Liberty Classical Academy

3878 Highland Avenue

White Bear Lake, MN 55110

25 Reviews

School District
Grade

PK-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by parent on June 07, 2024

We LOVE this school for our children. The teachers pour into them everyday. Strong prayer life and Godly leaders who care deeply about my kids. We are so happy to part of a strong community that supports our family’s values.
Submitted by other on April 07, 2024

I would not recommend this school. This school lacks diversity not only in their staff and board but also in their policies. I have witnessed bullying and outdated policies that truly show that this school has not thought thru how to attract diverse students. If you want an all white school, then this school is for you.
Submitted by other on December 13, 2023

As a former student who attended Liberty for many years, I believe I received a great education in elementary school. Once I was in middle school and high school, however, my experience completely shifted. Administrators and certain teachers would enforce extremely strict rules (e.g. limited bathroom times, checks to see that we wore matching socks and a belt with our uniform every day, no phones, no dyed hair, no hoop earrings, etc) and large amounts of homework that were not actually helpful to our education. When student were stressed, certain teachers would insist that it would only get worse in high school and college. Several teachers I had in humanities courses would push their political opinions on students and were openly racist and sexist. It was worse for students in my class when one of the most beloved teachers quit because of stress put on them from the administration. I left during high school, and realized how many more opportunities and a better education I received outside of Liberty (I now go to a great college that I would not have been accepted to if I had stayed at Liberty). I had an interview with admin when I was leaving, and they failed to listen to any of the problems students were having and instead justified why each rule was in place and why each issue was simply students making a bigger deal out of things. Instead of building up students’ faith, I felt forced into believing a very narrow mindset and practicing my faith began to feel like a chore instead of something that was good for me. The majority of students in the last years I was there were disrespectful and distracting to both their teachers and peers. I had a great experience in elementary school, but I had a negative emotional, educational, and spiritual experience after that.
Submitted by parent on March 21, 2023

Liberty provides an excellent classical education that rivals any high academic school in the twin cities while in tandem reinforcing the traditional values that we value at home. It’s a special place!
Submitted by other on January 07, 2023

Former student: This is less of a school, and more of a propaganda camp for far-right views. If that's what you're looking for for your kids, go for it. But I am being sincere when I say this school is fundamentally an extension of the local MN Republican party.For how much the right loves to claim the left is indoctrinating their children, they sure love to indoctrinate others.I have many more words to say on the topic, but I will refrain because I am getting worked up thinking about my time spent here. DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Submitted by parent on March 12, 2022

We attended Liberty since Kindergarten and we have absolutely LOVED it. Rigorous academics, great teachers who are passionate about their subject and the kids, and a great community of like-minded parents who share similar values, awesome extra curricular activities (especially for the grammar school) and a loving environment. We love classical education and believe that it's the best type of learning that promotes critical thinkers and students with morals, values and virtuous graduates. I can't thank the school enough for the time we had at Liberty.
Submitted by parent on May 17, 2018

First class. Hands down one of the best in the area. LCA is celebrating their 15th anniversary this year and it continues to get better each year!f
Submitted by other on March 28, 2018

Liberty provides a fantastic education and teachers who truly care about their students. Liberty makes learning fun. The teachers are always available to help and they do so gladly. Liberty is a wonderful environment, especially for elementary school. That being said, it is a very narrow-minded setting if you are anything but evangelical. So if you are Catholic or Lutheran or non-Christian, be prepared to be debated by teachers and students alike. Know what you believe and why you believe it. Liberty is not the best option for high school, as it is just much too small with few extracurricular options. Liberty does not effectively prepare students to effectively and respectfully interact with people they come across that have different viewpoints than their own.
Submitted by parent on January 17, 2017

Although we were a little apprehensive to send our children to Liberty because of the cost we recognized this need to have our children be learning the same message at school as at home while not compromising the academic strength of the school. We decided to give it a try with the a reevaluation after one year of how we thought things went and we have been beyond pleased with what our children have learned as well as the depth and breadth of subjects. Our children love going to school each day and I feel completely comfortable talking with their teacher about any questions and their academic progress. We can't say enough about how pleased we are that Liberty is coming alongside us as parents to shepherd our children's minds as well as their hearts.
Submitted by other on December 29, 2016

