My child has attended Clon Lara for four years. This has been a very good experience. My son came to Clon Lara as a 9th grader. At the time he was experiencing a lack of motivation due to the death of a his father. He came into the school with a bit of an attitude about school. Initially, He was not motivated to apply himself. I did not understand the concept of Clon lara when I enrolled him, but after trusting my son and trusting Clon Lara, I am happy to say that he is graduating and has achieved more than I could have dreamed from his public school experience. Clon Lara is a blessing. It took more than the first year for me to truly understand the concept. Seeing the results of a balanced, motivated, confident young man who is working and ready to attend college, is what came out of this student led learning environment. read more

As a parent, I would not recommend this school. My special needs child attended for elementary school and they promised me a specialized program. In fact, they used it as a selling point. I did not get a special program, nor did other parents who were also promised the same. Some of those parents, were even asked for more tuition money once the school year started to "accommodate" their child. They nickle and dime you for every little thing and, unfortunately, you don't see the return on the money you are paying. Many updates/upkeep to the school have been through donations of time and money by parental volunteers. It appears, with low class sizes this school struggles to pay staff and maintain the building leaving no additional funds for necessary supplies and the professionals services which many of these children obviously need. The authoritarian way the school is ran ensures things are kept quiet. If you do speak up, prepare to have your child pay the price. It happens. read more

As a family that transitioned from Clonlara's homeschool program to its campus-based day school, we could not be more pleased with our experience. Unlike some other recent reviews, our engagement with the administration and teaching staff has been open and cooperative. While our son does have a learning disability, he is gifted in several areas, and both the administration and teachers could not have worked harder to address his academic strengths and weaknesses. That said, the prior criticisms that this is a "special needs school" are unfair and unfounded, as the school does not purport to provide special services: it does not advertise itself as having a child pyschologist or speech pathologist on staff, but it does provide the flexibility for outside professionals to visit the school and work with individual students. Instead, it emphasizes unique and customized programs, which are not necessarily remedial, but often complements the gifted children's interests and talents. When we went on a recent field trip, we were delighted by how courteous and well-behaved the Clonlara students were to those inside and outside the school community. We were able to see this in comparison to other school groups at the same site, where mutual respect and care clearly were not valued as they are by the Clonlara community. On several occasions, we have seen other families welcomed and warmly received, with parents and grandparents coming to participate and celebrate children's achievements and special events. This is indicative of the transparency that we have experienced from our first meeting with the head of school when we were considering our options for where our son would attend after several years of homeschooling. There has been an honest and ongoing conversation. Potential disciplinary scenarios were discussed with the teacher ahead of time, which allowed us as the parents to have a say in what would constitute a just and appropriate response if our son were to misbehave. There is an active and intentional mentoring program at the school, in which the older students take on and nurture the younger students. This already has been very beneficial to our son. For us, Clonlara has been all we could have asked for in a warm, caring and academically engaging context. In many ways, Clonlara has exceeded our expectations. read more

My son transitioned from homeschooling to Clonlara at 14, where he continued to blossom at his own rate. His very creative, outgoing personality was nurtured there. The staff there is great. They help students explore their passions, as well as learn the core subjects, in creative ways. It is a safe place to be yourself. read more