Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls

Posted: December 13, 2025

School is terrible at keeping parents informed on what is going on in the class. Under staffing leaves them not able to meet the students needs. Principal is unwilling to keep promises made in one on one meetings.

Posted: December 13, 2025

Posted: December 13, 2025

Posted: December 13, 2025

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Posted: December 12, 2025

1. What to Expect (Teaching at Cardinal Character Academy at Wendell Falls)

•Significant Instability:
There is high turnover among both teaching staff and administrative personnel (around 9 principals since Cardinal Charter Academy at Wendell Falls opened in August 2020), which creates an unstable learning and working environment.

•Hostile and Punitive Scrutiny (The "Gotcha" Culture):
Administration, specifically the Dean of Curriculum (Sidney Lemus-Del Cid) and the current Principal (Brittany Sandora), maintains a culture of aggressive and frequent scrutiny. Communication often feels designed to document minor infractions rather than provide supportive coaching (even though it is specifically mentioned that the micromanaging coaching is meant to assist & support).

•Inflexible and Unilateral Directives:
Feedback is delivered as non-negotiable, documented directives (e.g., specific time-stamped warnings about email use during class). Management operates with a belief they are always correct, showing no openness to dialogue or alternative suggestions from teaching staff.

•Fear and Bullying:
The constant, documented nature of the feedback induces a climate of fear and can be experienced as workplace bullying. Teachers feel they must prioritize avoiding minor procedural errors.

•Lack of Resources:
The combination of high student-to-teacher ratios and frequent staff turnover limits the ability to provide consistent support and resources to students.

2. Advice to Management:
•Focus on teacher retention by building a culture of trust and support.
•Shift the administrative focus from punitive documentation to professional development and resource provision.

3. Cons Summary
•Instability, Hostile Work Environment, Punitive Correction, Inflexible, Bullying / Culture of Fear, and Lack of Resources

4. Pros Summary
•The field of teaching is admirable & altruistic, do not let Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) take advantage of this!

5. Final Thoughts
•If you are looking for a teaching position, do your research. Ironically despite that the organization is certified as a "Great Place to Work", this company values monetary gains (how many students are enrolled and test scores) over the people and planet.

Posted: December 12, 2025

Posted: December 12, 2025

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Posted: November 7, 2025

You are lucky to get anyone on the phone. The teachers do not communicate their concerns about grades. The principal is EXTREMELY rude, dismissive, and neglectful in her approach. She is unwilling to help children that have special needs. It is sad how quickly many families have pulled their children out of Cardinal due to Sandoras lack of empathy and care. She needs to be replaced as principal, maybe then the school will be able to keep teachers and students for more than 3 months at a time.

Posted: November 7, 2025

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Posted: November 7, 2025

Posted: May 24, 2025

The middle school is extremely small the 5-6 classrooms are legitimately cut in half the kids never have enough room to even do their work the pat yard is extremely small the kids are extremely neglected and don’t know how to act and when any problems are sent to the teacher they just brush it off

Posted: May 24, 2025

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Posted: May 15, 2025

One of the worst school I have ever sent my child too!!!. The administration is unprofessional and the teachers leave left and right!!! The school under performs in every subject!!!. I should have done better research before sending my child there. The principal is unprofessional and rude which is an understatement!!. Not only do the children bully with no consequences but the staff does as well!!. The school hasn’t had an academic growth in two years and majority of the kids can’t pass basic standardized testing!!! And they are teaching below grade level proficiency and I believe it is intentional!!! I should have seen the red flags because non of the neighborhood kids actually attended this school they have to bus the kids in from other areas!!!. This school definitely needs to be shut down immediately because it is not beneficial to the students nor parents in any capacity. Please parents do not send your children here unless you are willing to invest in a therapist and a tutor!!!.

Posted: May 15, 2025

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Posted: June 5, 2024

My child has been here for two years. She has grown tremendously this last year. This school has thrived under new leadership for the 2023-2024 school year.

Posted: June 5, 2024

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Posted: April 14, 2024

The school is undergoing a positive transformation thanks to Principal Sandora and her leadership team. It takes time to turn a ship around, but I truly believe that this team has the best interest of the kids in mind with every decision that needs to be made. The staff members truly care about the students, and many of them go above and beyond their job descriptions to make sure they are giving their very best to every kid. Cardinal has its challenges, like every other school does these days, but you will not find a more caring group of educators that are sincerely trying to make each day better than the last for each and every student.

Posted: April 14, 2024

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Posted: April 7, 2024

Principal Sandora and her team are making a major cultural and academic impact at this school. The focus on exceptional, high yield teaching strategies and increased communication with families is notable. The school is experiencing a renaissance and fresh start.

Posted: April 7, 2024

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Posted: March 3, 2024

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Posted: March 3, 2024

Posted: March 3, 2024

Posted: March 3, 2024

I gave it two stars only because my son had an awesome kindergarten year. 1st grade has been a disaster. This school had so much promise, but sadly it didn’t deliver. The communication is the most awful thing I’ve ever experienced. The turnover is ridiculously high. Teachers, principal’s and other staff do not stay for some reason, I do not know why. I feel like my child is not learning and is not being taught. We are transferring to public school, where at least the staff stay and have been there for a while.

Posted: January 16, 2024

This is, without a doubt, the worst run school I have seen both as a parent and as an educator. I feel bad for ever sending my kids to this school and genuinely hope they do not hold it against me later in life. I am not being facetious, my daughter's learning disability went unnoticed even after we brought it to the teachers' attention on several occasions. The bullying is next level, even some of the teachers bully the students. Do not send your kids here, unless you have no other possible choice.

Posted: January 16, 2024

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Posted: November 3, 2023

Posted: November 3, 2023

Posted: November 3, 2023

Posted: November 3, 2023

Posted: November 3, 2023

Posted: November 3, 2023

My daughter attended this school from 1st to 3rd grade. The school has slowly been declining since they opened their doors. They just hired a new principal this year and I think she is really trying to turn the school around; however, with the lack of teachers, I decided not to stick around to find out!

They thought it would be a great idea to combine a total of 6 classes (4th and 5th graders) and assign 3-teachers and at the beginning of the school year. One of those teachers left, so they were left with only 2-teachers for all those students. One of which was brand new to teaching this year. I honestly believe it wasn't their choice to do this but because they do not have enough teachers for the classes, they were forced to combine. There is a LOT of turnover at this school, from the principals to the teachers. I am not sure if it is because of the upper management, pay or both; however, it is a major problem.

If your child is performing at or above grade level, don't expect too much attention for them from the staff. They tend to focus on the children that really need interventions so they do not have the ability to focus on the others. My daughter was bored so she never paid attention in class. She was "passing" so they didn't do anything about it. When I asked them why her grades were so low, I was told she should be evaluated for an IEP or a 504 plan. This was suggested by many of the staff members there. At the same time, I was looking to get her into a private school. Those private schools required an exam to be accepted. At both schools she scored above grade level on the exams for math and reading. That was the proof that my daughter did not need a plan but rather the school didn't have the resources to challenge her. This made me wonder how many children are they doing this to? Do they just throw an IEP / 504 at every student that needs to be challenged? When I had asked her teacher about it directly, she told me she didn't need one of those plans but that she needed to be challenged. That was when I made the decision to leave the school.

I do believe that the teachers they do have really care about the children. They just do not have the ability to teach the way they should.

I wanted to share this experience because it may not be a good fit if your child needs a lot of attention or a challenge. I would not recommend this school - Stay at your local public school or ideally go private.

Posted: November 3, 2023