Our experience with Morrissey Compton was through Peninsula School during the 2022-2023 school year, when management of an unruly third grade class was outsourced to the educational support center. Nearly a third of the students in this class were identified as requiring further evaluation by Morrissey Compton (you do the math of $4,000+ per evaluation) or unable to be served by the school. For those requiring further evaluation, Morrissey Compton's very junior psychologist provided the most general behavioral considerations to justify the evaluations and she was unwittingly used by the school administrators to deny the students' reenrollment. Independent evaluations did not support the observations of Morrissey Compton's psychologist. What was the common finding that Morrissey Compton failed to observe? The class had been left to its own devices due an inexperienced teacher with 1) no establishment of baseline rules, 2) over-reliance on short-term rewards systems long proven to be ineffective, and 3) an attendance record that effectively left the children without anyone in charge. Which is, of course, why the majority of the class ended up leaving the school. read more

We took our 4 year old son here to meet with a child psychologist. DO NOT GO HERE. $4k down the drain for a diagnosis that is more harmful than beneficial. I wish we would have waited the 6 months to meet with his developmental pediatrician rather than rush in to an assessment with Morrissey-Compton. There is a reason there is not a wait to meet with a psychologist for your child here- they literally have no idea what they're doing. It's sickening. DO NOT GO HERE. read more

I have had experience with Morrissey Compton and find that for the money they charge they definitely are not worth it. The personnel they have are less than qualified this place should be avoided at all cost. read more

Summary: the testing and report I got were good, but the pricing seems way out of line Details: I went there for a day of testing, that was 1H of intro, 4H of testing, and 1H to get the results. I'm not an expert, but looks to me that part of the report I got could have been auto generated via computer after plugging in my scores, and then edited by the person who did the report, plus some personal observations. There is nothing wrong with that, but I'm just assuming it didn't take many hours to write. That said, it took more than 6 weeks to get the report, which seems a bit ridiculous. What was the total? $2475 last year. This year, because it wasn't expensive enough, it's now over $2700. As a result, I declined. My insurance company told me that Morissey-Compton's prices are way over the customary rates for the insurance codes (as in by a factor of 2.5 to 3x). But just to make things worse, the billing report they did for my insurance company was done badly so that my insurance company could only pay me back for 1 out of the 4 hours of testing. It took many calls/Emails and days to finally get a billing statement I could use to get badly re-imbursed (less than a 3rd or what I paid). My recommendation is to look at other locations, ask for pricing, and compare. read more

This is a wonderful place if you are looking for social skills groups. They have many other fantastic ways to support children with different needs too. My 11 year old daughter benefitted tremendously by the Girls Friendship group this fall, and I am enrolling her again for Spring to reinforce the great skills she learned in fall. The facilitators of the group, Sue Garber and Meredith Feinberg are so skilled at working with tweens and teaching them valuable skills that go beyond the group into other social situations. This has been by far the most positive experience my daughter has had in years. She always looks forward to going to the group and I see huge improvements in her peer-peer relationships, thus building her self esteem. I'm grateful to have found Sue and Meredith and Morissey Compton. read more

Our second full review for a school admissions process. Always professional and caring. There may be other professionals that offer educational services, but I can say after many meetings with school admin and trying to navigate an IEP the services here are top notch and well respected state wide. Thank you Compton, we appreciate all you did to help demystify the educational services sector with grace, patience and a smile. Your team is simply the best. read more

Both of my daughters have had extensive educational testing throughout middle school and high school. Needless to say we have been to many specialists. Morrissey-Compton was on the list of places the high school counselor recommended(she has since removed them from the list). I should have known better when they were the only facility that was not too busy to see us immediately. She went in to be diagnosed for anxiety, specifically for standardized tests because she was getting As on class assignments but failing exams. She was also going to be evaluated for dyslexia. Not only are they expensive, one of the doctors with whom my daughter had the misfortune of working was catty and unprofessional. During the parent meeting, she told us our daughter was borderline rude and not talkative or engaging. The other lady who conducted another part of the assessment immediately disagreed, saying she didn't feel that was the case. In the meantime, I was thinking, this wasn't a personality or job interview. Why did she need to be talkative during an academic assessment? And although yes, at 5 p.m., my teenage daughter can be less than jovial, she has never been called rude. The worst part is they said the $1500 assessment was too general to find any learning differences that my daughter might have. Instead they recommended more testing(another few thousand) to see if there was anything more they would be able to observe. We bought in. At the parent meeting following that assessment, the same doctor was wavering between two learning disorder codes or whatever they call them from the DSM-5 manual and ASKED ME which learning difference I thought she should specify. Maybe I was confused because I thought that is why we hired them in the first place. I do not have a background in this. So about $5,000 later, for a total of four hours worth of testing, it took almost a month to get the report and list of accommodations. I had to repeatedly call them. I felt like once they were paid, there was no longer a sense of urgency. I just went back and reviewed the report. Funny, the other lady must have written it because it said my daughter was polite. I am still not sure why the doctor would make that comment off the record to us. If a place has immediate availability when others do not, let that be a red flag. read more

