My son attends Athena. He really struggled in the local public school that did not cater to his…read morelearning needs. We have seen a huge improvement in our son since attending Athena. He is more confident and has developed a love of reading. The teachers are first class and devoted to the children. There is a strong emotional / social learning component. The school recently received WASC accreditation which is a testament to the quality of the school. And the Head of School and administrative staff are excellent. I highly recommend the school.

Our child did not learn to read a single word during her time at this school. She entered at age…read moresix and left a full school year later, at age seven. Now, her public school is so concerned about the extent of her reading difficulties that they have immediately placed her in an intensive reading intervention program five days a week. How does this happen at a school whose stated purpose is to support children with learning differences? Dyslexia is prominently featured in the school's tagline and even on its signage, yet dyslexia is fundamentally a reading-based learning difference. How could a child spend an entire year at a school claiming this area of expertise and leave without having learned to read? We chose Athena because it presents itself as a school uniquely equipped to understand and support exceptional and twice-exceptional children. Unfortunately, our experience ultimately left me questioning the depth of that expertise when a child's needs become genuinely complex. The gross mishandling of a difficult situation involving three girls--and what I experienced as a profound lack of understanding of the dynamics involved--was unacceptable. But even more concerning was how Avery's exceptionality was handled when her emotional and regulatory needs became more challenging. At one point, when staff were struggling with Avery's needs, the proposed solution was that we pack more food for her. Far more troubling was a conversation I had with Athena's full-time social-emotional learning specialist. She asked me what Avery's favorite treat was. Not understanding where the conversation was going, I told her Ghirardelli caramel chocolate squares. I was then instructed to bring a large bag of them to school so staff could use chocolate when Avery's emotions became too intense. I was stunned. I immediately emailed the relevant staff and suggested that rather than teaching a six-year-old to turn toward junk food when difficult emotions arise, perhaps we could help her regulate through movement--something as simple as getting her body moving or having a dance party. And that is the part I want prospective parents to understand: this wasn't really about chocolate. It was about the thinking behind the intervention. Children with complex nervous systems need adults who are curious about what their behavior is communicating. They need help identifying emotions, tolerating distress, regulating their bodies, and developing skills that will serve them throughout their lives. Using a highly rewarding food to interrupt difficult emotions struck me as completely at odds with what I believed we were paying a school specializing in exceptional children to provide. Over time, I developed an increasingly troubling impression: Athena appeared far better equipped to celebrate exceptionality when it was interesting, gifted, creative, or relatively easy to accommodate than to understand it when it became messy, emotionally intense, or genuinely difficult. But that is precisely when expertise matters most. I want to be fair: there were people at Athena who genuinely cared about Avery, and I remain grateful for the kindness and affection she received from individuals who connected with her. There were positive experiences, and I won't erase them simply because our overall experience ended so disappointingly. But if you are considering Athena specifically because your child is twice-exceptional, neurodivergent, emotionally intense, or requires sophisticated social-emotional support, I would encourage you to ask extremely detailed questions. Don't just ask how Athena celebrates exceptional children. Ask what happens when your exceptional child is dysregulated. Ask what interventions are actually used. Ask what training the people implementing those interventions have. Ask how the school handles complicated peer dynamics. And most importantly, ask what happens when your child's exceptionality stops being easy. For our family, the gap between the school we believed we were choosing and what we experienced when our daughter truly needed its expertise became impossible to overlook. A school built around exceptional children shouldn't merely welcome their exceptionality. It should know what to do with it.

We have seen the progress on our son Michael since he started 2 years ago with Ascent Autism. He…read morelove his group and facilitator. He always look forward to Wednesday evening meeting.

