Great Lakes Academy

6000 Custer Road

Plano, TX 75023

51 Reviews

School District
Grade

4-12
Type

private

Find Homes for Sale in this School Zone

Reviews

Submitted by parent on May 08, 2024

My son moved to Great Lakes Academy in the middle of 5th Grade. Within the first week, his mental well-being changed dramatically—it was like night and day! Even his grandparents noticed the positive change in him. While our family circumstances have changed and 7th Grade is my son's last year, I highly recommend GLA. I'm grateful to GLA for providing my son with a supportive and safe place. Because of the small class size (less than 10 students), my son formed meaningful friendships with his classmates! He also has the same classmates every year, which helped immensely. Finding like-minded friends for kids with neurodiversity is hard. He finally found friends with whom he could relate. They're friends inside & outside of school.His teachers also support his ADHD. Because of the small class size, he receives personalized attention. Their social skills classes help him learn and practice managing his ADHD symptoms (all schools and work should have social skills classes/training, especially for adults!). My son gets bored quickly, which is an ADHD trait. He's also twice exceptional (2e) or highly gifted, which sometimes makes boredom even worse. When I addressed this with his teachers, they were receptive, and we worked together as a "team" to develop positive, actionable solutions depending on the circumstances. For example, when my son finishes his work fast in class, his teachers permit him to work on the project he's interested in or passionate about, even if it's unrelated to their class. One time, he was practicing Dual Lingo and learning Japanese and German as a passion project. Working on interesting tasks is an excellent motivator for kids with ADHD. So, this solution worked well for him.I'm grateful they teach students to research, write, and deliver presentations well. I'm proud of my son's public speaking skills. As a lawyer & public speaker with ADHD, I'm impressed with his teachers' ability to teach such vital skills. He used to talk fast and mumble while presenting in school. But in GLA, he learned to slow down and enjoy speaking in front of people! The school has Open House events where students present to parents. The Vocabulary Parade is my favorite because all students (from 4th Grade to high school) participate. I'm fascinated with how even high school students are fully engaged in presenting individually (which is different from what I usually see in other high schools). We'll miss GLA and will be back if our circumstances change.
Submitted by parent on March 20, 2024

Great Lakes Academy is an awesome choice for kids struggling with friendships. We have a daughter in the middle school. She started in elementary. This is her 3rd year. We are beginning to see a shift in her ability to maintain friendships, overall happiness and a desire to be part of a group. This is a difficult process for kids on the spectrum, but one of huge, long-term importance. If you have a child struggling in this way, it could be game changer to join GLA!
Submitted by parent on November 01, 2023

GLA cares about their students individually. My daughter never really fit in anywhere and GLA staff goes out of their way to be inclusive and tailors learning and discipline to a student’s unique needs. I couldn’t be happier that we discovered GLA.
Submitted by other on June 22, 2022

As a graduate of this school, there are some things I would like to say about it. The overall experience at this school is like no other school of its kind that I've seen or been to. Every single one of the staff here genuinely cares for every student's needs during their education. For students with special needs, this school would be an incredible choice. This school also has a tightly-woven community where even the parents can get heavily involved with a few of the events. Students and teachers get the ability to form great connections with each other which allows the student to feel more comfortable while learning. However, there have been some instances where the teacher connects with the student too much and forcefully delves into the student's personal life without their consent which can be a breach of privacy for them. Other than that, I don't have any other problems with the staff at Great Lakes Academy. They're truly amazing people and teach you very well. The only issue I have with the teaching here is that during my time at this school there was barely an attempt made at teaching the students how to take notes. I get that everyone has the possibility of doing better with different kinds of notetaking but they should at least teach the fundamentals of it and make sure every student knows how to do it. Otherwise, going from this school to college will be a big problem. I went to this school from halfway through fifth grade all through my senior year in high school. My overall experience here was a great one, I made great friends here that I otherwise wouldn't have, and I just had so much fun. I don't think I could've asked for a better time of education than what they gave me here at Great Lakes. I want to say thank you to all of the staff members there who made my experience an amazing one and my education even better. I couldn't have gotten to where I am today without you, thank you.
Submitted by parent on June 20, 2022

Our son attended Great Lakes Academy for seven and a half years. ( 5th-12th grades) He just graduated with the 2022 class. Great Lakes Academy is designed for those with learning differences. The students function higher than what special education will accept and the 504 plan is NOT supportive enough in the public schools for them. Your child will get to visit a class for 3 days to help them determine IF the environment is appropriate for them. BEHAVIORS are NOT a FIT in the Great Lakes Academy environment. They keep the classrooms usually at a 1/10 ratio. This way the teachers can really focus on your child's educational struggles. Great Lakes also focuses on social and emotional development and will provide support to the families. They go on monthly field trips with the teachers to educationally learn and learn socialization in a public setting. When they are in middle school and mostly High School they will also go on a couple overnight trips all under the supervision of the teachers. All of the field trips are an AWESOME experience. Our son has learned A LOT, gained A Lot of confidence, grown up A LOT, and gained A LOT of friends. You will NOT be disappointed IF the environment is right for you all.
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2022

