• Valerie Weeks has no degree in Gifted Education.

              She simply has a bachelor's degree in Art Education.




  • The Paige Academy-ECAP (ECAP Academy), is not accredited.

              This fact really only becomes important for the older children since Val now plans to
             teach through Fifth Grade.  If you have an older child (7+), I would suggest checking
             with the school you plan to transfer to later to make sure the they will accept your child
             at their appropriate grade level.

             Kansas requires school attendance for children ages 7 through 18, and sometimes
             younger if the child has a disability.   But Kansas does permit children to be educated
             in non-accredited private schools, if these schools can document that they have
             competent instructors and provide class time that is equivalent to the 186 days of
             public schooling.

                      View Kansas Non-accredited Private School Requirements.

                      Check Kansas curriculum standards.


  • The "entrance testing" required for attendance to Valerie Weeks'
    program, for which, she charges hundreds of dollars, is not
    recognized by any other educational institution as evidence of
    "giftedness".

              If you are looking to have your child tested for giftedness, I would recommend paying
             the money to a psychologist instead and doing your research on the "Weeks-Gould
             School Readiness Test" and the "Bracken-R (basic preschool concepts test)".   


  • Valerie Weeks has held numerous jobs in her recent past (Wichita
    Friends, Rainbows, etc.), one of which, she left in the middle of the
    school year (The Academy For Accelerated Studies in Oct. 2007).


  • Valerie Weeks has used parents of children attending her school to
    acquire loans for thousands of dollars.  She is now declaring
    bankruptcy (case# 09-11711) for the second time so that she can rid
    herself of those and other financial obligations.


  • Valerie Weeks changed the name of her school from "ECAP
    Academy" to "The Paige Academy - ECAP" to avoid the negative
    reputation she had earned.


  • You cannot deduct "donations" to her school on your taxes
    because it's a for-profit business.



              BBB Records now show that Peggy Thorpe, of USD 259, is the school's Founder.

              Interestingly enough, Val is still listed as the Founder on her own school website.



              However, ECAP Academy was first opened on November 27, 2007.