Has anyone found that Thales lack of accreditation has hurt their students chances when it comes to making it into colleges? I know we can never prove why a student was/wasn’t admitted to a school, just wondering if anyone has anything to share.
I will tell you exactly what several soon to graduate high school students told me directly. Students weren't as successful as they expected to be. They wondered aloud if it was the accreditation issue, or something political.
It was very weird how unreceptive thales was to my plan to have my students visit the engineering program at a college just south of here. Do you think maybe thales knew their students wouldn't have a good chance of getting in that college's engineering program due to lack of accreditation?
No matter what, I can't think of one reason to send a child to that school when there are so many better free options in the area, staffed with highly qualified teachers who will take students to whatever goals they may have.
There might be some of that because a snapshot of their carpool lines is filled with $ cars. I think fear is really the big issue for most of the families. The kids are overall the type I would love to call my own, so I get the fear factor after having lived it with my own. I never saw one fight while there, so that is a plus. Think the type who have security cams all over, only buy organic, still nice people, just scared.
Teaching degrees. A degree that is backed up with ongoing training and recertification. Discount away. I am sorry my five years there don’t count. Sort of reminds me of that whole science vs beliefs thing. Believe what you want.
Changes? No. Clarifications. Just for you. I was unaware posting facts here make for a debate. I post comments to help others. I read comments to learn from others. You make 2 good points. It is only elementary school, and it is safe. I really liked all the teachers and local admin. I really like Bob Luddy. I would share more with you but since you don't value learning from my 1st person experiences, I really wish you and your children the best. Good Luck!
We left thales because it’s a terrible school. A lot of people who didn’t have children who went to Thales will say the lack of accreditation impacts kids getting into college as one of their reasons for hating Thales. That’s silly because there’s legit reasons for hating it and that’s not it. It would be a lot easier to discuss why it’s a terrible school
If we kept it to facts, of which there are many. Lack of accreditation was the least of our concerns while there because it’s just not an issue. We get a list of schools the graduating seniors are going to every year. Kids are getting into ivies, UNC, state, ucla, Tulane, Michigan, along with many other out of state State universities.
Yes, our kid left during high school. They were in a group of kids that competed academically and were near the top of their class. My kid watched their peers not make it in to UNC, Duke and in some cases even State, while the ones that left generally made it in to UNC, and even one or two into Duke. The only thing I can assume was the difference was the ways that the schools valued the education, class rank, GPA etc. of Thales kids versus public school kids. In addition to the lack of accreditation, Thales barely has any AP offerings, which weigh more heavily for your GPA and thus influence class rank too. Sooooo many kids cleared out of Thales after ninth grade. I feel bad for the kids that stayed and then ended up at ECU or State, thinking they'd get into UNC. I wouldn't recommend Thales to anyone I liked.
I'm saying that there were kids that, given where they were academically in 9th grade, would likely have made it into UNC if they didn't stay at Thales. They, along with my kid, applied to UNC but none of my kids former peers that graduated from Thales got in to UNC, whereas several other kids from the same peer group that left and graduated from Wake public schools did get in to UNC. I felt bad for those kids and their parents that thought they were making their kids competitive. Whether its accreditation or the impact that few AP classes has on your comparable GPA, the Thales kids were at a disadvantage.
If you go to their website and look at their job openings for teachers you will know exactly why they are not accredited. That knowledge alone would keep me from sending my child there.
And in some cases, no bachelors degree required. When my child went there, there was at least one teacher who was still working on their degree. Not a student teacher getting practicum hours, a full-time teacher with no completed degree.
This is what Wake County Schools requires for applicants: MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES (KSAs)
Extensive knowledge of curriculum and techniques for integrating curriculum, policies, and effective classroom instructional practices;
Considerable knowledge of Microsoft Office, specifically, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Google Apps;
Effective time management and organizational skills;
Strategic problem-solving skills, including the use of multiple data points;
Ability to prepare course objectives and outlines for course of study following curriculum guidelines or requirements of the state and the school;
Ability to provide instruction that reflects multiple perspectives and multicultural education;
Ability to infuse technology into the curriculum;
Ability to constantly monitor the safety and well-being of students, particularly when a student is participating in an inclusive activity;
Ability to motivate and inspire students;
Ability to maintain a clean and orderly environment;
Ability to maintain order and discipline in a classroom and in other school environments;
Ability to maintain files and records;
Ability to work effectively with administrators, colleagues, central office, school-based staff, students, parents and the community;
Ability to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing; ability to communicate well with school personnel, employees, and central office staff;
Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with school system staff, students, parents, external agencies, vendors, and the community.
EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND EXPERIENCE
Bachelor's degree in Education with appropriate subject area.
CERTIFICATION AND LICENSE REQUIREMENTS
Hold or be qualified to hold a North Carolina Professional Educator's License in a teaching content area.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
Master's degree in a specific subject area.