Ascent Autism has been an excellent group-based therapy experience for our son. He has participated…read morein weekly sessions for approximately two years alongside his peers and his Peer Group Facilitator, Mikaela Tran. Before joining Ascent Autism, our son struggled with basic social interactions, and it has been incredibly heartening to see the steady progress he has made. In the beginning, getting him to attend and engage sometimes felt like a chore. Now, he genuinely looks forward to his sessions and to catching up with his friends. Ms. Tran is an excellent facilitator. We greatly appreciate the support and guidance she provides, as well as the thoughtful recaps she shares after his sessions. It has been wonderful to see our son grow more comfortable and confident socially through his time with Ascent Autism.

Backup repost from 11 months ago…read more "I'm giving four stars because I do not think the issues and censorship I experienced are an atypical response from a school. When I tried to bring light to bad deeds, I was suspended and threatened with expulsion. I never encountered physical violence. Bad deeds included severe emotional abuses, motivated by sexism, from older staff here. This and sex-based victim blaming - resembling misogynistic patterns - contributed significantly to suicidal my thoughts. Dehumanization was added through transphobia. Newer staff were less problematic than integrated ones, suggesting the administration's leadership is a source of problems. Last time I interacted, the administration did their best to manipulate the image to feign their innocence at all costs. These issues are adult topics, which adolescents like me ideally would not face; my experiences occurred about one year ago, and while I have learned to better describe them, I am not mature enough to understand the issue's whole systemic contexts."

As the parents of two high schoolers that could not be any more different, we have a deep…read moreappreciation and respect for the value of Palo Alto Prep (PA Prep) and their amazing educational staff. While one child has thrived in a traditional high school, our eldest did not. They are an amazing creative thinker but also challenged with the headwinds of a variety of learning and related social challenges. While they also handled middle school well, even thrived academically, to say that traditional high school was a train wreck is an understatement. We needed help as a family and PA Prep was there. Thankfully we discovered PA Prep through our engagement with the The Bodin Education Group (also highly recommended). After a careful evaluation of options (Bodin know them all!) and engagement with the team at PA Prep we could see that our son would benefit immensely from all that PA Prep is, and all that it offers to students like them. Is it perfect, absolutely not. But the positives for a student/young adult like our son far far FAR outweigh any minor drawbacks. The great: 1. Incredibly intimate teacher/staff/student relationships. You want your child to be known and know their school staff, they will. The ability to cater and focus on what works for your student is incredible. 2. Incredibly capable and proficient teachers who know how to work with students for whom regular school isn't a good fit. 3. Patience, understand and flexibility. Need to take a "break" road trip with your student on a moments notice? PA Prep understands and accommodates with complete understanding. 4. Diversity of classes and programs to engage an out of the box learner. From art, outdoors to flight training. Just because it's small doesn't limit the exposure of options for your student, lots to offer including independent project programs to nurture student led initiative. The realities (not bad but worthy of mention): 1. It is small, and high school is high school, no matter where you attend. This can sometimes magnify any typical social dynamics. The staff is incredibly attuned to this, but you also should be as a parent. It is important to recognize this is still high school and immediately addressing issues is critical, the staff is exceptional at partnering on this. 2. There is a diverse population of students with a diverse set of backgrounds and needs. With this comes the realities of all their experiences, lives and challenges. Your student will be exposed to this, as they would in any high school, it isn't a fully sheltered and manicured but it is absolutely safe. It is incredibly important to stay aware of this as a parent. I will ensure you the staff is very experience and aware also, together this can help any student navigate the realities of high school life safely and holistically. 3. Passion, intent and caring are the hallmarks of PA Prep staff and teachers. Organization and "manicured administration" perhaps not so much the strong suit. Do not go in expecting perfection in communication, organization or logistics. I promise this is ok, and everything is handled with the best of outcomes for the students. If you are used to the polish of a "elite" private/public high school you will notice a difference here. My strongest advice for a successful PA Prep tenure is to invest in your parental (and student) relationships with staff, they are both open and available. This will help your student, and family, easily manage what is lacking in any size, scale, capabilities on this less critical administrative front. In closing: We loved PA Prep, we could not imagine our son achieving high school success without it. For the right student this IS the right place. Attend one graduation ceremony and that is all it takes to see how different, special and wonderful Palo Alto Preparatory School is for its staff, students and families!

