Best school I have ever worked for. - Teacher Tempe Preparatory Academy Employee Review

TPA has an excellent student and faculty community. The standards are high and the accountability is the best I have seen for the K-12 level.

The pay is the biggest drawback, especially for the number of teachers with advanced degrees teaching there.

The school is small, so it's a close knit community of teachers and students. The idea of the school is quite good.

The school went down hill every year I was there. Huge turnover in teachers and headmaster. Unlike a public school, there are no raises. The salary you start at, is the salary you leave at 10 years later. Not even an inflation adjustment. No pension (it's a charter school) and almost no contributions to a retirement account. Each year the school has had to lower their teaching standards so as to keep kids. They say they have a 100% graduation rate, but that's not true. 100 kids might start in 9th grade, but only 60 graduate. The other 40 transfer to other schools. So yes, 100% of those remaining graduate, but loads of kids transfer out. Also, as there is no union, and you are an at-will employee, you can be fired any time, on any day, for any reason, or no reason.