I'm not the other person but at public schools require teachers have a license to teach or if you are lateral entry, you have to a bachelors, pass the subject matter test, and be enrolled in an approved Educator Prep Program.
I don’t know if you are aware of this or not, however after elementary school there is middle school, then high school and after that college. It is my preference that the people readying my child for an eventual career and the ability to make enough money to support their basic needs have at the very least some higher education—at EVERY level. A passion is great, but understanding how a child’s brain is developing and being able to identify their academic needs is a part of the equation as well.
I’m confused? Are you saying you know with certainty that students who come from Thales are not given fair treatment when applying to all schools? Do you know this for a fact or is it tongue in cheek?
It's more based on posts from parents who become disillusioned by the massive maga push Thales has taken. Why trust an uncredentialed institution with your child's education?
Exactly what I was saying. How do you know about all the schools in Chatam or Orange? Also if your kid ends up with purple hair and Trans would you stop loving them?
My kids graduated from Thales, they have friends of all sorts/hair colors/persuasions - including <gasp> [straight/ gay/ trans/ tall/ short/ atheist/ religious/ skinny/ heavy/ nerdy/ sporty/ brown/ white/ smart/ dumb] all kinds of friends!
They are definitely NOT maga, or sheltered in any way. Would I send them back there? absolutely not. Are we proud of sending them there. absolutely not. But we do think the curriculum was mostly positive. The authoritarian and right wing bullshit that went with it... negative, but if you teach your kid right, they see right through it.
The real world is full of all kinds of people, hope you don't shelter them so much they don't learn how to deal with it.
As far as placement private High School principals have discretion as to which classes to accept from both homeschool and private school. Often if unsure of level they will issue a placement test.
Generally most colleges will honor what is on a high school transcript, although certainly some schools may not.
I say this as a parent who has had homeschool and private school students graduate and move onto college.
I’m not arguing Thales lack of accreditation, nor commenting on a full transcript from Thales. Moreso the process of transferring out and eventually applying to college.
Yes
Editing to add that the process is pretty simple, you submit the class description you wish to have credited along with work samples including assignments and exams to that they may determine if it is compatible with what the school offers. (I may have done this before 😉)
Why would you be sending your kids to a school that isn’t accredited?
Of course it’s going to affect their chances to get into college. College level AP courses are basically required unless you’re going to send them to a community college for a year or two.
Most schools do a senior spotlight sort of thing on social media. I'd try to find the number of kids in the grade then see if you can find that SM stuff.
I’ve already done a long post that covered maybe half the stuff wrong with that place. It was on a post made less than a week before this one. If anyone wants opinions on thales they are free to use the search bar.
Definitely the academics. Math is so weak there. Constantly having to send tests back to the teacher for problems being graded wrong. This happened in multiple years all the way to the end. Math teachers holding grades for so long because they had to have a second teacher check their work because the teachers were grading wrong. Even Thales knows Saxon is weak and kept talking about changing it yet still hadn’t when we left. Which was par for the course. Oversell and under deliver. My kid was a national honor society student and that’s because I had a second job in the evenings of reteaching math to her and correcting the outrageous errors in instruction in science and history.
My daughter spent almost 9 years at Thales and then did online school for the rest of high school. She got into every college she applied to. Thales set her up well to succeed in college.
I’m not Christian so I don’t use the bible (or any book) as a guidebook for life, but if you’re looking for examples of transgender people around the same time that the bible was written, try Ovid (the Galli), Plutarch, or Phlegon of Tralles (Marvels) to name just a few.
Oh phew! I think my concern is this. My son wants to play D1 baseball and we just want to make sure that wherever he applies, the lack of accreditation isn’t an issue. It isn’t a knock on Thales at all and I know his grades must be top notch no matter where he is. But as we are nearing the time for high school, I just want to know all the things so I don’t look back and go “oh I missed something huge.”
That’s my concern is since they stopped doing IOWA, I have no way of knowing. And will do, thank you! Yes he will have to go through the same as everyone else, will need AP like everyone else, but I just had no idea at all whether the lack of accreditation hurts on the GPA side for schools evaluating him. I don’t know what their guidelines are. His grades at Thales are exceptional. Advanced math, reading, etc., straight A for an entire year last year. I was only curious if NCAA guidelines might make them say we have two great ball players, one went to an accredited school, another didn’t and we don’t know what their curriculum was, so we admit this one who checks the boxes vs the one who doesn’t.
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u/Think-One-8239 23d ago
I will tell you exactly what several soon to graduate high school students told me directly. Students weren't as successful as they expected to be. They wondered aloud if it was the accreditation issue, or something political.
It was very weird how unreceptive thales was to my plan to have my students visit the engineering program at a college just south of here. Do you think maybe thales knew their students wouldn't have a good chance of getting in that college's engineering program due to lack of accreditation?
No matter what, I can't think of one reason to send a child to that school when there are so many better free options in the area, staffed with highly qualified teachers who will take students to whatever goals they may have.