I know this school is built for people with learning disabilities and ASD, but I feel like the…read morestudents here don't reach their full potential. This is not necessarily the faculty's fault, but I think the curriculum here is way too slow and dumbed down for students. My daughter struggled in this school because it was too slow for her, and she was way ahead of her classmates despite having ASD. The accommodations were great, but I believe the school didn't provide my daughter education she actually learned. She would come home and talk about how much she played on an iPad or a device, which is just unacceptable. Why are kids playing video games in class? This is school, they need to be learning different subjects. My kid talked about how their classmates were playing mobile games on their iPads that they brought to school. I think this school can be better if they focused more on pushing kids beyond what is expected, because if we keep holding our children's hands throughout life because they have autism, it invalidates that people with ASD are actually extremely capable of succeeding. I pulled my daughter out of this school, and I believe it was the best decision. She is now an undergraduate and researcher at the University of California, and I notice that no one from Hope Technology school attends the University of California, nor do any of the staff members graduate from there.

Out son had a wonderful experience at HTS that helped prepare him for public high school…read more Incredibly dedicated staff.

We worked with Lauren for our 5-year-old who had always struggled with "big feelings" but suddenly…read morehad an aggressive behavioral change. We were walking on eggshells, bracing for violent outbursts, and had run out of strategies (books, podcasts, and Instagram posts could only take us so far!). We contacted Lauren as a referral from our pediatrician and she came within a couple of days. She was direct, honest, flexible, and honored our personal constraints. Within an hour, she had connected with our kiddo and reset the tone for our family. We committed to Lauren's approach. Over the course of several weeks, we saw dramatic improvements in behavior and breakthrough moments that brought tears to my eyes--calming his body, being kind to his little brother, and demonstrating patience. We not only regained control of our household, we learned how to be much more positive and resilient parents. As we reflected back, we spent the prior year+ losing our sh** and thinking that was normal (it probably is "normal"). Lauren was the intervention we didn't realize existed. We are now more equipped, in a way that is customized and works for our very special child. Thank you Lauren!!

Lauren truly is an exceptional behavioral consultant. I can't recommend her enough!…read more She has the ability to strike just the right balance of cool aunt and drill sergeant while working with children. She's so good at what she does that she's able to get the behavioral changes needed while maintaining a positive relationship. Not to mention the children walk away feeling really good about themselves. When speaking with children she truly humanizes their experiences and makes it so relatable for them. She has been instrumental in working with our school and has provided guidance and strategies for the school that are both novel and impactful. This has made a remarkable difference. Finally, she has been immensely helpful in teaching me how to manage behavior at home.

From day 1 to several years later, Helios has been a wonderful & warm community for the whole…read morefamily. A place where our kids are loved and encouraged to grow. Not once did our kids want to skip school, and this is from someone who used to dread Mondays. We have easily toured 50+ elementary and middle schools up and down the Bay Area over the years...public, private, charter, prestigious, tech-forward, venture-backed, STEM-focused, etc. We felt the most at home at Helios. On my first visit to Helios I was blown away at how naturally close the kids were and told myself I want my kids to be part of that, because I was a bit of outcast growing up. For me the #1 thing about a school is whether the kids are loved. It's not just about the programs, reputation, resources, and growth - although Helios does very well in all these areas now and keeps getting better. Placement of students into a high school that is right for them is particularly impressive. So many memorable teachers at Helios have blessed our kids and encouraged their natural interests in animals, spelling, flag football, rock climbing, etc. Our somewhat shy but gifted kids really have blossomed, and for that we are tremendously thankful to the entire Helios community of teachers, staff, leadership, and parent volunteers.

