Magellan Charter

9324 Baileywick Road

School District

Magellan Charter
Grade

3-8
Teacher/Student Ratio

1:13
Type

charter

School Map for Magellan Charter School District

GreatSchools Rating

The school rating calculation is based on four ratings: the Student Progress Rating or Academic Progress Rating, College Readiness Rating, Equity Rating, and Test Score Rating each designed to show different facets of school success. Learn more about GreatSchools Ratings

Reviews

Submitted by parent on January 15, 2024

My child is extremely stressed out by this school. The athletics are terrible. Sure, this school is a 10/10 in test scores but socially? There is about 2 black people per grade. This school is harshly unfair and targets certain students. My child is not a trouble maker, has straight A’s but the principle always finds a way to make her come crying home at the end of the day.
Submitted by parent on September 01, 2022

Both of my children went to Magellan. My eldest was very good academically and had some trouble adapting to the school. My youngest adapted to the school well, but is not a good tester. When there were issues with my oldest, I was told that they were wanted to Magellan. With my youngest the administration told me that Magellan is not for everyone. The difference is that my oldest routinely scored 5s on the EOGs while the youngest scored 2s. I think the administration supports the children who can provide Magellan with a good school rating. There has been quite a bit of turnover with the school. I disheartened to hear that some staff left due to treatement by other staff members. There is very little diversity at this school. Parents are expected to be heavily involved, therefore if you don't have a flexible work schedule or do not have a stay at home parent, then this probably is not the school for your children.
Submitted by parent on January 12, 2022

Both of my children have attended Magellan since 3rd grade (one is in 11th grade and the other is in 7th). My children couldn't be more different. My son (in 11th) is gifted had every academic advantage- was put in the top learning classes, ex. in Math 2 for 8th Grade. My Daughter (7th grade) has an IEP- has ADHD and impulse control issues. My son was an "easy" kid- a "teacher pleaser." My daughter is a good kid, actually really smart, but who doesn't/can't apply herself to academics. Pros: teachers actually care; teacher ratio; and parent involvement- kids get what they need, and the administration actually cares and doesn't have a 1-size-fits-all policy for every contingency. Parents are required to volunteer which means it's a community based school; Kids are treated as individuals; good communication (& response time) with teachers & admin; GREAT Special Ed teachers who know their stuff & willing to go xtra mile. Cons- very little diversity- most kids are from nearby the school- mostly white and affluent; no lunch room or cheap lunch alternative; aftercare (YMCA) is expensive; No feeder High School. Magellan is one of the older charters of the original 100, and the "Principal/Adminstrator" recently just changed. She seems to be very proactive and accessible. The population of Magellan seems to have changed in the last 5 years, as well. As word has gotten out about Magellan, the same zest the originial families had for the school (& volunteering) has taken a hit. Seems to be more bullying and disruptive/destructive incidents, maybe b/c more Magellan parents who have "less rules" in their houses & are more "hands off" parenting? Magellan has a plethora of sweet kids who, because Magellan does a really good job, are rather sheltered and these newer kids have found it easy to lead. With all that said, I feel like Magellan is handling it all well. Reminds me of when neighborhoods are new vs. after most houses have flipped 3x and I've seen this same phenom with other older charter schoolsMagellan's greatest strength is their teachers & how much they care about their students. Ratio is 17:1 I believe. And they group kids according to learning level, which means kids are getting the right level of instruction. In 11 school years my kids, collectively, only had 2 instances of "difficult/problem teachers, and the issues faced were nothing compared to what we faced in their prior school.My son was WELL prepared for HS, which is the real metric
Submitted by parent on August 07, 2021

I had a 3rd grader at Magellan during the pandemic. Was there a lot of homework? yes. Did my daughter *need* a lot of homework? Absolutely. Look, my partner and I both work and we did have to spend time with her during the week to complete her homework. It was not easy. But! Her work paid off. She worked hard and thrived. I *liked* that her teachers were uncompromising in their pursuit of subject matter work. My daughter learned so much more in third grade than in second grade. For that, I’m grateful to the teachers for challenging her. Did my daughter always come home with 100s? Nope. Yet I think Magellan is a pretty solid school that exceeded my expectations. They also followed Covid protocols well which was a comfort to us. The fit with our kid was great.
Submitted by parent on July 31, 2021

Amazing support for my daughter with a learning disability. Teachers go above and beyond.
Submitted by parent on July 06, 2021

We have had a very unpleasant time with Magellan. There were a few teachers that were rude and wouldn't even help my child. The workload that they gave during COVID was unrealistic, and I agree with the comment above; you basically had to homeschool your own child.Even after COVID, when they went back in person, I question the actual teachings of this charter school. I had to schedule parent teacher conferences on my own! My child went from an A to an F in one report card, and the teacher didn't even reach out to me?I'm shocked that their ratings are as high as they are. I honestly think they have bought their ratings. They are only about money and at the end of the day I have been LESS than impressed. There were a handful of good teachers/admins but unfortunately some of them are retiring.I do not recommend this school at all. Especially since it is only grades 3-8...your child is going to have to find new friends and a new environment in a few years anyways.
Submitted by parent on June 07, 2021

Can't say enough bad things about our experience at this school. Granted it was during COVID-19 but they did a horrible job teaching. They didn't. They were excellent at overloading the kids with homework and then not explaining to parents what was required (guess what - the teachers were not allotted enough time to teach so YOU will have to do it) My 3rd grader came home bewildered and unable to do the assignments because he was taught nothing and assigned everything. Made to feel like a failure, and we as a family were made to feel like failures because according to the school everyone else in class was handling it just fine. Come to find out - when I reached out to other parents personally - they had the same story. Everyone was drowning. I get that with Covid they were down to half days of instruction. OK so you're going to have to adjust the workload accordingly. Otherwise why don't I just homeschool? So that is what we did. After "winning the lottery" and getting in on the waitlist and feeling over the moon about it, we withdrew our kid before he lost all passion for learning altogether. They damaged my child. I've spent all this year repairing that damage and convincing him he's not an idiot. All of the adults in his life were stressed out about his schooling for those months and poor little guy blamed himself. Things are much better now. As an aside, if you have a little boy and send them here they will probably try to get them on ADHD meds. They are not good with boys at this school. Boys need to run around and play and be active and to them, that needs to be medicated out of them. I told them this outright at one of our many teacher conferences - that meds are a non-starter. It won't happen with my kid. I'm not drugging him to make him more manageable. Learn to teach active kids! If you can't, then I'll do it myself. Extremely disappointed in this charter school. I think they keep their scores high by chasing off a bunch of people. I know several who withdrew around the same time we did. By "parental involvement" what they really mean is one parent better not have a demanding or full-time job. Having your kid go here is at least a part time job as you're esentially homeschooling them anyway. No one here will work with you to resolve any problems or catch your kid up or get extra help. They will be happy to see you go. That is how they solve problems. And they have an 800 kid waitlist that allows them to be like this.
Submitted by parent on November 28, 2007

At Magellan Charter School the teachers care. They challenge students to do their best and are dedicated to giving them the tools they need to succeed. Lessons are well thought out and presented with enthusiasm! Kids know when their teachers care.