Ignite Learning Academy

Was discriminated against for my granddaughter’s disability, accused of using home school curriculum with an answer key when I found mistakes in their curriculum, was accused of not submitting assignments or following a schedule correctly when I had screen shots that the assignments were turned in on time and the schedule was being followed, and I was harassed for missing one live class when the website states that live classes can be watched after they are recorded at your leisure. The CEO refused to apologize, and both she and her principal told me to withdraw my grandchildren after I proved that I had been attacked by the staff unfoundedly. The CEO ALSO accused my granddaughter of not participating in class when she had 90% and no missing assignments. I also caught her in a lie just based on her response to this complaint. She not only suggested that I withdraw, but threatened to withdraw us if I made a complaint against her for violating the ADA. Here is the owner’s email. “A teacher simply expressed concern because her student had not been coming to class or submitting work so we did not know if the plan was for her to engage. We alert all parents when this happens. Continued comments about how we are violating her rights by simply checking in on her wellbeing when she has not participated in school or appears to be struggling will lead to a withdrawal of your family from this school. These are wild accusations to be making when we are very clearly attempting to support your grandchildren, as expressed by the teacher in the email you forwarded below. This will be my last statement on this matter. If you do not find it acceptable for teachers and staff to check in when there are concerns, I do suggest you withdraw from the school. If you continue to make accusations of our staff that are unfounded, we will withdraw your family as protected by the Supreme Court’s decision in 2018 allowing private schools to withdraw students due to parent/guardian behavior.“ Dr. Van Sande This will be going forward to the Private School Ombudsman Office, the Department of Justice, and and Education Lawyer. I also can now add slander, libel and defamation to the list based on this public attempt to lie about myself and my 11 year old granddaughter. Update: I have tried to add an honest review to Niche about this school, but it keeps getting removed. This also shows dishonesty. I recommend going to Arizona Prep Digital! They are actually part of Arizona State University, and quite literally are the most supportive team of people you could ask for. They assign you a Learning Success Coach that acts as both a Guidance Counselor, and your personal assistant. Even for technical issues! They do not complain or argue or accuse you or your student of things that you have never done. They also spend $18,000 per student at this school, so you quite literally have a team of people and outstanding curriculum working for you. I can't say enough about ASU Prep Digital. Do yourself a favor and SIGN UP!!! Run away from this school as soon as possible! ASU will even help your child graduate early with College Credits!! FORKS UP!!! Update: Leaving this school was the best thing we ever did!!! A school is only as good as its curriculum and staff, and Ignite Academy and ASU Prep Digital has not disappointed. Professional teachers. Professional Learning Coaches. Professional curriculum. College credits offered in high school. Honesty, integrity. And loving people who enjoy encouraging both parents and students. They do not discriminate. They elevate. Enroll your student today.

My daughter was taking classes with ILA and we had a great experience. ILA offered us caring and enthusiastic teachers, challenging curriculum and individualized attention to student needs.

We have been very pleased with ILA as it offers us the flexibility we need, a strong self paced curriculum, access to teachers as needed, a safe environment devoid of bullying or typical in person school challenges we see these days. The post covid world has warmed up to online education and this school has done a great job of providing the students with many of the opportunities they would see in school including participating in contests, clubs, extra curriculars as well as social time through homeroom hour. All in all, a win win especially for students who are unable to fit into a traditional brick and mortar school model for whatever reasons.

I would strongly recommend that Arizona parents do their research before enrolling their children at Ignite Learning. We enrolled our daughter expecting a quality educational program, but we quickly became extremely disappointed with both the live classes and the curriculum. The teacher was, in our experience, extremely unorganized and unprofessional. Classes ended early, she would answer her phone during class, classes were missed because of personal reasons, and there was a general lack of consistency and organization. The curriculum itself was also a major disappointment. The online program felt like a collection of click-through assignments rather than a well-developed educational experience. We encountered glitches, poor explanations, and material that we did not feel was providing the quality of education we were expecting. The biggest issue, however, was what happened when we tried to leave. We contacted Ignite Learning within the same month that our daughter started because we were already so disappointed with the program. We explained our concerns about the curriculum and why we did not feel the program was a good fit for our daughter. Despite the fact that she attended for less than a month, we were still hit with a $700 final invoice. That was extremely frustrating. We weren’t asking to leave after months of schooling and simply trying to avoid paying for something we had used. We were telling them very early on that the program was not meeting our expectations, and we tried to withdraw our daughter within the first month. We genuinely feel like we were taken advantage of financially. What makes this even more frustrating is that many legitimate educational programs understand that families may realize early on that a program isn’t the right fit. Some offer a 30-day money-back or satisfaction guarantee specifically so parents can see whether the program actually works for their child before being financially locked in. That was not our experience with Ignite Learning. Instead, we feel like we were locked into a financial obligation despite raising our concerns almost immediately. As parents using Arizona ESA funds, we believe families should be able to make an informed decision without feeling trapped when a program clearly isn’t working for their child. This experience left us feeling that the priority was collecting the money rather than making sure our daughter was actually receiving a quality education. I would absolutely encourage parents to read the enrollment and withdrawal policies very carefully, ask exactly what happens if you withdraw early, and don’t assume that accepting ESA funds means a school is necessarily going to provide the experience you’re expecting. We regret enrolling our daughter and, based on our experience, we would not recommend Ignite Learning to other families.