A true hidden gem for the community! We found this school for our daughter three years ago and…read morechanged our lives forever! She is flourishing where in public schools was left out and behind. I vouch for this school and, if you're struggling finding the right place for your child, give them a try! Don't just submit the application when you apply - go and meet the people, do a "shadow day", and engage.

This school is doing the Lords work. I am so thankful and…read moregrateful to have my son be enrolled at New Way Academy. The entire staff is phenomenal from The teachers all way down to the security guard. Most importantly my son loves it. He said so the other day when I picked him up from school. He said that he is so happy that he gets to go to New Way Academy because it's the best school that he's ever been to. We haven't had one bad experience since we've been here. GOD bless New Way Academy.

My sons have attended LIFE for nearly five years, and I cannot say enough positive things about the…read morestaff and program. The therapists, teachers, and instructional assistants are deeply committed to supporting children with disabilities, and it is clear that my boys are genuinely cared for and valued each day they are at LIFE. The ABA program is exceptional and has far exceeded our experiences with previous programs. Many of LIFE's leaders are Board Certified Behavior Analysts, and a significant number of staff members are Registered Behavior Technicians, which speaks to the quality, expertise, and integrity of the program. I wholeheartedly recommend LIFE to any family seeking a supportive, professional, and compassionate environment for children with intellectual disabilities.

My son, who is 10, level 3 non verbal autistic hasn't even been attending this school for a year…read moreyet and has made so much progress. He is even interacting with his peers and learning how to take turns and play. When I seen and heard this I wanted to cry. He smiles every day while walking to class, and tells me "go play" on his aac device, which he refused to use for me, until he started going here. I have yet to get a call saying I need to come get him because he wet through his clothes, I get to see pictures of all the fun activities they do, and his teacher let's me know if she finds new things he likes so I can get them for home. I have heard so many people say they have been on the waiting list for years, and I am just so happy that he got in within 9 months. It was definitely worth the wait, and also very worth the drive, we come from Florence.

It about time that a special needs school advocate was on yelp with a review!! Great job there and…read moreI have referred Christina to other parents with special needs children so they don't have to face that dreaded IEP alone with the TEACHERS staring down and trying to intimidate you. Thank you for being there, -Rosalee

Christina was so incredibly helpful with our families unique situation. She helped me to understand…read morehow the AZ Charter school system works and how to navigate the paperwork required to get our child the services he needed. Her experience as a teacher was paramount because she so obviously understood what was needed to reach our specific goals. She was so respectful and considerate in all of her communication and recommendations (and quick to respond always). I really felt like she came from a place of compassion and understanding and never a place of judgement. Beyond helping with the school situation, she spent time with our family to offer ideas and methods to help us with the behavior issues we were seeing at home. I really appreciated the graceful manner in which she integrated into our family dynamic - so that she could really see what was happening and offer realistic and helpful advice. Her services provided me with a sense that I have the emotional tools to be the best parent possible for our child. I'd recommend her in a heartbeat to any parent needing any advocacy help.

This is a great school, it can be challenging for some students though. It helps to recognize your…read morechild's strengths, academically before enrolling. This school does a great job about covering all bases of academics but gears more towards math and science. If your child is more of an arts and literature student, this is not the school for them. That doesn't mean your child isn't smart or adequate enough for this school but why put them through the misery of attending a school where they don't enjoy learning? There are plenty of parents who have more than one child and may one have one or two enrolled at BASIS and the other(s) enrolled elsewhere. I love the LET teachers assigned in the lower levels, they really do a great job in assisting the kids in succeeding and the teachers and the deans are all great and caring towards the kids. This school is very anti-bullying which is another plus for this parent.

The fun Fridays aren't fun as they used too be but other than that, it's a good schoolread more

As a kid I went there for two years the first year was good the teachers were fine but the second…read moreyear went downhill it was unprofessional we had no history or PE and they played inappropriate music infront a a bunch of small kids also the kids were getting held back from going home and was getting screamed at for talking a little and ms Kris was the most unprofessional principal I've known. I felt very non supportive I was forced to do things like take off my hoddie when I was struggling and a lot of stuff so if you want your child going there it's not the best place for one BECUASE bullying teachers a ton of stuff

I went to both the Gilbert campus and the Peoria campus. The Gilbert campus was the best of the two…read morekind staff, respectful, understanding, and supportive. Peoria was the complete opposite the IBI (aces version of detention) at Peoria was let's say abusive. The staff in there scream in people's faces, make you stand at a wall and not talk or look at anything or anyone for extended periods of time. When the staff at Peoria aces got mad they would slam doors, slam keyboards on desks, and yell. Gilbert aces was amazing, no slamming doors from staff. The occasional raising of voice to get attention but thats it. I don't recommend Peoria aces at all. All of this information is coming from a previous Austin Centers student.

My child went there and I regret it so much, these people act like they are running a scared…read morestraight program. My child was given a packet to fill out after that was completed he was told to copy the dictionary the remainder of the day. They can't have phones on them the teacher also slammed my child's phone causing it to break and also get in their face like they are drill sergeants. I find this school beyond unacceptable. Purposely intimidating kids to get a reaction from them and yelling in their face is so unacceptable and uncalled for. DO NOT LET YOUR CHILD/CHILDREN go here I promise you they will be traumatized !

This school has been a life changer for my grandson. He is thriving and loves going to school. The…read moreprincipal and staff truly care about these students. I wish it could be open year round!! Thank you for all you do for these children.

