Best school in the DFW area for children with special needs!…read more My brother has been here for a long time and I can't believe how much he has grown and learned while being there.

This school has horrible communications with teachers who apply to work here. They offered two…read morepeople one job and never communicated that they weren't going with a teacher. Administration is sloppy. The principal and president are unprofessional.

There is much to appreciate about Key School. Its staff consists largely of lovely teachers who…read moreseem genuinely kind and caring. That said, during her one year at the school, my child's teacher could not keep his political beliefs out of the classroom. He is painfully misinformed and brings his misinformation into his history lessons. When I expressed upset, the school administration claimed to be politically neutral; however, the principal insinuated that my child was a liar while trying to cover up when the teacher brought out a model of a fetus to make sure he expressed his bias to me clearly. (After assuring me that the whole class, other than my child, saw no fetus, she later admitted it happened.) Key School supported that same teacher's emphatic declaration that America is not in any part a democracy while studying the Constitution. They supported him, teaching the children that only violent criminals were being deported while innocent immigrants are being disappeared into Venezuelan concentration camps. That is not just a biased opinion- he is teaching outright untruths. His beliefs are not academic and far from neutral. In fact, they align with Trump's cult beliefs rather than the true Republican party ethos. To sum it up, if you are affluent and looking for an overpriced, Fox News-based, fascist propaganda education with some racism and sexism thrown in now and again, as many Texans likely are, this is your place. Those looking for a real education and equanimity for all students should seek it elsewhere.

A school for children with learning disabilities, The Key School customizes each student's class…read moreschedule for their strengths and weaknesses. A student can be taking classes across a range of 5 grades depending on what THEY need. The environment is structured and safe, and the staff really does care about the students. Be advised that the cost approaches that of some universities, but in this case you truly do get what you pay for.

I am a Texas Certified Math (8-12) and Technology Applications (EC-12) Teacher and have been…read moreteaching Math in the North Dallas Area since 2001. I have taught in Private Schools to Public Charter Schools. I have taught small classes to up to 30+-40 students. I have taught at 6 different schools and all grade levels from 4th Grade to 12th Grade (Precalculus, Statistics, Math Reasoning, Math Models with Applications). I was also a former Adjunct Part Time College Professor at Collin College teaching a computer class for four years. I started teaching at Bridge Builder Academy (BBA) in Richardson, Texas in January 2022. BBA is uniquely different in that students are taught one on one with their teachers. They get 100% of their teacher's time, and focus during each one-hour lesson. Students are constantly working because there is no time to be distracted by other students, goofing off on their phones, tablets, laptops, etc. They can't just "hide" in a large classroom and get lost in the material, or be afraid to ask for help, etc. Most schools would have forced me to use a set of curricula but each BBA individual's curriculum is designed according to what is best for the student to become successful based on their unique individual learning needs, styles, etc. I was approached by parents of students I taught at BBA's Graduation in May 2022 and they were thanking me for putting in the time to know their students, working with them, and helping them to do better in math. One student hated math, but the parents told me that in my 5 short months that they learned to appreciate it and like it. Another parent thanked me for her getting her son more than well-prepared for the upcoming school year. BBA offers parents and students a chance to have teachers work directly with their students in an individual one on one relationship. I have the freedom to be able to adjust individual learning. Yes, our tuition might be higher than other Private Schools. Make sure when you compare schools you look at how big the classes are. How can your child get the individualized attention and learning in a 45 minute or 1 hour class with 10, 20 or 30 other students? Are your teachers certified by TEA in the State of Texas? Are your teachers certified in Special Education or have worked with Special Education Students in the past? Will your student get one-on-one support? Will the curriculum be developed for your child's unique skills or learning styles to be successful in life? How will it change from the other students in the class? Are your child's Principals (or in the case of Private Schools and Charter Schools or Directors) have recent certification in the classroom as a Teacher and/or Administrator? Are all of the School's Classes taught by a certified teacher or just a long term substitute who may or may not having any teaching credentials? Is your student going to get the attention they need in your school or are they just a number in the classroom? In my 22+ years of teaching at multiple schools, I have had Principals with no certification and no teaching experience. BBA was recently (2023) awarded a 1st Place GOLD MEDAL in the Dallas Morning News' People's Choice Awards for the BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL in the DFW Area! This is the SECOND YEAR IN A ROW (We also won for 2022). Some schools talk about STEM, but have your students ever participated in a NASA Sponsored Contest? During the 2021-2022 school year, students from Bridge Builder Academy participated in the NASA Hunch program. Led by Mr. Michael Hays (BBA Teacher of the Year 21-22) students designed a prototype moon shoe "Lunar Loafers". They presented their original design during an event in November 2021 where NASA scientists evaluated their ideas and presentation. At this event, it was suggested that they pursue a patent for their product. Our students were selected to participate in the "Innovation Day" event in April 2022 at the Johnson Space Center. At this final event for the school year, they were awarded 3rd place in addition to winning a National Award for Design and Prototype. BBA has recently been selected by the National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET) to be a 2022-2023 School of Excellence! BBA was the ONLY school in Richardson and Plano, 1 of 4 in the DFW area, 1 of 7 in the State of Texas, and just 1 of 123 in the entire United States! We are honored to receive this recognition! In 2019, Teresa A. Bronsky, Head of the School, was named a Member of the Continuing Advisory Committee for Special Education. With this appointment, she was able to help formulate the direction that Special Education would take in the state of Texas for the foreseeable future. In July, 2023, Two Teachers from BBA were selected and worked on Proclamation 2024 in Austin, TX to review and provide input for proposed new State Approved TEA Curriculum for Schools for Technology Applications and Personal Finance.

