Review: Lancaster Christian Academy

[Conerned Parent]

This school was a major disappointment. The administration really needs to get their act together before they damage any more students. I witnessed on several occasions teachers being "chewed out" in front of their students. Our children are suffering because of the lack of organization and communication coming from the so called "principals."

[Happy Parent]

I have been a parent of a child at LCA for nine years. I have witnessed the administration giving total support to their teachers. All of the teachers I know feel like the staff and administration are "family." My child tested years above the national average. Many of his friends have tested well also. They are not suffering in the least.

[LancasterRumors]

I too have heard of "disputes" among administrators that were juvenile to say the least. I don't know any names, but there are some issues there based on what I've heard.

[Think about it]

No school is perfect, and there are some POSITIVE aspects to LCA! Most of the time my child spent there was good, but there were some problems. Before my child started there, a friend told me to stay away but I didn't listen. She pulled her child out because of a particular incident where her child was called a "liar" by an administrator. I didn't give that much thought, but a few years later something very similar happened to us. Many students in one particular class were coming home with the same comments about things a particular teacher had done and said. The things we were told were concerning and if we hadn't at least asked a few questions, it would have been just irresponsible on our part. We went to the school to have (what we perceived as) a mature, rational discussion with administrators.(Yes, we started by trying to talk to the teacher, but the teacher was not available.) There was no name calling, no shouting, no threats, etc. We just had some legitimate concerns about how some things were being handled and wanted to know that we could come to them if we had concerns. Our children were very afraid of "retribution" and we assured them that this would be a civilized discussion. We also made it known to the administration that we did not want our kids targeted or punished because we came in with concerns. We were assured that they in no way would be punished for talking to us about anything that was going on at the school. But, the next day they said their class was "called out" by a particular administrator and that she specifically said that they were "lying" to their parents in hopes of getting a teacher in trouble. From that day forward, my child and many of her friends asked to go to public school.(Where they had always begged us to not send them prior to this!) I believe about half of my child's class did not return this year and some that did return did so against their will. After that, I felt that I should never ask any questions or say anything. The only 2 choices seemed to be go along with everything or leave, so we chose to leave. My child also told me of several incidents where students overheard teachers "bad mouthing" the administration. It seems that some of the teachers don't have much respect for the administration and vice versa.

[Truthful Review]

I know the above review was not truthful, as I am an employee at LCA. The principals and teachers talk frequently about the importance of honesty when dealing with peers, teachers, parents, etc. I know administrators did not talk to a class as a result of a parent conference. Every principal and teacher I have worked with are extremely professional. Most teachers and administrators are very good friends and are together after school and weekends! The staff is very much like family. Every class but one has a waiting list, and the school continues to grow! I work with many students every day, and they love LCA!

[Wish Id known]

All of this about the administration and students falling behind in their academics is so true. We pulled our son out after two years and he was so far behind we had to keep him back a year. About 5 kids from his class alone left the school. Very inexperienced teachers and the admin interest is not on academics, its on how much money can we make and how many sports teams can we get started. Very sad.

[The Truth]

Lancaster is a school that has zero leadership or vision. The leaders of the school keep rumors about teachers and staff started most of the time and keep them in unnecessary meetings on a daily basis. They call teachers names in meetings and accuse them of different things falsely. It is a terrible work environment as witnessed by 53 employees who have resigned in the last 4 years. The turnover is awful with the employees with a brand new staff every year. One teacher quit after one day of the madness at LCA. A business manager who was very experienced and had great ideas left the school after three weeks; secretaries have walked off the job, maintenance personnel have left because of being treated poorly. The students in the end pay for it and they also know something is wrong. A lot of the students have walked away to public and other private schools in the area because of the total lack of leadership.

[LCA Coaches]

I am friends with most of the ex coaching staff at LCA. It's a terrible thing that happened at LCA this year. First their football coach Ray Greene has a fine year and wins his conference in football going 10-0. Ray had a great season and team and I think that he was looking forward to building a great program for years to come IF the administration would have let him, I think Ray became frustrated looked for other jobs and left.
Then comes the basketball season, what a great season a team that wins the conference championship and wins 33 games in a year. Over the last few years we have seen a great progression in this program. Coach O'Neal has done a tremendous job with the program and has got it to a high level very quickly. After Coach O'Neal wins the championship, does he get ready for next season and tell the guys about the summer? No, he quits the next week mysteriously after a meeting with the Lancasters and has started another program. This just does not make sense. Two fine coaches entering the prime of their careers gone from a school that says it is committed to excellence. I think they are committed to something, but it is not excellence. Two excellent coaches have moved on and I will root both of them on in their new ventures. Shame on you Lancaster for letting two excellent coaches go.