My 11 year old son was diagnosed last year with high-functioning autism (formerly known as Asperbergers). He has always had trouble navigating social situations and been extremely reluctant and resistant to interventions. The Morrissey-Compton social skills group with Sue and Meredith was wonderful. My son just completed the Monday, 5th grade group in Palo Alto. It was the first intervention that had a positive impact. The consistent, relevant messaging and content was extremely helpful. Sue and Meredith were understanding, flexible and able to help my son engage, learn and even thrive in the group. My son will definitely be back and I look forward to seeing more growth through each session. read more

overall not very happy, it took 2 months from the testing date to get a full report. I was asked to pay upfront 2,500 $, never got a receipt for it and still asking to get one It turns out my insurance would cover some of it. After a diagnosis of ADHD, we were told to contact our pediatrician to get meds. No resources given to us as to how to takle the issues we are facing. I am looking for outside help now . read more

I am writing to strongly recommend Morrissey-Compton Educational Center's social skills class. My first grader had been struggling with social interactions for some time. Last year, his school recommended that I find a social skills class for him. They recommended Morrissey-Compton. To be honest, I was dubious. How could a class help him learn social skills? I was also suspicious of organizations serving Silicon Valley kids, in terms of being truly supportive of kids, and their families. Additionally, the cost of the class was quite high for our family's budget. However, after one semester of this class, I am a believer. First, Morrissey-Compton is a lovely organization, whose mission truly is about supporting kids and their families. They are non-profit, and their non-fancy office indicates that situation. Still, they offered our family financial aid, which made the class accessible. Additionally, their staff is fantastic, and of the highest caliber possible. Secondly, the class itself was tremendous. At first, my son was skeptical about the class, too. Soon, though, he began to look forward to it, as the class time was spent in positive ways, with lots of age appropriate skill building games, and laughter. Every day, following the class time, the parents/grown ups would then get a run down of what they worked on during class. The kids also got homework each week to help support them in building social and emotional skills. Thirdly, the teachers are amazing. Teacher Barb has been a first grade teacher for years, and is incredible with helping the kids learn to solve problems. Teacher Sue is a parent educator, and is awesome with the kids, as well as the parents. I am grateful to both of these educators for their support of my child and me. I also really appreciated hearing about the results that they saw in my child with a personal meeting following the class. They have helped our family tremendously. In the end, my child is still learning, but his social skills are improving, and I give a lot of credit to this class. As I said in the beginning, I highly recommend this class and I am truly grateful for their support, as it has been so helpful for my son. The only caveat that I offer about the class is that it is only offered twice a year (Fall/Spring), which was not clear when I first contacted Morrissey-Compton. read more

Such a wonderful group. They helped my 11-year old daughter significantly improve her social skills, and just as importantly, gave her some language to use going forward. Sue and Meredith - thank you so much!!!! read more

I should have read the mixed reviews before ponying up $$ for this psyc/ed eval for my child. M-C came highly recommended from friends and a therapist. The price for 4 hours of testing was astronomical, but I was eager to have my child tested and was happy to find a place which had openings. Now I know why appointments were available. I didn't doubt the results of the test UNTIL l attended 2 sub-par post eval meetings, where the Dr rushed through the results, not once slowing down to explain it at all to us parents or to the child. We received a 33 page report about 3 weeks following testing, but the report is difficult, nearly impossible, for an educated parent to decipher. The Dr may have done an excellent job testing my child, but she did not provide us with one clear, thoughtful, compassionate answer or provide us with any helpful feedback regarding my child's learning differences. I was floored. My husband had the same response. Now I'm forced to get another round of testing done somewhere else because I don't trust the people or the process at M-C. This is the Bay Area, and we are fortunate to have so many resources at our fingertips. I may have to wait longer for another appointment at another center, but now I've learned my lesson. read more

Strongly recommend Morrissey/Compton. Specifically we worked with Brooke Cargile initially 4 years ago. She has been available and provided critical help and advice since an initial consultation to the present for further assistance and has provided urgent help with accommodation requests in school and with College Board application. Ms. Cargile has provided our child and family with expertise and incredible support. We are grateful to Morrissey/Compton. read more

My son was evaluated by Carolyn Compton to access accommodations for dyslexia in 2006. In my opinion she was the gold standard for learning disabilities. Fast forward to 2017 when my son wanted extended time on his GRE. Carolyn is now retired and tried to do what she could and someone from the center aided in contacting her- all very much appreciated. The one star is for the current director of the center. The GRE asked for modified updated testing- which the Director said would cost $3700. My son asked me to reach out to him because he could not call from work . I am his mother and an attorney. The Director refused to respond to both my email and phone message inquiring about his proposed testing. My son sent the GRE request to the person who initially diagnosed his learning disability in grade school. That person responded that he knew exactly what testing the GRE required, and gave my son an updated reading test- costing $550. The GRE granted his request for extended time. read more