My oldest son has been going to Bridge builder academy for almost 3 years now, and it has been…read moreabsolutely amazing! The amount of growth in his mentality, confidence and especially his education has been phenomenal! Im truly beyond grateful for finding this school! All the staff have been incredible and we definitely consider them family! I highly recommend this school! You will not be disappointed thats for sure

Update on my previous review for Dr. Cyra. My first review…read morewas from our experience in helping my son navigate the ARD and Special Education process at Frisco ISD. Dr. Cyra was indispensable in helping us get through that process, and based part on her efforts, my son graduated and is now moving onto college at University of North Texas. He picked that school partly based on the reputation of how they treated students with disabilities. IMHO, this reputation is unfounded. Our experience with UNT has been exhausting. The process to get into the system as a disabled student was relatively easy. From there it has not been easy. It seems like the Office of Disability Access exists solely to mitigate civil rights complaints, and they appear to do the absolute minimum in a bureaucratic manner that is more befitting a trip to the DMV with apparently no consideration that they are dealing with students that have disabilities and are already starting off at a disadvantage. Fortunately, our son has an advocate in Dr. Cyra. Starting just before school and extending into the first part of my son's first semester, she was able rectify the situation. Through experience and expertise she was able to get the Office of Disability Access focus on our son's needs and treat him like a human being rather that just another student that they were required to help because of Federal Law. If you have a student with disabilities that is struggling to get through the system, Dr. Cyra is your guiding light. Our son would be lost in the system without her.

Tammy has been amazing to work with. She has been great in helping us navigate through the system…read moreand helped us so much in dealing with the school. She is professional, knowledgeable, and assertive. She has helped us in so many ways. I would highly recommend Tammy.

I would not recommend sending your children to this school. Especially if you feel as though that…read moreyour child might need some form of special education. There's no sense of community, school spirit, or effort with the administration at this school. Notices of dress up days, parent events, and other activities were sent out a day or two before event dates. Poor communication and lack of accountability from administrators at Hazel Harvey Peace. My daughter had Mrs. Lautigar and I expressed to her teacher several times that I felt she had dyslexia ( I had it, my mom, and my grandmother) the signs were there and she brushed me off. Her grades were declining and I finally sent an email to the Principal, Vice Principal, and the Special Education teacher. After months of asking for testing she finally received testing in fall of 2024. She did not receive results until a month before school ended. So my child struggled all school year due to the lack of understanding, urgency, and care. My son on the other hand had Mrs. Wooldridge and I absolutely loved her, if I gave stars it would be just for her. Her efforts in the classroom was very evident and she truly cared for her kiddos.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS SCHOOL YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!!! They don't care about children. They are rude…read moreespecially if you voice your concerns to the office people on why you want to pull your child out of the school because nobody is communicating what's going on with your autistic child but they think your the problem and brush you off like your concerns about your child doesn't matter. I've kept telling them multiple times my issue isn't with the office people my issues is with my child teacher like I would've understand better if the teacher would communicate with me because I understand dealing with autistic children is a lot but if it's a problem let me know and I would gladly take him out. But no they wanted to act like I was the problem when all I'm trying to figure where was my child like of course I'm going to be hostile like I told them if it was their child they would've acted the same way. But they don't care this isn't the first incident. Telling me to stop using profanity like I'm not grown my feelings and my concerns about my child is valid I don't care about the rules when something is going on with my child. I hope karma bites all of the office people. You can't keep getting a attitude with people y'all don't know. Y'all don't know what people are going through and if you don't like y'all job find something better I wouldn't be talking to people crazy especially if I don't know them because you don't know what people are can do.They really need professional people!!!!

The replied quickly to our inquiry and set us up with an evaluation within a week. Great staff and…read moreamazing communication.

Jump Start is an incredible place. I happened upon it because I was having trouble finding…read moresomewhere that took our insurance and from the get go, from my first interaction, they were INCREDIBLE. Gina, who is their front desk lead and deals with insurance, is kind, she's smart, and she's personable. It's a highlight of my week getting to have a chat with her. I have three kids, all who attend speech twice a week at Jump Start and I've seen most of the therapists there. They are all lovely. They CARE about my kids, their interests, they hug them with genuine love and affection. They treat every single patient whether 1 or 21 with RESPECT. They embody the phrase "not being able to talk isn't the same as having nothing to say". I recommend them without hesitation.

Isaiah's Place is my second home. Diane has created a safe haven for deaf and their families. Her…read morewelcoming environment encourages education of ASL, deaf history and deaf education. Many groups volunteer their time and abilities to Isaiah's place because they love Diane's vision and want to be a part of this beautiful ministry.

My 25yo identical twin daughters have lived in an Avid group home for seven years and are also in…read moretheir Caring Hands day program. The owners of Avid have created a high quality environment and support system for people with IDD in an area where quality is hard to find. They have genuine empathy for their clients and client families and recruit staff who share that same passion. When issues arise they are taken care of quickly with client care & respect as the focus.

From the owner: Avid Quality Care provides home healthcare services, group homes, and host homes with a family feel…read morefor people with special needs in Aubrey, TX.