[lives in tn]

My daughter HAD attended there. Some of the staff are very strange people. One teacher who seemed very enthusiastic about drama assured me that my daughter would never see a penis while at that school... What a very odd thing to bring up during a casual conversation at a school event! There are some children there who have some very psychotic issues. I'm sure their parents place them in that school believing it will be a safe place for them but those children bring their problems to school and then drag other students into their troubled lives. Also, there are some students there because no other schools will accept them because of behavior issues.

[SO Glad we DID NOT do it]

We had home schooled for several years and my child wanted to go back to regular school. I have a friend whose child went to LCA at the time. Our children were close so we checked into Lancaster. My child and I had an "interview" with the principal. I felt like I was in the twilight zone! My child and I talked to the principal for over an hour. I didn't get much information about the school, the curriculum, the values or the mission of LCA. The principal would not even give a direct answer to any question. When we got back in the car after the "interview", I looked at my child and said that we had just spent the past hour with Willie Wonka and we were not going to attend a school that was run like the chocolate factory. My friend's child spent one more year there after that and it was pure torture for them. They are now going to another school. I am SO GLAD that we DID NOT go any further than the "interview"!

[a PREVIOUS students POV]

i attended LCA for two years. what a terrible two years of my life. my first year, our teacher quit near the end of the school year after many complaints from my class. people chanted "the witch is dead!" aren't teachers supposed to be nurturing and if they leave, students are sad? on previous encounters, during our gym class, we ran a mile around the park, right across from the school. some students were incapable of running that much, and threw up. we were yelled at to keep going. i would understand this if we were on some team, but gym class? very unprofessional. expecially when a regular teacher is teaching a physical education class.
the next year we were moved into a church building. it was fine at first, we knew we were going to be in a new gym by january. how untrue that was. we ate on the floor, because the cafeteria tables were grosser than the floor. we were cramped, and rushed to our next class. no, not because we wanted to be there, but we had to sit on the floor, because desks weren't supplied for everyone. the place was dirty, i've personally seen cockroaches, and ants were there too. A teacher called us good for nothing, account to nothing, and when my mother came in to discuss it, they wouldn't have it. i even recorded this teacher yelling at us, just so i had some proof to tell my mother of these terrible things. he kept us late in class and we had to be silent. tests and quizzes were easy because we all just sat on a couch, discussing our answers, and why we them. our teachers didn't even care. in my second year there, one of my teachers called me out for missing her class so much. i was going to a funeral.
during my second year i was moved up to an advanced class with a few of my other classmates. i got an 87 for my grade in that class. going to a new year school, i was put in the same advanced class, and had to be moved back to a remedial class. currently, i'm failing that too. two important years of my school life was corrupt, and is now affecting my intellect these next years. thanks LCA, for nothing.

[lives in tn]

When my daughter was there, they endlessly rehearsed a musical show. The act required the little girls to wear summer clothes and swim suits. At that time, my daughter was healing from an injury and had multiple healing abrasions and scrapes on her legs.
One month after that playground injury, I was called to the school and told by the Lancaster administration that my daughter had a disease on her legs, and they were worried the other kids would catch it. I thought they were joking. They had stood her in the lobby with her skirt pulled up to show the abrasions. These non- medical people all decided she was contagious and ordered her home. Statements from my pediatrician were treated like lies. I was very angry. This occurred after the first dress rehearsal of the show.
My daughter did not perform in that show. I believe the admin. did not want "UGLY" legs in the show. Another student who was injured in the same incident as my daughter, was not sent home nor taken out of the show. That girl's injuries were on her tummy and thus not noticeable.
Of course, things were not good after that. The teacher involved in the removal decision, from that point on, didn't call on my daughter in class and even skipped passed her when calling on all kids in the room for answers.
My daughter and I were told 2 weeks before the end of term that they couldn't teach her anything else and I didn't need to enroll her any more. They said they would give her credit for the remaining school days and had my daughter's things packed up.
It was as if we were 'fired' for disagreeing with the boss.
When I had her enrolled in the next school, she was far behind but with extra help, including help from an ex Lancaster teacher , she caught up and is doing well.
My daughter continues to play with her friends still attending Lancaster. Those kids' knowledge of history and science is deplorable. My daughter may be attending an 'inferior' public school now but at least she has a knowledge of world events, history and basic science.

[More truth]

Without a vision the people perish. Leadership is very, very weak at LCA. My son attended Lancaster a few years ago and had two wonderful coaches in Coach O'Neal and Coach Greene. He loved them both and still keeps in touch with Coach O'Neal on a regular basis. My family was lied to on several occasions about situations that would happen and never did. The school has major problems with communication to the parents and a very weak principal. When my son left he went to a public school and struggled for a bit, but after help and tutoring he now is caught up. I would ask to see the standardized testing and who the children are competing against. It is definately not the average American child. Please read the warnings, don't waste your money, go to Ezell, Middle Tennessee Christian, or even the public schools- they are better than LCA. Terrible school, had a great athletic program, two of the best coaches in the state left, and now will have a sub par athletic program. Sorry begats sorry.

