The opportunity gap continues to widen in the U.S. education setting due to the ever-growing diversification of student populations resulting in part from increasing numbers of BIPOC students in schools. Meanwhile, most educators continue to be White middle-class females. In this study, fourth- and fifth-grade students at a K-8 charter school were given a two-part identical survey asking them to rate their educational experience on a 4-point Likert scale. The first set of statements measured challenging academic experiences, and the second set measured pacifying academic experiences. The goal of this study was to gather student perceptions by gender, grade level, and race or ethnicity of a school's culture and climate that challenge students to succeed academically or pacify students into academic failure. The foundations of multicultural education, culturally responsive teaching, culturally relevant pedagogy, and culturally sustaining pedagogy informed the survey, with the goal being to provide clear, culturally responsive educational strategies and tools for educators to utilize. The findings revealed that grade level played a significant role in how students perceived their learning experiences. Additionally, female students were more likely to experience challenging experiences than their male counterparts, and White and Black students were more likely to identify pacification than their Hispanic peers. This data could assist in creating an academic framework promoting challenging school culture and climate versus academically pacifying characteristics. The significance of this research beyond this study is to minimize the opportunity gap and the cultural disconnect that occurs within schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]