If you have child that is high functioning child that can get overwhelmed easily from having high…read moredemands and needs structure and patience to flourish, stay away from this place. The teachers are overwhelmed and don't have enough support to handle high demand ASD kids especially ones that require outside the box thinking specialist and ones that require unique curriculum to help them grow. The school forced my daughter to do lower grade academics and then tried to say that I wasn't happy with her academic achievement! She received 100% in her Language Arts 3rd grade 4th quarter and they still insisted that she wasn't ready for 4th grade due to behaviors. Since the start of the school year, my daughter struggled with the high demand that was being placed on her to fit into their programs and she was purposely placed in lower academic curriculum due to her behavior and I tried to constantly advocate that the behaviors were due to boredom but no one would listen to me. I was told that until my daughter started following directions and behaviors improve, her academic would stay the same. I just recently had my daughter's IQ tested and it came back top 5%. She tested into 5th grade reading and 7th grade spelling; her math was behind because the school refused to teach her grade level math telling me initially that she was behind and then they said oh we are too ahead in the curriculum and we can't have her join the 3rd grade class then they wanted me to get her caught up during the summer if she wanted to be in 4th grade. The owner (Victoria) just doesn't really care about your children. Your child is just $$$$ to her. She just wants the money and wouldn't care if your child succeeded or not. They have also had such a huge turn over with their staff and I am not surprised at all. The only reason I tried this place was cause of the so called "great reviews". I usually don't like to place reviews, but I just had to share since so many people recommend this school! I would be very careful with placing my child here.

We discovered Gateway this year. Upon our "trial day" my son greeted me with both fists in the airs…read moreexclaiming, "Finally, we found a great school!" and he was right. After 2 years in the Chandler school district, my son had deteriorated by every measurable standard. The second year I ended up needing to pull him out and homeschool him while he went to therapy to deal with the stress that was seemingly caused on purpose by the staff at the public school. My son had done well generally in a public school setting before moving to Arizona, but the local school here had teachers unaware or unwilling to meet the needs of a high functioning, never aggressive autistic child. Gateway's amazing teachers, therapy programs, and constant communication with the parents allowed my son to recover and begin to thrive. It is no wonder the school received the highest level of accreditation. I have an hour and a half commute (one way), but that is a small price to pay to have my child begin to work independently, to become comfortable around others, to learn to self-advocate for his needs, and to learn to self-regulate. When I asked my son this year why he loves Gateway he said, "Because I just be myself." If you have an autistic child, you know what that meant to me. He can now focus on the business of learning because he is not panicked and overwhelmed by the class itself. The staff are professional, knowledgable, and genuinely care about each child. They create groups of students with similar abilities so the group to work together. They foster independence, confidence, and teach the child how to manage their autism. They empower each student with successful experts in all walks of life on the spectrum, and bring therapy to the group where the teachers can model and encourage what is learned throughout the week. No more driving from one therapist and then another--the school creates a holistic approach to the child's life. The horse therapy has been the best addition to my boy's regimen. He has discovered a passion for animals and now has new friends in the neighborhood because of that passion. But one of the most important gifts has been to learn from the modeling of the staff and the other students how I can do better at meeting my child's needs. When you are surrounded by other high functioning children on the spectrum, it is easy to see the attributes that common among children on the spectrum and I have become a lot more patient with my working with him. I consider this school a godsend for our family. Thank you Robin, Max, and Matt. You have changed our family for the better.

Note: I wrote this in the past and am posting it now) ---- I am a past student that attended…read moreGateway academy for one year , and god! I would not recommend you go here if you or your child is gifted or at least grade level. You ask for harder work, and are dismissed by teachers that wish they could actually teach you more, but as per the dictators policy (Mrs. Robin) they can't give me actual challenges. I have had 2 tests maybe, and I'm more than halfway through the year. To add to this, these tests were the easiest tests I've ever taken in my life! Do not send your child here! Also, here's a list that I took at the begining of the year (when I still had hopes of leaving) which doesn't include a lot of the new stuff. Here's a summary of the information because the school would probably kick me out (not that I would mind) Version to my parents My classes this year aren't challenging me or giving me the resources I need to learn. In math, we're a month behind because the online curriculum still isn't fixed, and we're stuck reviewing topics I mastered in sixth grade. Science work is so easy and drawn-out that deadlines mean nothing, and tests are recycled to the point where grades don't reflect real understanding. Language class is almost entirely Duolingo, which doesn't teach grammar or real communication skills, and even "enrichment" work takes weeks for something I could finish in days. History is just fill-in-the-blank notes and shallow projects instead of meaningful, in-depth learning like I had before. I'm not being pushed to grow, and staying here is holding me back academically. Version for administration In math, we are already a month behind because the Savaas curriculum still isn't fixed, despite my teacher contacting Mr. Anthony 1-2 weeks ago. My teacher wasn't given proper resources and had to reuse slides from a previous school, so the pace is slow. We've spent over a week reviewing order of operations and negative numbers, which I mastered in sixth grade. In science, deadlines are stretched far beyond what's needed--two weeks to take notes that should take 2-3 days, and tests are meaningless because, after taking them, we just redo the same questions for credit. Even when I ask for harder work, I'm told I still have to do the same easy assignments, which wastes time. Language class is almost entirely Duolingo, which doesn't teach grammar or sentence structure, and enrichment work is stretched over three weeks for tasks I could finish in days. History is mostly fill-in-the-blank notes and shallow projects, like spending a week on domestication with no deeper exploration, compared to last year when I created in-depth presentations on world history topics. I'm not being challenged, my time is being wasted, and staying here will hold me back academically.