My son is in his second year at La Casa, and we plan to enroll our daughter when she is old enough…read more The building is clean and beautiful, and the teachers are communicative and caring. They respond promptly to text and email, and post pictures weekly on the closed FB group. I know that as soon as my son steps into the classroom, he will be treated with dignity and kindness. He loves all his teachers and gets so excited to see them - he even wanted to invite them to his birthday party! La Casa does a great job of following the Montessori methods, and I have been impressed by what my son has been learning (and is excited to learn!) - at 3, he is teaching Spanish to US! He has become quite and eager helper at home, too. La Casa is excellent at working with parents on potty training, and is much more flexible than most schools at working with the parents of kids with special needs to make sure they are learning to their full potential. Probably what I love the most is how active the kids are every day. They go for walks and to the park nearly every day, usually twice a day. When the weather isn't cooperating, they play "pelotas" and games inside, and they have Zumba at least once (if not two or three times!) per week, which my son LOVES. They also have options for yoga and additional directed art on top of the regular classroom art (and this all starts at age 2!). The only reason I would not give La Casa 5 stars yet is there is still room to improve in terms of administration. They would benefit from FT rather than PT administrative staff, as the organization can be a bit lacking at times. As a parent, you need to be a bit persistent to get all the information you need at the beginning - but at least the staff is very responsive. My son and our family have made some wonderful friends through this school, and we would recommend it to other families looking for a flexible, full-day, reasonably-priced, Spanish immersion school starting at age 15 months.

Best most loving teachers and great classes! We've been at this school for 3+ years. The lessons…read moreand classes are diverse and so rich. Art, yoga, field trips, science for the older kids! I can't say enough about the loving teachers and staff. They're true family.

** Amazing Staff ** ** Above and Beyond Service **…read more** Great Selection ** Schultz Supply's customer service and sales team is second to none. They will match, top or find whatever you need. Special thanks to Joanne and her team!

I am so confused with the poor reviews! Helping Hand Center has been so instrumental in the…read moredevelopment of my son, who was diagnosed with Autism. He attends their school for autism. My son has flourished in their environment. We have seen such improvement in his day-to-day, behavior, and speech. The staff truly care about the children and are so attentive and thorough. They are the best of the best! HHC has open communication with teachers and staff, constant feedback and reviews on our sons goals and progress, and 1:1 assistance/teaching aides. My son loves being there! We are so thankful for the quality of care they provide. Would not know what to do if we didn't have HHC! They are family.

Hi - my daughter has been have ST and OT services at Helping Hands for about 3 years now - every…read moreMonday. The clinicians we've had have been top notch -- and my daughter has had consistent progression. She enjoys going to Helping Hands -- also, Carol Boyke is always very nice. Also, the clinicians are so passionate about what they do. Thank you everyone for what you do every day! Donna K.

CANNOT BELIEVE THIS PLACE CLOSED DOWN. I had the BEST memories here. Yes, it was a small school but…read morethat is what made it great. I am still BEST friends with the girls I became friends with in first grade. This place needs to come back.

Never went to school here, but I attend church here while I was living with my grandmother in the…read moreearly 1950s. There are lots of great memories here, but I haven't gone to the school because because they did not have Special Education School for the mentally retarded. I DO NOT like Archbishop Cupich, because he is a weird asshole, of closing down every single catholic church in Chicago! He is one big ass DUMMY who think he is Dick Biondi, by his Get Rich Scheme, and wants to be the richest archbishop throughout in the whole entire Chicagoland area.

Unity of Oak Park is a fantastic congregation whose service I have attended for 25+ years. Reverend…read moreEv is very inspirational and delivers loving and thought provoking lessons on how to improve your life and life in peace and harmony. It is a very active church with activities and events for all ages. The block party they hosted was so much fun....music, dancing, food, games prizes and loving, friendly people. Our world and society needs fellowship, friendship and a feeling of belonging and Unity of Oak Park is just that kind of place. Bring some friends to the 10:00 Sunday services with coffee and snacks following. I drive 45 minutes to get there and spend the day in Oak Park enjoying the arts, food, shopping and even visit Brookfield Zoo or the Frank Lloyd Wright studio for a day of pure faith and pleasure.

I come to Unity of Oak Park because my family is welcomed with love and not with judgement…read more This amazing spiritual community invites you to show up as you are, supports you without reservation, and is grateful that you bring your gifts to share with all.

Britten has transformed my kid's entire attitude about school! He's happier, calmer, and much more…read moreready to learn. After endless struggles with a traditional school environment, we're so grateful to have found such a great fit for him.

During my time in this school my life was a living hell as a person of color and with multiple…read moreconditions. The staff do not give a fuck about your accommodations and in-fact aren't certified. They treated me and others horribly and especially if you have conditions that hinder your communication skills as when I was struggling so much with selective and autism. They would yell at me, take away my only resource to communicate. Not to mention I was being bullied for my skin color and they favored the kids who BULLIED me. THEY LIE AT YOU IN TOUR.

