
Students, Families, & Staff
Avalon really gave me the tools to be a productive adult, advocate for myself and take learning into my own hands. When I was going through middle school I really struggled with public schooling, so when I made the move to Avalon I learned how to excel at what I do best and use project management skills to my advantage in my future.
We absolutely love Avalon and it has been a wonderful experience for my kiddo. They love the teachers and interesting topics they get to learn about, we both love the wonderful support they receive for their special education needs, they appreciate the inclusive culture of the whole school and have a great group of friends, and they have enjoyed engaging in extra curricular activities such as after school credit make up, ultimate frisbee, and robotics.
Avalon has been committed to student empowerment by giving students a choice of how they learn. Some students learn best in a classroom, and some learn best working on an independent project. Avalon gives students that choice. Avalon advisors also empowers students by going by their first name. This puts students and advisors on a more equal level, so students can see advisors as part of their community instead of someone who simply has authority over them.
It has given our child the chance to be “seen” and to make mistakes in a smaller environment.
Our son has finally become invested in his own learning... it's incredible!
Helpful with accommodating and being supportive of needs that I would not have been able to succeed without. Avalon was willing to accommodate me in ways that allowed me to succeed and have an equal education when I otherwise would not.
I mostly appreciate that my student is so loved and supported by many wonderful teachers/staff there. It feels like home for her. And that she is given the opportunity to follow her interests and get credit for it.
The inclusivity, the overall approach to learning, the staff is incredible.. I could go on and on.
To this day I think Avalon contributed more positively to my life than any other single institution, educational or otherwise. I arrived there in a pretty rough place, had more or less given up on education and I don't think I really believed I'd even graduate high school. Four years later I graduated - I had rediscovered my love of learning. Avalon rekindled my intellectual curiosity, bolstered my confidence, and helped me remember that I cared about the world and wanted to at least try to make it a slightly less crumby place. Avalon was borderline life-saving for me; words can't express how much I love and appreciate the place.
Avalon empowered me to be a creative problem solver, and to take charge of my own learning. Having to seek out and work with outside experts on my senior project was excellent practice going into college and forced me to get out of my bubble.
10/10 would go to high school there again.
The small size allows for a lot of personal connection with and support from staff and for our son to have developed a solid group of friends, which he didn't have in his old school. I like the way academics are explored and how students are encouraged to think for themselves and take responsibility for their own learning to a good extent. The school feels like a real community, involving families in the school culture.
I love the SPED services, the project-based learning is awesome, I love how invested the teachers are, and the diversity of the community
Avalon encourages students who are committed to learning to meet and exceed their goals. For example, I graduated with almost 50 credits at the end of my senior year. I frequently exceeded my goals on the time I spent working on my learning through projects.
I was given a tremendous amount of freedom and flexibility, both in organizing my time during the day, and in pursuing the core standards in the way I found most interesting. As a student, I was treated as though I was capable of being independent and making my own decisions
