talented. The academics are strong. Extracurricular activities are excellent. Overall, James Madison has provided a positive experience for my daughter. She loves going to school.”

“I have two of my three children currently enrolled. I have [been] very pleased with the curriculum and I love the small size of the classes. Always, I've been able to have clear communication with teachers and principal. Tutoring has been provided in a regular basis when my son has needed it.”

“The grading system for high school was misleading. My son was docked 20-30% of his grade because he wasn't participating even though he said he had his hand up and tried to get a word in. He wound up with terrible grades so we had to pull him out. This was not mentioned at the interview.”

“The leadership of this school believes in providing a 'private school' style of education, in which academic excellence is encouraged and nurtured. Additionally, a high regard is placed on the development of self-discipline and self-worth within the students to prepare them for leadership in society. I have no regrets in placing two of my children in this school and look forward to the rest of my children being able to get their education at James Madison Prep.”

“Our daughter is back at James Madison for the second year. This was her strongest preference of the three excellent schools available to her. We have had experience with both the Jr. High and High School faculty. Although we have been very pleased”