Former Achievement First parents share their experiences

What Zero Tolerance Looks Like: A Parent Perspective

May Taliaferrow explains how Achievement First's zero tolerance policy negatively impacts children, including her son. May was the President of the Parent Leadership Committee (AF's version of a PTO) at an AF school in NY for 4 years.

More than Strict: AF's Use of Behavior Modification

After struggling to effect changes to the discipline methods used at Achievement First Endeavor where her 5th grader attended, an engaged parent learns from AF's founder/CEO that AF schools use a behavior modification model. It was the first she had heard of it.

Parent Engagement at AF: A Lesson in Demoralization

May Taliaferrow served as President of Achievement First Endeavor's Parent Leadership Council (AF's version of a PTO) for 4 years, 2006-2010. During that time she and other parents were held captive in a vicious cycle of promises made, then broken, by the school's leadership. She explains that parents were disrespected and made to feel that the school could parent their children better than them.

Broken Promises: AF Endeavor's NYC DOE Report Cards

Parent Leslie-Anne Byfield reacts to Achievement First Endeavor's poor results on the NYC Department of Education's Report Cards in 2010. Because AF claimed they were better than traditional school districts, she explains, this "no excuses" charter school should have...no excuses.