This review is for the Girl Drama social skills class. Morrissey-Compton was recommended for my 14 year old daughter for improving her social skills and peer interactions. The class turned out to be smaller than originally planned, and each girl received a lot of close attention from the facilitators. My daughter was a bit nervous at the beginning of the class, but she started looking forward to going every Monday evening. Each session was carried out in a very positive manner and designed to encourage healthier peer relationships. She learned which phrases to use and avoid when facing challenging situations, what healthy friendship should look and feel like, and other useful skills she could put in practice at school. I'm glad that my daughter was able to join this class. read more

This company came to me highly recommended, but unfortunately I was extremely disappointed. I have never written a public review before, and hardly ever complain about any service, always feeling people do their best, but I felt I had to write this time. While the classes my son took were good, the administrational support I received was appalling. I never received any follow up session with the instructor as was part of the program for both classes my son took. Another mother with a son in the same class had to ask numerous times before we got any paperwork about the class so we could claim on our insurance, and about 1 month after the class I received a phone call saying I owed $50 for the classes. Of course I was happy to pay if I owed money for services, but when I asked what the $50 was for as I knew nothing about it, the person on the other end of the phone hung up. I sent a letter detailing why I was unhappy (my first letter of complaint ever) with the services and never heard anything in reply. Then two weeks later I was sent an emailing asking if wished to take further classes with Morrissey Compton. Nothing could be further from the case. i would not recommend this company unless you were absolutely desperate. Their treatment of people is appalling. I do have to say the front desk was always very helpful and cheerful, but the administration and customer service is terrible. Do not use this company unless you want more headaches than you already have. Jan read more

Two hours charged for advocating of $270/hr after paying for a comprehensive evaluation only for the advocate to utter one sentence "The parent objects". Really? read more

I wanted to like Morrissey-Compton. They came highly recommended, and they seemed to really know what they're doing. So we paid several thousand dollars and went through hours of testing. It took several months to get our results back. Once we got the results, we contacted them via email and phone to learn more, but they were completely unavailable. Despite promises to the contrary that they'd be long-term partners to assist us with the school, we cannot get them on the phone or have them reply to emails. It turns out that the recommendations were completely generic. In retrospect, we could have gotten the same services for free through the public school, and they probably would have been more responsive. Not a good experience. While the info we received from them was good, we wished that we hadn't invested so much time and money. read more

My neighbors told me great things about Morrissey-Compton but I have to say I am a bit dissappointed. The Specialist of Education was quite helpful but the Psychologist did not find the time to return any calls or emails. The Evaluation Report was still quite helpful in getting my daughter the needed services at school but this report that was promised in a month took five months. If you are not in a rush, this is the agency for you, but I would suggest not using Dr. Brentar (Executive Director) as your Psychologist because he is too busy to be of much help. I found that he made promises that he could not keep. Again, still satisfied with the agency itself. read more

Karen Dearing and Brooke Cargile provided comprehensive evaluation for our school-age child a year ago. They have been professional, supportive and knowledgable in supporting our family throughout the past 12 months. Brooke in particular has gone out of her way to assist our family by attending school meetings and providing guidance for remediation and accommodations. She continues to be available to answer questions and address concerns when they arise. Her dedication and passion to supporting families with children who struggle is evident. Our family is extremely grateful to Morrissey-Compton. We highly recommend Morrissey-Compton. read more

Morrissey/Compton is an AMAZING rare gem in the educational testing world. They are a very professional office with a kind and caring staff. We found them a wealth of information for our child. Both the testing and consultation we had done for our child helped us to better understand our child's learning patterns and needs. read more

My daughter recently participated in the social skills class for middle school girls. She had a lot of fun going to this class each week and learned many skills for dealing with difficult situations common to this age. The moderators of this group did a great job of creating a safe environment for all of the girls to be open to discussion and for participating in lots of role-playing. The neat thing about this group was that there were many different types of personalities from really out-going girls to the quieter, less assertive types. This dynamic allowed for many opportunities for the girls to learn how to navigate the many personalities they face in social settings. Be aware that 25% of the fees go to a pre- and post-meeting with the parent. While that may seem high, the meetings did help the moderators to get important information before the class began, and also served to provide important feedback to parents for their own child after the class concluded. I would definitely consider enrolling my daughter in this class again. read more

Girl Drama! Class: This is an amazing class led by Meredith Feinberg and Sue Garber. I signed my 6th grade daughter up for it because she was having a difficult time with all of the social drama at her school. The best way to gain skills in self-advocacy and role-play social challenges is by practicing in a small group setting. My daughter had previously attended the Girls Leadership Institute summer camp, but the group was too large for her to get any meaningful practice. My daughter was initially anxious about this group, but with the weekly homework practice, she started to gain confidence socially at school, and then looked forward to the weekly meetings. My daughter now has more tools and has used many of the lessons she learned in class in her daily life. Sue and Meredith are highly skilled and talented; they did an excellent job putting together a group of girls with different strengths and needs, so the girls themselves were able to learn from one another. I really appreciated Meredith and Sue's insights and guidance they gave me about my daughter. I highly recommend this class to any girl who wants more practice in dealing with middle school social challenges. read more