Helios is this warm fuzzy school, where the teachers work their butts off to figure out how to help…read moreeach kid learn and be happy, with excellent academics too (somehow, without the stress). Is it perfect? Nah. But on the things that matter -- SEL, academics, community, teachers, etc -- it's pretty wonderful. I like organization, so here goes: * Academics: Exceptional (without the pressure!). Literacy and math are both leveled. For math, kids are grouped by skill level rather than age -- so my little 2nd grader trots off to the 7th grade class for math. He is finally happy in math! Literacy is broken into different literacy circles, with differentiation with it. * Learning approach: Helios approaches education with a focus on projects and themes. Each grade band focuses on a theme, which gets integrated into history and science. At the end of each semester, they do a "Celebration of Learning" (like a portfolio). I was super impressed by what they'd done. I had one kid who went through our local public school for kinder and now our other kid is at Helios kinder. The difference in depth is remarkable. * SEL: Helios uses the Six Seconds curriculum now. This is a formal class, as well as integrated into other parts of the curriculum. Every time I walk into the classroom, I can see the lessons being applied. It's legit. * Community: Tight-knit, nice community. Supportive. There is NO showing off about how smart your kids are (I've seen this in some gifted communities). On the contrary, parents are quite open about their kids' challenges. * The kids: Kind, with a diversity of personalities: quirky, sporty, social, shy, etc. I've never heard of bullying. When I've heard of kids being mean, it's been minor one-offs and taken very seriously [but empathetically] by teachers / administration. * Teachers/administration: this is one of the most amazing things. We've been elsewhere. In some schools, it's "here is how we work; hope that works for your kid." If you're lucky, you get a school where there's a little flexibility to accommodate your kid. Helios is the first place I've seen where the first tier question is, "what does he/she need? Let's figure out how to do that." There are so many examples I can cite of teachers going way out of their way to help my kiddos. * Campus: it doesn't look too flashy. It's big enough and the kids like it, but it's not like Nueva's. But it does have some pretty awesome things. The wilderness village, for example, is amazing. It's like this outdoor field/wooded area where kids can use tools to build stuff (like Berkeley's Adventure Playground). If that sounds neat (it is!), it's actually so much more. It's an all year thing, and that fundamentally changes the dynamic. What's happening is that they're developing almost like their own little civilization. They vote on rules, have self-assigned jobs (my son's is to make paint from grass and strip sticks), and are recently introducing a currency system. Perfect? Of course not. There are some minor things I'd change. But it's pretty darn great. The issues some other reviews allude to are over now. Yes, there were some administrative issues a few years ago -- I watched it from the outside - that led to a lot of chaos and negative things. Then the toxic aspects that caused the issues left (key people, etc) or were fixed (training, etc). And it led to many positives, like removing roadblocks for Helios to revamp its literacy and SEL program, bringing in a more effective head of school, etc. It's an unfortunate chapter from the past that Helios has now, truly, left behind. Now? It's this awesome school which really, truly cares about its kids -- backed by great academics, legit SEL, a supportive community, and lots of cool activities.

Our family had a great experience at Children's Pre-School Center (CPSC) for 3+ years. The teachers…read morewere experienced and caring, creating a supportive, play-based environment where our kids thrived. Having gone through multiple classrooms from infancy to preschool age, we loved each of them. Our kids were always excited for school and often came home surprising us with something interesting they learned from school. They loved and created very strong bonds with their teachers. We appreciated the sense of community at CPSC, and we are grateful for the connections we made along the way, both with other families as well as the amazing teachers and staff here.

