Colorado Preparatory Academy

8601 Turnpike Dr. Suite 100

Westminster, CO 80031

20 Reviews

School District
Grade

K-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by other on October 15, 2024

My son entered this online school for the 2023-24 school year as a 4th grader hoping to skip into 5th grade math. I’d approached the admin team with my concerns (he’s been miserable with the pace, content, and peers at his brick and mortar elementary) before enrolling and they promised to consider accelerating based on results of first week testing. My son is gifted and 2E, and the previous school had ignored his emotional needs in favor of keeping him at the 99th percentile, padding their numbers. K12 didn’t do that. They circled back to us at the end of the first week and offered whole grade acceleration, so he completed the school year as a 5th grader. The classes weren’t super challenging, but he was happy with them. They allowed him to self-pace math to get even further ahead as desired. They even addressed the 2E aspect with a solid 504 going into middle school this year. Basically, they gave us everything we asked for. It was the bandaid we needed on his situation. He wrapped up that school year with all A’s, 75th percentile ELA CMAS/85th percentile Math CMAS. And he was happy. This year, he’s in a gifted magnet middle school in-person (the transfer of the ALP, 504, and grade acceleration was easy). He’s getting all A’s and B’s. It’s a great fit and he has friends, all because K12 heard us and granted him the acceleration, flexibility, and accommodations that he needed. Side note: take their CMAS testing scores with a grain of salt. They look low on paper, but they set up the participation as totally optional compared to high pressure brick and mortar schools. They don’t prioritize standardized testing. Most students opt out because the online students have to drive to in-person testing facilities for a week (ours was 10 miles away). The only reason I made my son go was because we needed the scores post-grade skip to show its success and to possibly lobby for additional acceleration (he’s doing combined 6/7th grade math this year, having qualified for a fasted paced curriculum).
Submitted by parent on December 19, 2023

My son has been bullied by a teacher who refuses to speak to me regarding her concerns, instead she ignores my emails and continues to verbally and mentally abuse my disabled son by his school email and graded comments. This seems to be an ongoing issue even though he attends class on time, and the grades are all "A's". I'm not sure if it's because he's a person of color or if she has lost her mind. Also, I have noticed over the past two years since joining this school that it's very difficult to reach anyone by phone from the principles to the teachers and counselors of this specific school. When it comes to what my son is constantly subjected to by this specific teacher, I can't reach anyone except the k-12 phone line who are also trying to reach out to the school to help my son and to stop the ongoing abuse. Also, when it comes to the IEP department of this school, they try their best to have the parents be willing to change the IEP for them and not for the child who has the IEP. Lastly, they tell parents that CMAS is required and that their children but attend even though is not required by t. I'm disappointed in this school and some pf the teachers who feel that they can do and say whatever it is to their students.
Submitted by parent on May 08, 2023

As a parent of a child in the special education department at K-12 CPA is absolutely incredible! Kiddo wasn’t receiving an adequate IEP at D11 and was failing among multiple other issues. He is now receiving an IEP that is 3x bigger and is receiving the appropriate amount or support. He is meeting goals and including complex goals.minimum behavior issues now due to the virtual environment. The school schedule flexibility is a must for children in special education. I highly recommend K-12 CPA.
Submitted by parent on September 08, 2022

Let’s start by discussing the pros:Also, (we used this school for kindergarten)-The school is online which ensures safety against the well known violence in the US. -The learning programs they use really are helpful when it comes to reading. -Handwriting book was excellent!Cons: -The student/teacher ratio is wild. Too many students, they need to hire more teachers.- when teachers take time off there are no substitute teachers.-teachers only spend 2-3 hrs a day with students - many software issues resulting in having to shut down, restart, & get back in the class- they allow teachers to have their babies with them which makes it distracting for students.-Teachers take off way too much school.
Submitted by parent on July 21, 2022

I will preface this by saying, my situation was complex. However, I was assured quite often, they'd help find a resolution. I have all the documentation for that as well. I was under the impression it was solved. It wasn't. Not even a little bit. Turns out, no one worked on it at all. They lie, then avoid any accountability for those lies. I have documented every email and voicemail from the particular people who have lied. They also had me submit personal private documents that seemingly was for nothing.I opened a case with k12 and the response to that case was to contact the school. I have been trying to do that for 3 weeks with NO response back. One person did email me back once but completely ignored the actual issue. I would have let this go, had someone taken accountability for their lack of professionalism and lies I was told. Communication is key. They don't communicate. They didn't have the common decently to do that.
Submitted by parent on May 24, 2022

This school in Westminster is incompetent and not recommended. Colorado Preparatory Academy LOST THE SAT test results for my daughter and that would never occur at a Real High School. Do yourself a favor and do not enroll your children in this school!Timothy Lucas
Submitted by parent on April 07, 2020

My kids have attended this school for 5 years and it just keeps getting better each year. My daughter will graduate with a lot of college credits and probably an AA degree in business. All paid for by the school!
Submitted by parent on March 24, 2020

Live class connect sessions with highly qualified teachers who truly care. Amazing!
Submitted by parent on February 13, 2020

I would so give them more than a 5 star if I could I would do a 10 I really like this school.
Submitted by parent on October 09, 2019