Similar to most children, our son started his education in the public sector, but he did not fare well with his schooling (academically and socially), so we considered alternative schools. After looking at many schools, our choice has stopped at Great Lakes Academy. Our expectations were largely met, high-level teaching staff, infrastructure, community life, environment and the school had an excellent reputation. The school favors unique and adapted learning. Within the first week of attending Great Lakes Academy, our son has rediscovered the desire to learn, but above all, every morning, he was looking forward to going to school. Knowing that our son was in good hands, following an established and accredited educational program, has taken huge worries off our mind. Our son has progressed beyond our expectations while being happy to be in the company of his classmates.We are deeply grateful to all these teachers whose dedication to the children' success gave us hope and peace of mind. I recommend to all parents whose children don't fare well in school due to various concerns wishing to see them evolve in a healthy and safe environment to consider trying Great Lakes Academy. You will not be disappointed, we assure you!
Submitted by other on June 07, 2022

From a High School Graduate from Great Lakes Academy:Just completed 10 years at Great Lakes Academy and I'm about to start the next chapter which will bring me toward my professional life. The program at Great Lakes Academy allowed me to obtain my High School diploma, it wasn't without sweat and effort, but I've made it! It is with emotion that I am leaving Great Lakes Academy because it's an extended family for me. Through this incredible journey, I met brilliant teachers and remarkable students that allowed me to progress academically but also, I felt supported and surrounded. For me, school was one-day-at-a-time situation, I saw myself as a tightrope walker: to cross a long wire, without seeing the end, and to advance one step at a time through the violent winds, the fog, or the pouring rain, while the wire pitches sometimes towards what must be done, and later, towards what can be done. These years at Great Lakes Academy were rich in discoveries and will remain etched in my memory forever, as will the methods and principles instilled by my teachers: curiosity, love of learning, work ethics, efforts, and perseverance, the will to question oneself... So many treasures that will undoubtedly be useful to me all my life. For all these reasons, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the entire teachers and staff. I will long cherish fond memories of my time at Great Lakes Academy which gave me so much. Thank you, for the opportunities. I am approaching a new stage in my life with confidence and dynamism. To the Great Lakes Academy direction and all the teachers, please accept my sincere gratitude. For any students that are struggling in a "regular" school setting, do look up Great Lakes Academy, they might change your life as they did with mine.
Submitted by parent on November 01, 2021

Outstanding school!!! The teachers do an incredible job understanding the unique needs of each student.
Submitted by parent on October 30, 2021

My son has attended Great Lakes Academy since 4th grade and is currently in High School. I couldn’t have selected a better environment for him to learn and grow. He’s become a great student and his social skills have developed incredibly. The teachers and administration always go the extra mile to ensure he understands the material and provide him with the tools he will need for college. I love this school and recommend it highly for kids with learning differences and anxiety!
Submitted by parent on September 16, 2021

If you think this school will help your child, it won't. I had such high hopes when we enrolled my child here. Those hopes were absolutely crushed. My child became so clinically depressed that there were suicidal ideations for half of the year. They say that they want to help but all they do is create a child that is dependent and coddled, the social skills and independence they promise is nothing but lies and falsehoods. I have had to put my child in counseling for all the psychological damage that this environment has caused. Thankfully, we put our child back in a traditional setting and though he has adhd and is on the end of the autism spectrum, he is thriving like I have never seen before, no thanks to GLA. His new school has amazing academic and psychosocial support. I was basically accused by the administration there of being a "disengaged parent" and not caring about my child, oh right, that is why I dropped 20K to send him there, because I don't care...please. You would think that a school that says they are focused on learning differences would have a lot of open communication with the parents, but this is not the case. They think that sending form emails is communicating. One teacher even went as far a lying to administration about the extent of which she allegedly communicated with me, but it was a complete lie, just an email sent, nothing else, no phone calls, no zoom meetings, nothing, their teachers clearly lack any sense of integrity! This place does not help kids, they make bunch of false promises and not delivering on any of it. Like I said, it has taking many months to undo the damage that this school caused. Again, my child just became dependent and self-esteem was down to nothing. It has taken months to overcome all of that and get back to a good place. Please, if you care about your child's learning, do not send them here. They don't deliver on ANYTHING that they promise you, they just want your money.
Submitted by parent on September 06, 2021