I would like to explain the experience of being here at Acacia Academy. In Acacia Academy, I've…read moreexperienced difficulty with learning while dealing with PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, and ADHD mostly. While being here, I've struggled even more. The classes with these two specific teachers have made it even more difficult for me to learn and to work. The teachers will follow me to the bathroom due to the fact I've cried in the bathroom multiple times and it has been a '"concern" to the staff members. I would also like to mention that I've gotten panic attacks in the bathroom too-because of my PTSD, and also feeling like I am not good enough for anyone in this school (staff members, teachers, and students.) It has really made me uncomfortable from the fact that the administrator has instructed the teachers to follow me to the bathroom to monitor for me crying, panicking, or talking badly about myself even when I had stopped now. I would also like to mention that the administrator assumes that every problem with a student is either stress, or anxiety. There was a time when I was on the bathroom floor from having a panic attack and I felt weak, I've told the social worker that I had a PTSD flashback, yet they had put me in a room with an administrator to just eat my lunch and apparently "give me time" is what the social worker said and put me back in class. I understand that social workers have to talk to other kids in school, but what makes these "social workers" think that putting me back in class was a fine thing to do? Every time that I've talked to these "social workers," and discuss about how this school has made my mental state worse, yet they encourage me to keep going to this school. I've never felt more disgusted, hatred, and anger in my life from how a "social worker" would convince me that it is required to keep going here while my mental state is getting worse day by day while coming to this school. Keep in mind, I am really struggling with suicidal thoughts right now at the moment and I have to do an online hospitalization program. The teachers continue to stack up on work, while knowing that I will not be able to do some of these assignments at home because I have to do an online hospitalization program. I've never felt more pressured in my life than ever when wanting to have good grades, to get my work done, while I feel that the teachers and staff have absolutely NO awareness about the fact that I won't be able to have enough time to turn in all these assignments on time because of my online hospitalization program. Dealing with my mental health and education is absolutely exhausting, but yet-the teachers continue to give me stacks of work while I'm having to do the online hospitalization program at the same time. I've tried talking to the social workers here, but I've noticed that social workers tend to go straight to the negatives when it comes to certain talks, but never find the positivity in things that could happen if I made changes for coming to this school. Another thing is that a social worker was hoping for me to go to a partial hospitalization program *in-person*, but I told her that I was doing it *online* and she gave me a disappointed look and said, "I was hoping you would go in-person." I felt that it was completely unnecessary that she had to give a comment like that for the choices my parents make to try to help me. The social workers will always tell you, "I'm glad you came today!" Sure! You're glad that I came today to this school, but do I feel that I'm glad I came today? Absolutely not, in reality, I feel like I am forced to be in this school and suffer more each day as I continue to come here. Sometimes I don't even have a choice from whether I should come to school or not, my parents mostly make the decision to whether I can stay home or not. Attendance really matters here, because if you don't come to class for a certain amount of days, you will be held back. I feel even more pressured that I am *required* to come to this school every week without being able to give myself time to stabilize myself, yet I will have to continuously live a dreadful loop for coming here to this school and suffer even more. This school needs to have more awareness on how students feel and need to know what they're struggling with. This school may seem that it's "accommodating" and "helpful," but I feel that the school has barely accommodated anything for me as a student who wants to be successful. Oh! And also, this school told me to take my other rating down because they're afraid of people seeing the truth for what it's like to come here.

When I was sitting in an IEP meeting for my child in our normal school district I was gutted when…read morethey recommended placement out of district. I mean, how could this be? His diagnosis is manageable in public school. It happens everyday. I knew the teachers didn't understand him, and didn't care to. I knew they were mean to him but I fought to keep him in regular school because I wanted him to be with friends in the neighborhood and I didn't want the stigma attached to being sent out of district. His school district turned the screws and fought harder to get him out by destroying his self esteem. Ultimately I agreed to placement out of district to save my son's sanity. Enter Acacia. I was apprehensive at first. Everyone was so nice. I didn't think this could be real after everything we'd been through. But guess what? It IS amazing! My son loves going to school here. He feels valued as a human being and an individual. They teach him at the speed he's comfortable with. Every day that I ask him how his day was he says, "GREAT". I used to be scared to ask him how his day was. My stomach would flip when I saw an email from his school. Those days are over for us. Acacia is where it's at. Everyone knows what they're doing and I regret fighting our school district. He went from someone who was being shamed daily and punished for a neurological problem to someone who has his self esteem and happiness back. He has A's and B's and they LIKE him. I highly recommend Acacia. If you're checking reviews like I was, I know you're not in a good place right now. Hang in there moms and dads. Meet with Acacia as one of your options. You may be scared but everything will be ok - especially if this is where your child ends up.

This was an excellent class series! Michael is a wonderful instructor and truly passionate about…read morehelping you to learn. I walked away actually able to fully navigate and create throughout the entire Adobe suite. I would highly recommend his workshops for any and all Adobe learning you're looking to do. I'm excited to take on another series of InDesign classes in the future to better my skill set. Worth every penny.

Great class - lots of info. Mike is a great teacher. Took Photoshop Level 1. Feel like I got enough…read moreexperience to start working on my own with confidence. The location was very convenient with a parking garage across the street. A great experience all aroynd.

I just cant believe i found a place for my baby everyone is so sweet and helpful i just cant…read moreexpress how thankful i am for this place !!! Mariana helped me lots with programs that i could qualify for that i had no idea they existed. Michael and fatima are just awesome explaining everything and the therapists are AWESOME .... i see alot of progress in my baby !!!!

The place for children with autism was the perfect option for my son. We transitioned here in the…read moremiddle of a very frustrating time in our lives. The staff here made us feel welcomed by implementing goals and plans to help my son along. He has made huge gains and even uses more words to communicate. I really love the team approach and parent involvement!