I am disappointed that there are not reviews done by students on this site... I understand that parents wish to explain the joys that they have experienced watching their children attend, but I am here to give a student's perspective on the school, and I hope that you will take the time to read it.I attended this school for many years, and I encourage prospective parents to look at the years under which the comments were posted, and understand why the reviews have changed in the nature of WHAT they are glorifying about the school over said years. In my case, the school started off with a very strong foundation in the Classical arts (Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric stages), but over the years, a strong disconnect has developed between the school's administration and the classrooms themselves. Many of the higher staff truly believe that this strong foundation still exists; it does not. If you are a parent that is interested in classical education, this is not the school for your child. Classical education depends upon many things, and one of those is the grounded understanding in the areas of Logic, both formal and informal. These two key topic areas will be skimmed over for your child, late in their middle school years. Because Logic is such a key subject, it is meant to be connected to other areas of the school, but it is not. Logic should be taught to the children through debate, essays, and other activities which can occur in the classroom, but most teachers will not teach students the art of Logic simply because they themselves do not understand how their teaching is classical. Because of the high teacher turnover rate, the classical feel for the three stages has been lost.But are most of the teachers loving? Absolutely so, most of them are! I made great friends with teachers and students that came along my path, and they were always there to advise us students. However... some staff is extremely burnt out, and most of the teachers' hard work (or half-hearted work) goes unappreciated, and unpraised. It is sad for me to from one class where a teacher is extremely passionate about a subject to another in which the only thing a teacher does is pull up a youtube video. This school does do well in the area of a "Christian" education, that I can honestly say. But when it comes to academic excellence, the joy of the classical method was lost long ago.
Submitted by other on December 12, 2016

We have never regretted for one minute sending our boys to Liberty. We had always thought Minnesota has great school why private but with the influx of common core and various unproven teaching methods Liberty has proven how much better a classical education is just in academics. To top it off we felt that the public school was lacking in teaching what it means to have a moral character. I want my children to have the freedom to continue to learn about their faith and how it applies to the greater world and other world religions. An education that doesn't involve teaching religion is so deficient in learning about so much history and what continues to be driving forces of good and evil around the world. Liberty rounds this out with great art, music, theatre and science to give by far the best education a child can get.
Submitted by parent on February 14, 2016

Liberty is a school where they love the Lord and try to do their best to honor Him and His children. No school is perfect, but when one tries as hard as they do to respect the parents rights and provide the best classical Christian education they deserve a "great" rating. All I could hope for as a parent is to have a place for my three children to go to where they will be safe, loved by all their teachers, known by name by every student and staff, and prayed for. This is a complete program pre-school through 12th and I have already had one graduate that now is prepared for adulthood, communicates extremely well, is respectful, and is a hard worker. I know I have Liberty to thank for that.
Submitted by parent on January 12, 2016

Overall a wonderful experience. At times my children have struggled, as they would at any school, but at Liberty they are encouraged to keep working at it to the best of their ability. The teachers take the time to see where my kids need help and do what they can. If my kids are willing to accept help, their teachers have been been willing to fight to help them achieve success.
Submitted by parent on January 07, 2016

This school is a mess, turn and run! Great inspirational speech at the open house, too bad there is such a huge disconnect between what is said to get you there and what one experiences once they are there........
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2014

We love our school. Great people from the top of the administration to the kids entering kindergarten--thanks to great parents.
Submitted by parent on August 25, 2014

Liberty is an AMAZING school. They hold academic excellence to a very high standard and still keep a focus on the Christian world view and how it applies to every area of study. I have seen my daughter grow by leaps and bounds into a Christian young woman who can intelligently defend her faith. She is so much more than just prepared for college.
Submitted by teacher on April 23, 2014

Liberty Classical Academy is the school that I wish would have existed when I was in school. Students are learning age appropriate and in-depth materials at all age levels and the curriculum is integrated and sequenced into the larger scope of the program itself. Our students are challenged in their learning, yet supported to think critically. Staff and teachers really do care about each student and their well-being emotionally, academically, socially, and spiritually. Students at Liberty have opportunities that exceed that of most other schools in the area. The school sends teams to Haiti during Spring Break to serve and experience real inter and intrapersonal growth. Liberty students are highly sought after by colleges around the nation because they are equipped and prepared for the rigor and academic challenges of higher education. Scholarship offers average over $23,000 per student and ACT scores average in the top 13% of the nation. SAT scores average 27.13 for Liberty students compared to 23.0 for Minnesota as a whole and 20.9 nationally. My only regret related to Liberty is that I couldn't attend experience this great education for myself.
Submitted by teacher on April 23, 2014

After 4 years of teaching music at Liberty Classical Academy, I have become more and more impressed with the level of achievement the students are reaching. I believe the small class sizes, highly qualified teachers, and most importantly, the Christian environment, create an atmosphere that fosters amazing results. This school is taking ordinary kids and achieving extraordinary results.
Submitted by parent on April 22, 2014

My child spent a year at Liberty and we spent most of that year wondering if we should pull her out. Though the elementary school seems excellent, there is a reason there are only about 2 dozen kids in the high school. Though there is some fine teaching from a few staff, the leadership is very muddled about their philosophy of education and their influence in the kids' lives. Questions were deflected and concerns not addressed. It's simply not a healthy emotional environment. I waited to write this review until we had some distance and a comparison with another school. My negative assessment has not softened with time or further encounters. This school started with a good idea that deserved better care and execution.
Submitted by parent on December 03, 2013

Our son just started attending the PreK program and he loves Liberty. He is excited to go to school and we have seen so many developments in his learning in the few short months that he has been in attendance. The teachers and school staff have been so welcoming and so caring. He has gotten the individual attention that he needs and we feel like that has helped his development.