[Former Parent]

My son and daughter went to LCA until two years ago. We took our children out after being lied to on several occasions and the general chaos of the school. We were friends with teachers and the horror stories about the leadership we heard were unbelievable, but after talking to our kids we knew that everything we were told was true.

Our children went to a local public school and while they were testing out fine at LCA with A's and B's, they struggled at the public school with C's and D's. If the LCA education were free it would be too much. The curriculum is very weak and the teachers (most of them) are not certified nor have much experience. The leadership is awful, they won't listen and they do not value people. They use people to advance their own personal agenda.

It's really sad. LCA could be a great place to go to school, but it is a terrible place for your children because they teach them how to accept mediocrity and expect the bare minimum from your son or daughter. Please read the warnings from the messages above. It is a bad school, getting worse.

[former students_ parent]

Happy Parent wrote:

I have been a parent of a child at LCA for nine years. I have witnessed the administration giving total support to their teachers. All of the teachers I know feel like the staff and administration are "family." My child tested years above the national average. Many of his friends have tested well also. They are not suffering in the least.

** Who tested your child?? LCA or an independent educator? My neighbor's child tested very well at LCA also, but now she is far behind as she is trying to start high school. She had college prep in mind but must go through several basic classes first to get her at a good 9th grade level. She could read like a 9th grader but only had the knowledge and the background of early middle school.. The classes are dumbed down at LCA. The school lies to parents to give them the impression that their child is way above average, to encourage re-enrollment.
My son had been diagnosed with learning disabilities at Vandy. However, he had no problems keeping up with his classmates at LCA He wasn't struggling because the work was so simple and 2 grades behind the public school material. Very sad and a very expensive waste of a school.

[Former Student]

I am an former student who went to LCA high for one year. I met my boyfriend there which has been good for me, but not much else happened that was good for me. I am a softball player and was told all year there would be a softball team, but when the time comes to field a team, no softball. Another lie in the midst of lies. I am back at Lavergne High now because I was getting nothing from LCA in education, athletics, or even socially. Gossip is the norm at LCA with Teachers and students. I love Lavergne High but have to stay away from the crap here. LCA was overall a terrible experience for me.

[Parent from the past]

Wow, I did not know there were so many people like my family and the experience we had at Lancaster. My son, who is now in public school, went to Lancaster for a couple of years. We were promised so much that was never delivered on. This time of the the year at LCA is a time that they start rehearsing for LAMP, which is an end of the year acting production. They take many, many hours out of the classroom and practice this play. Even when the students go to class, so many of their classmates are missing because they take certain students out to practice, that the teacher can't have class and most watch a movie and do nothing educationally. My child has struggled to catch back up with the public school, which is amazing to me because he was testing two years above average.
THis is a school that should be investigated by their accrediting agency, the state, and other educational organizations. I have never been as uncomfortable as I was talking one day with the owner and one of the principles at the school. If you spend any time with the leadership of the school, you will understand what is wrong with the school.
My son is happier and healthier away from LCA.

[LCA Truths]

I go to church in Smyrna with an ex office worker that was heavily connected to the Lancasters with family that attended LCA. There were several members of their family in LCA for one year and they left after all the craziness they were put through. So disorganized, so much lying, so many rumors, no leadership, no experience = the LCA way. Please don't waste your money because that is exactly what it is with LCA. I asked her if she would ever send her kids back to LCA and her answer was "for no amount of money would we ever go back to LCA". Many people have sacrificed to send their kids to LCA for a year or two and have found out the hard way it was a waste.

[Didnt Go To LCA]

I went to LCA for an interview with the Principal. I have two elementary aged boys and have had some family connections into LCA. I went in on an interview and listened to the Principal talk for about twenty minutes- I finally cut him off and told him that this was not the school for my sons. In the twenty minutes of talking with him I could not tell you anything about LCA, but I know enough about leadership to know that it is not a place I want my sons at. You can't dismiss leadership.

[Another LCA Interview]

It is funny to read some of the things that have happened in interviews at LCA...funny but sad.
I am also one of the interviews, this happened to me and my son three years ago. We sat down with Mr. Lancaster and began our interview process. It began nice enough, but Mr. Lancaster began going on a subject of the trashy people of Lavergne and how all the people in recreation leagues including their leaders and coaches were trash and terrible people. He went on and on about the filth of the city and how he could not believe how anyone would send their child to such terrible people for leadership. My son and I sat there with smiles on our faces. I told him that I was a coach in the rec league in Lavergne and my son was a player and we were some of the trash from Lavergne. I would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER let my son go to LCA.