I was very lucky to attend this school throughout middle and high school. I was greatly impacted by the wonderful people who serve as the staff and I think about them almost every day. They had a positive impact on my life. When I attended this school they connected with me, understood me, and made great role models.The thing I needed most as a kid with learning disabilities was to be understood. I was smart, I knew it, but I never had the confidence to apply myself. I didn't have any interests and I didn't have any friends. One of the biggest role models in my life was [ ] who is now the principal and I'm very happy to hear he's still there. He was so incredibly passionate about his work with the students. He'd organize the Christmas show every year and put on the most meaningful Christmas plays. Everybody looked forward to his plays every year. My favorite was when we re-enacted a famous event in world war one, in which British and German troops made a Christmas truce in 1914 and shared the spirit of Christmas, in the middle of a sad and gruesome war. He also taught us photography and his infectious love of history was passed on to us all.There are so many staff members at great lakes who had such a positive impact on me, I can't name them all, I don't want to name them just in case of privacy, but they taught me how to take challenges, and succeed with confidence. ..I will admit, when I was younger, I was a punk, and these kind people all gave me so much patience and understanding I will always remember and be grateful for that. I made many friends at great lakes and I keep in touch with them to this day. We all have our own paths in life but I will never forget these strong, independent, and UNIQUE people I had great friendships with back in the day.So where am I now? Well, after graduating high school I attended Collin County, where I made Presidents list, Deans list, won the academic achievement award and the emerging scholars award English category, I joined the CASMNS program at Collin, where I participated in research and won an award from NASA in their "Aerospace Scholars Program". I then went to Texas A&M, College Station where I earned my B.S in Geology, and I did two years of research underneath the department head, I did research involving XRF analysis on sedimentary cores for Pioneer and quality control on another project. Currently I day trade in the natural resource commodities sector. It's a tough market but I like it.
Submitted by parent on May 22, 2020

I would recommend this school to any family that has a child with learning differences. You feel like you are part of a family.
Submitted by other on June 20, 2019

Great Lakes is fully responsible for our son's success in academics and increased self-esteem. He loves going to school there because he is loved there. They go out of their way to help him when he struggles and at the same time find ways to praise his successes. The Admin and specifically the Principal Mr. Campbell are truly amazing people. What a treasure of a school.
Submitted by parent on May 13, 2019

Our son has shown a complete 180 degree change in his level of happiness, his attitude about school/homework, and his personality since coming to Great Lakes Academy for 6th grade this past year. The teachers and staff are second-to-none. It's truly the best decision we've ever made.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2019

We are over the moon at the progress we’ve seen in our son. Before starting at GLA we were lost and hopeless. GLA has given us hope for a bright future.
Submitted by parent on May 09, 2019

Best choice we have ever made for our son and our family. Our son was falling further behind in public school where they could not seem to get him to engage. We’ve been at GLA 2 1/2 years and he is thriving academically and socially.
Submitted by parent on April 04, 2019

My son could not thrive in the public high school and we began doubting whether he could further his education at all. By the end of his first year at GLA he began to make plans for his future once again. He is 19 1/2 now and has held the same job for nearly two years now and is finishing his first year in college. The teachers and staff at GLA fascilitated his growth in every area and helped his bloom into the person I always knew him to be. Thank you GLA.
Submitted by parent on June 20, 2018

This school is wonderful and has help my child grow in SO many ways. I am so thankful we have been a part of a great environment and community.
Submitted by parent on June 08, 2017

We move our son to GLA in January of his 6th grade year. Our child had been struggling terribly in public school for 2.5 years. He has ADHD, Dyslexia, Dsygraphia and was suffering from extremely low self-esteem and anxiety after 2.5 years of torture and he all but hated school. GLA was an instant match for him, and in 5 short months our child gotten his smile, confidence, love for learning back. He made all A's and B's by the end of the year and Brigance testing shows huge improvements in many areas between January and end of May. His anxiety, falling through the cracks and class clown antics are gone. He is more than willing and happy to do some over the summer enrichment activities simply because his 6th teachers asked him to. Ms. Chavez and Mrs. Bush have been amazing with our son. We are looking forward to many more years at GLA and are blessed to be a part of this school with our son.
Submitted by parent on May 27, 2017

Before joining Great Lakes Academy our son was about a year behind grade level. He could tell he was struggling compared to his peers and his self-esteem was very low. Fortunately, the teachers at Great Lakes are all trained on how to work with students with ADHD. With the small class sizes they were able to help him find positive outlets for his energy and helped keep him focused on task without the need for medication.The result is that after three years at Great Lakes Academy, our son has gone from being a year behind based on standardized tests to being two or more years ahead of grade level. Within the very caring and supportive environment the school has created, our son’s self-esteem is no longer an issue. As a parent it feels great to see your child performing well academically. However, it is his change in self-worth that is perhaps the most valuable thing he developed at Great Lakes. Our experience at Great Lakes Academy has given all of us the confidence to try re-introducing our son to public school. He now understands his disability and knows that he has to do things differently to overcome it. But, he also knows he’s intelligent and capable. With this attitude combined with the organizational skills he has learned at GLA we are hopeful that he will do better in public school than he did in the earlier grades.While the academic improvement and change in confidence are primary reasons we love GLA so much, I would be remiss if I didn’t also call attention to the fantastic art program at GLA. The program incorporates a lot of international art and introduces the kids to a wide range of art forms. I had no idea that children my son’s age could produce such amazing and creative works! The result is that the kids produce some very creative and compelling works of which they can all be extremely proud.We highly recommend Great Lakes Academy for any child struggling with ADHD and cannot thank the staff enough for helping our son get back on track!