Great option for precocious high school students who plan to attend college in-state and want to get 2 to 2 1/2 years of college credit completed while still in high school. Work a smarter curriculum that's really not that much harder. Both my daughters love the flexibility of taking required classes like Spanish, History, and Government online while taking core classes like Calc 3, Bio 2, English Composition 2, and Organic Chem (yes, that's right) in-person at community college for double high school credit (double as in 1 college semester counts as 2 high school semesters). One daughter will be done with her premed requirements while still in High School, and the other will have enough credits to graduate HS halfway through her Junior year (but why would she when she can stay on and take more college classes for "free" that count toward her CU CS degree?) CPA teachers are responsive and knowledgeable, and the counselors and concurrent enrollment coordinator are superb.
Submitted by parent on March 01, 2019

Excellent! CPA's curriculum is very strong. The teachers and the principal are very knowledgeable. They care a lot about the students and are always available to answer questions or address any concerns we might have.My son absolutely loves his 5th grade teacher Mrs. Martinez! My mother who is a retired teacher (and currently is my son's learning coach) is impressed by the 5th grade curriculum! We are very please with CPA. SB
Submitted by parent on January 08, 2019

Everyone has different experiences based on their level of patience, and understanding when comes to dealing with online schools. My child is in Kindergarten, and she's learning way more than I expected. The Class Connects she has 3x a week are always fun, educational, and interactive. Whenever I have questions I get a reply in about one to two days. I always try remember that we are all humans, and technology is not perfect. I always feel involved and informed. I plan on enrolling my son in the next two years with CPA. My daughter and I really like this school!
Submitted by parent on August 30, 2018

At this point everything is going horrible for my 6 grader, no support at all
Submitted by parent on June 26, 2017

The curriculum is excellent and the staff does a great job of supporting the Learning Coach and the student for an overall good experience. People tend to think that the teachers are supposed to do all the teaching, this program requires a high level of parent involvement. We started in Kinder and are now moving into the 4th grade. My daughter is starting to work more on her own and will hopefully do more so as she gets older, but I sill need to be the main person working with her on her studies. Its a great program, with great instruction, you get out of it what you put into it.
Submitted by parent on May 31, 2016

Teachers are very involved and always respond to our questions via mail within a day. Curriculum is above standard and flexible. My kids' grades went up and they enjoy the school. Online public school might not be for everyone. It takes a lot of determination and diligence and a lot of extra effort from me as their mom to guide them through it all. I am mostly impressed with the quality of the curriculum, which is perfectly balanced in the amount of work. I have had a lot of contact with all the teachers and everyone has been very helpful.
Submitted by parent on April 22, 2016

I have two kids in this school. One has been in it from 1st to this year which is 3rd. She will continue next year in 4th. We love it and the curriculum is also awesome. My middle schooler is going to high school next year and will not continue. The teachers have gone out of their way to help my daughter in middle school. The teachers do teach the classes each day online so the other comments I have read must not be paying much attention to what the kids should be doing as the teachers do have to teach each day. Online school takes a lot of parental oversight to keep kids on task and if you are not able to work with your kids I do not suggest it. I would like to keep my daughter in for HS however she has elected to go to traditional HS. Education wise it has been so much better than what we had for our other kids in traditional elementary and Middle School.
Submitted by parent on December 17, 2014

The teachers are not the best here. You would think they would have extra time to spend with the students, since the state funding is the same and the curriculum is already provided for them. They don't even really have to teach it. However, when students ask questions, they tend to direct the students to their parents rather than helping them. Probably a great deal for teachers who want to do less work and have less responsibility and not really have to deal with kids. The curriculum is appropriate and the idea is sound. I'm taking my child out and putting them back in a traditional school so they can get some social interaction and not stare at a computer screen for 8-10 hours per day.
Submitted by parent on November 19, 2014

Many of the connect sessions online were not required but the teachers would assign required homework to scan in at the end of the session. Many technical issues too. The time requirements for a 1st grade child was also an issue. 6 to 7 hours of sit down instructional time is not only to long for a 6 year old child but a waste of time as the child will not absorb that amount of information. This leads to a frustrated child who then does not want to do any more work 3 hours into the day. I spoke with a teacher regarding my concerns and her solution was, more breaks. That would be a great solution if I had all day to do nothing but teach. We started taking more breaks and finishing at a set time instead of based on completion of online scheduled lessons. So in turn we fell further behind doing extra work on the weekends. I believe learning should be fun especially at this young age. When I was assisting in my sons Kindergarten classroom, the children were never seated for longer then 20 min before moving to another classroom. They spent a large portion of the day lining up and moving from one room to the next plus had numerous breaks.
Submitted by parent on October 21, 2014

I have seen so many poor AWFUL ratings on this school and with K12 online schools in general, which is surprising to me. I am aware everyones experience is unique but the most important thing to remember is that online school is directly equivalent to the students MOTIVATION, DRIVE and willingness to do well. Poor school performance of students is probably the reason for ANY poor review of Colorado Prep. I have done incredibly the past two years and had the BEST experience. Life changing actually. Teachers especially with core subjects like Chemistry, English, Spanish and Math are incredible, my counselor Ms. Geherin is amazing and the staff seem compassionate and so willing to help. The course load of classes is not easy, nor should it have to be. My classmates and I are testimonies of success in an online environment!! I am in now applying to my dream college and am grateful for CPA. If you are considering CPA consider your decision carefully. Are you are motivated and disciplined enough to do online school? It will take a lot of effort, but the support you will receive here will make it worth it. :) -Current Senior at Colorado Preparatory Academy
Submitted by parent on October 06, 2014

The most inadequately run "schools." Very poor administration, admission, and csr skills. They simply do not care and seem to have a non challant attitude. They do not know what they are doing DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME!