Challenger School - Ardenwood

35487 Dumbarton Court

Newark, CA 94560

14 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK, K-8
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on February 04, 2024

I have two kids. One has been attending Challenger since 3rd grade and has now graduated, and the other has been there all his life. The first child got a great foundation, which helped in high school. The foundation helped getting admission into one of the greatest colleges in the U.S. My second child is in 5th grade and is doing very good in the class. The teachers are very supportive. As you progress, teachers get stricter every grade. The homework is manageable. I was happy with my decision to go the Challenger.
Submitted by other on November 06, 2021

If I could give this a zero I would, from the ten years I'd spent in challenger (pre-k to 8th) my whole experience can be summarized as a dumpster-fire with vodka being constantly poured onto it. From elementary onwards, kids are thrown into a competitive environment and pressured to maintain perfect grades. The idea of "teamwork" is not a thing in Challenger meaning no group projects or chances for your child to gain any sort of leadership skills. The hostile environment also gives a lot of leeway for bullying which btw none of the teachers or administrators care for. Not only that, the school runs on an old-fashioned mindset, the 20k tuition paid for your child is clearly not being used in their benefit. Computers and books that are nearly a decade older than your child are used and no knowledge taught about modern day technology makes a difficult transition to highschool making your child lag behind other kids. Loads of homework (all on-paper assignments btw!) are given though teachers don't properly teach them. Kids also have no freedom of electives and have physical education 5 hours a week all the while still in their uniforms since pe clothes for challenger don't exist due to the administrations lack of care students. Uniforms are not covered in the 20k tuition either, meaning you have to commit to the hour long drive buying your child overpriced white button ups and poor material skirts. Overall, Challenger can be described as an overpriced trauma inducing center for children that gives them mediocre skills and resources and false sense of security. Preschool and kindergarten are great head starts for your children, but from elementary onwards everything spirals downwards from there. Please don't make the mistake of putting your children there and don't waste your money on mediocre teaching and skills your child will never use in high school and onwards. Please don't make the foolish decision my parents had 11 years ago.
Submitted by student on August 19, 2020

Really good. I learned my whole life there. I'd say they teach several grades ahead but the curriculum is still easy to understand for students.
Submitted by student on May 30, 2020

It was horrible. I would give it 0 stars if that was an option. Thankfully I won't be returning.
Submitted by parent on April 30, 2018

Great Experience with my kids studying year since last 4 years .
Submitted by other on September 30, 2017

I attended this hellhole in 3rd grade and it was the worst academic experience of my life. The homework is too great, the teachers don't teach well at all, and the management is poor. It was fortunate enough that I left this school within one month--this place may seem branded as a school to make your child "smart" but it has turned out to be one of the worst private schools ever!
Submitted by parent on September 27, 2017

Average school . Excellent curriculum. Average teaching, lot of homework
Submitted by parent on February 22, 2015

I agree will all the parents who have rated thos school below 5 stars! There is rediculous amount of homework, tests and projects assigned to even 1st and 2nd graders that they have no time to be kids. Teachers prettt much make it parents' responsibility to help kids improve their grade. Strongly agree with someone's comments about management - they don't care about student's progress and do not take your suggestins into consideration. I am taking all my kids out of there and place them into public school. At least, I will save my kids from feeling like losers!
Submitted by parent on October 05, 2014

Since there is no 0 or -ve star I had to pick 1 star, but this school doesn't deserve the 1 star. The management is horrible with their ridiculous rules and they do not listen to your concerns or feedback. This obviously has trickled down to the teachers. If you have any questions, the middle school teachers will ALWAYS respond with "I have to manage 180 kids, I can't focus on 1 kid". They just give you blanket, cookie cutter responses. They act superior and make you feel that there is a problem with your kid by saying other kids are doing great. In the end your kid will come out psychologically damaged with low confidence. Don't fall for their constant pitch of being ahead of the public schools by 2 grades. What a joke! This might be true for history, but not for math and science. Elementary school is a little better, but once you get to middle school it is no better than public schools academically. The teachers/administration just cram unnecessary topics to make it appear like they teach a lot. The kids get into the habit of memorization rather than developing fundamental skills. Just compare the curriculum with public schools before getting lured into this trap.
Submitted by parent on January 27, 2014

This review is based on my experience with preschool through KG. I was worried initially about the environment being too aggressive, based on the "general impression" of the school but so far it has not reflected on my kids and they love going to school everyday. They are learning a lot and more importantly, they are developing a love for learning. Extra curricular activities also seem reasonable. spring/winter performances and art/music everyday. The class size is big (32 kids in KG) but the teachers seem to be on top of it. They make sure you are kept in the loop about your child's performance and provide regular constructive feedback.
Submitted by parent on January 27, 2013

great school,but needs to teach more algebra in 7th. teachers are helpful. They teach music well.
Submitted by parent on April 21, 2012

My child goes to this school, but i'm planning on transferring my child to a different private school that will treat us with respect, because this school has horrible management. The executive "Isabel Haney", she is is unprofessinal, arrogant, and plain rude! no wonder the manament is horribly wrong! Let me tell you an examples about how annoying this woman is. I dropped off my child to school one morning and decided to park my car somewhere else and walk my child inside the school, but as soon as I open the front door it seems there was a barking dog reminding me that I need to drive my child to the drive way instead of walking my child to the door. I felt humilated the tone of her voice of how she address to me her reminder in front of the crowd in a hallway. she is even calling me "Mom" which is totally Wrong! for crying out loud I have a name and I'm not your mom!.... this doesnt make sense, what if I live nearby or choose not to drive my child to the drive way, so my child can't have school? she can send me a letter of reminder rather than standing on the hallway and barking parents with her reminder.
Submitted by parent on February 26, 2012

My daughter goes to this school, but I am planning to withdraw from this school from next year because of many reasons. Let me list them here. 1. Student to Teacher ratio is higher or almost same as any other public schools. Most of the classes have 28 students. 2. Management is arrogant. They just don't want to listen to the feedback. If you give any feedback, they will just say that it's their policy. They never give ear to you. 3. Tests everyday. Sometimes you feel frustrated. If they can limit to one test per day, you can focus on that and perform better. 4. They never correct the homework. I was shocked to know that the teachers never even look at the student notebooks. 5. There is no focus given to any student. Personal attention is lost in the crowd. I won't blame the teachers. It's the management crowding the class with students and overloading the teacher with plenty of unwanted stuff. It's all on the shoulders of the parents. 6. Just giving textbooks of one grade higher will not improve the quality of the education, also how the education is taken to the students. I doubt if the students follow, what is being taught in the class.
Submitted by other on January 09, 2012

I live very close to this school, but send my kids to another private school. Parents feedback about excessive homework, not helping kids who are falling behind, not encouraging individuality and high fees have given me an aversion this school. The feedback on this site tells me I am right!