I was a student there for 9 years I was a student there for 9 years, and the abuse was horrific. I didn't realize how bad it was until I left to go to high school and all of the things I expected were unimaginable by my peers. I was absolutely destroyed mentally and emotionally, and their "better academics" actually put me behind my peers. Keep in mind, I was in all of their advanced classes and only got high A's. It's two and a half years later, and I'm still reeling. If you care about your child at all, especially if you're not a white christian, choose a different school. Much of their curriculum is purely unscientific, and their discipline is ludicrously harsh. They also frequently go out of their way to discourage any friendships forming. I could go into much more depth on all the traumas me and my peers endured, but I can sum it all up fairly well in one story. My grandfather had died the previous night, and I started crying in class. I was promptly brought to the principal's office and yelled at for disrupting class, and the two friends I had were given detention for trying to console me. I was 11. In addition, since the teachers were bullies too, they played favorites with them. They would sit by and watch their favorite students pummel the disabled kids,then only step in once the disabled kids fought back.

Unacceptable experience no response or accountability … I called National Heritage Academies in March because of issues with Emerson Academy in Dayton. I was told they would look into it and get back. No one ever returned my calls or my emails. Teachers are calling me because my grandchild is talking, not sitting down or listening. I thought teachers are the adults. I had a teacher call me today and when I told her my granddaughter stated three girls were bothering her. The teacher told me she was busy in class. Excuse me, I am at work, she interrupted me. Emerson Academy and National Heritage Academies are terrible. I think my next call will be to the State Board of Education

Inexperienced Middle School Teachers Middle school teaching staff is in dire need for more training in regards on how to interact/ understand/ empathize/ discipline tweens.

Challenge advanced students? Good school but not confident they will customize a learning plan for students who are advanced in some subjects.

East Arbor Academy in Ypsilanti MI (please take into account that I am a high school student and not a parent, so I have a larger understanding of the inner workings of this school) Although I was not fully aware of other NHA schools being terrible, I can speak as a student that this has been one of the worst places to visit in my life, which has only gone downhill from then, the principal has an extremely tight grip on the staff, accomplished simply by making the ones she doesn't like simply hate third job, and keep the ones who agree, it has gotten so and that you could swear almost every position is cursed with the exception of a few. What really drove me to drive this review was some pure idiocy that took place in my last year, my brother's teacher (4th) had to take about 7 more students under her belt, and the principal was refusing to hire a new teacher, it sounded like a madhouse, which it was. While I wanted to take action, I knew I wouldn't get anywhere because as many have pointed out, the principals don't want to communicate with anyone. To finish this up, about 3 months after school got out, I was informed of a rumor that someone in the staff (ironically my favorite teacher) confronted the principal about her choice to have 36 students in a class, she yelled at him to get out with her only defense being that at her old school, she had 36 kids and could handle them all. Her old school district was Detroit, the district with the lowest test grades in the state. And that about sums up the entirety of NHA, destined to be the next Detroit schools.