Choosing daycare for our son was a big decision for us, as this was our first experience as parents…read moreneeding to find care outside of our home. We wanted to find a place where he would not only be safe and cared for, but also loved, supported, and given opportunities to grow--and we truly feel like we found that at CPSC. We are beyond grateful for the incredible teaching team, especially Karina, Blanca, and Kim. They are AMAZING teachers who go above and beyond every day. What makes them so special is the genuine care and connection they have built with our son. They take the time to understand him, support his individual needs, and celebrate his growth. We can see how much they truly care about him, and that means everything to us as parents. One thing that has stood out to us is the attention to detail and communication from his teachers. They take the time to share photos and detailed updates about his day, letting us know what he's been doing, what activities he participated in, and the moments they've been able to capture. As working parents, being able to see these little glimpses of his day means so much to us. The check-ins during drop-off and pick-up are also incredibly reassuring and show how intentional they are about keeping us involved and informed. The classroom ratios are wonderful, which gives us peace of mind knowing our son is receiving the attention and support he needs. The large play yard and the amount of outdoor time the children get is another huge plus. Our son absolutely loves being outside, exploring, playing, and staying active, and we love that CPSC provides so many opportunities for that. Since starting at CPSC, we have seen such a positive change and growth in our son. He has become more confident, more social, and has developed new skills that we know are a result of the love, patience, and guidance he receives from his teachers and the entire admin team. We are so thankful for everyone at CPSC who has welcomed our family and made this transition such a positive experience. Finding the right daycare can feel overwhelming, but knowing our son is in such caring and capable hands gives us so much comfort. Thank you, CPSC, Karina, Blanca, Kim, and the entire admin team, for everything you do!

We've had a wonderful experience with the Stratford Washington campus preschool program. Teacher…read moreSupriya and Teacher Richa are incredibly patient, caring, and supportive, and they create a warm and positive environment for the kids. We also really appreciate Ms. Connie and Ms. Grace, the Mandarin after-school preschool teachers. They are kind, engaging, and very responsible, and they make learning Mandarin fun for the children. Overall, we are very grateful for all the teachers' dedication, kindness, and care!

Our 4-year-old daughter absolutely loves her Mandarin class at Stratford Washington, thanks to Ms…read more Grace and Ms. Connie. It's not just about learning Chinese--they really bring in the cultural side too, which makes it so much more meaningful and fun. You can tell they genuinely care about each student and their growth. It honestly makes me so happy to see my daughter enjoy learning the language at such an early age.

We cannot say enough good things about the community at Woodland School. From the moment we began…read morethe admissions process, we felt like more than just another application. The Admissions Director, Melanie, is truly exceptional. She went above and beyond to support our family, showing incredible flexibility and genuine care throughout the process. Beyond the administration, the school itself is impressive. We fell in love with the beautiful, sprawling outdoor campus--it's such a rare and refreshing environment for kids to learn in. One of the most striking things we noticed was how confident and articulate the students are; their comfort with public speaking is clearly a testament to the school's curriculum. We also spent a lot of time admiring the Maker Lab, which is easily one of the best we've seen. While our family's personal circumstances shifted and we couldn't enroll this year, Woodland remains at the top of our list for any family looking for a balanced, high-achieving, and supportive environment

Absolutely terrible terrible school. If I could give it 0 I would. The years I spent here were the…read moreworst in my entire life. None of the teachers want to be here they are all underpaid and regularly complain about their salary. While I was there I would consistently hear teachers say "I can't answer that that's above my pay grade" or joke about how they can't afford to pay for anything. Many of them were just bullies and put no effort into teaching us. The teachers also have no control over the students with classes being so hectic that lesson plans would get put on pause. If you are a smart student you won't be challenged here, if your a student with learning disabilities you will get NO support. The campus is laughably small and unclean. The buildings are in horrible condition with middle schoolers learning in portable classrooms. In my opinion it kind of feels like they just added the middle school on in the 80's to make more money. The food is horrible but the kids are even worse.

We had an outstanding experience with Lauren. Our daughter saw Lauren for over a year before we…read moremoved out of the area and she progressed immensely in that time frame. She's now reading! Lauren was able to really connect with her, adapt to her needs and make learning fun, which made going to sessions easy for everyone.

Lauren is fantastic! After observing her with a shared client, I hired her to work with my own son…read more She amazes me with her ability to keep him engaged and learning. My son typically has great difficulty with online instruction but Lauren connected with him instantly and motivates him to try. She understands there's not one perfect curriculum for a complex learner like my son, so she integrates many strategies. highly reccomend!