So I have been sending the little clones to this school for the past 4 years now. Just like any…read moreschool, it has it's ups, and it's downs. The normal school day runs from 9:15 AM to 3:45 PM. They have a before school program, but not an after school program, so your kids MUST be picked up for 4:00 PM. And if you call after 4:00 PM, unless you have somebody's mobile phone, or direct line, the front desk will not answer the phone. The do serve what they consider "a nutritional" lunch. But I say, it is only nutritional IF AND ONLY IF two things happen. 1) You don't burn or over cook it. Then all the nutritional value is gone. 2) If the kids eat it. If it is burnt, or dried up like a brick, then the kids will not eat it. If it taste like, hmm, in the words of my 7 years old, the food sucks, then the kids will not eat it. Here is a true story, I went to have lunch with my kids at school, when I got there for the first one, he was eating a salad. Now, this kids loves his veggie tables more than most kids, but he is also a T-Rex with his carnivorous appetite. I did think it was kinda strange, but I didn't realize till I was having lunch with the next one. I actually went through the line with him, and he just chooses the safe option everyday, and eats a PB&J. I could not even recognize some of the food. But if you really want to know how good the food is, check out the staff, and see how many of them eat it. I would say about 95% of them bring their lunch. Now that makes you ask, if it is so healthy and nutritious, why don't the people who work their eat it? But I have to admit, the school food is better than it was there two years ago, so I will give them that. As far as electives, since Hunter is a AG/GT Magnet School of Distinction and has won awards, they do have a nice variety of elective programs. Some of the teachers are the nicest people you will meet in the world. The music teacher, Mrs. Taylor, is not just a music teacher, but actually plays in orchestra and symphony concerts, so you know she is good. She is also super nice, and whenever she has extra concert tickets, she shares them with her students families. The school likes to invite authors, poets, dancers, musicians, you know real famous people to the school and have them talk to the kids One of the authors was the writer of "Where the Wild Things Are." The school does try and have a good curriculum. They recently started a "Walkers Club" for those that get there early in the morning. You can do a few laps around the track, and earn points. You know kids, they love points. Not sure what they get at the end, but they still love points. So, in the end, if you want to know more about Hunter Elementary, take a tour. While you are there, if you see some parents around ask them. And for the new orientation, when I attended, they handed out what I call a "Kidnap me" directory. That a book with the name, address, e-mail and phone number of all the kids that go to the school. You can opt to have some of the information removed from the directory at the beginning of the year, but you better catch them before they publish it. But come on, who just hands that information out to total strangers the first time you meet them. Be a little bit more secure with that info. That is why I wanted only wanted their name, my name, and the phone number listed. Everybody, their momma, and their daddy don't need to know where I live. Not that I have anything to hide, but do you want a book floating around that could fall into the wrong hands with everybody's info in it? Did I go off topic, sorry. Just my personal thoughts. But go check out Hunter, they are a decent school for the most part.

This school makes me want to turn back the clock and be a kid again! It's a dream come true for a…read morebright kid who doesn't have just one area of focus. The teachers have been wonderful about letting my child check out things he's interested in and develop his own interests and opinions. He's gotten to try writing fairy tales, learning about sea life, and art club. He is in love with the chess club most of all - Coach Indermaur is awesome and so dedicated! The school just feels like it's brimming with possibilities. The teachers and leadership go very far out of their way to make sure they're not leaving kids behind due to special needs, poverty, or even behavioral issues. The communication from the school, PTA, teacher, and principal has been beyond impressive. The involvement and volunteerism from the parents truly blows me away. Most of the volunteers have jobs (like I do) but build in time where we can to be a part of what this school is doing. Every time I leave the building, I realize I've been smiling the whole time I've been there. The added focus on early AIG-related teaching has been wonderful. I truly don't see how other schools manage it when they can't identify or give additional enrichment to AIG kids before 4th grade. An intellectually gifted kid in a regular class is a teacher's nightmare. People think "intellectually gifted" means the kid who sits up front and knows all the answers and reads all the time. It's often the kid who won't quiet down, the one who is obstinate toward the teacher, or the one who interrupts the other kids. More difficult work and added academic challenges are an important part of the solution there, and other schools don't provide much support there. Hunter has teachers and a principal who "get it" when it comes to this, and they're willing to work with you and your child to allow them to become their best version of themselves through work, practice, support, and structure. Every teacher I've worked with thus far seems genuinely happy to be at the school, and my son's teacher has been a standout star in an already very bright field of stars. Just seeing the difference in my kid's knowledge, writing, reading, and attitude in the past 3 semesters is proof positive that she is an expert at her very difficult job. I cannot say enough good things about the school. Love, love, love Hunter!

Oak City has been an AMAZING place for our daughter to thrive in just the short time she's been…read morethere. The new campus is beautiful and the staff all do their part to make everything special, enjoyable, and most of all, SAFE. We appreciate their smiles, their kind-hearted attitudes, and their love of Jesus. They surely incorporate their all into what they do, and it shows.

We are sooo happy to be at OCA and also participate in their home school blended program at home! I…read morecan see a huge difference in my daughter's independence and work ethic from before. It's incredible. OCA is changing the way she thinks and problem solves. We are super happy!

I wish I had known of the better schools and treatment facilities in North Carolina before sending…read moremy son here. To be frank, the place is a mess. I knew more about the TEACHH method, Pivotal Response Training, and basic Applied Behavioral Analysis than the staff. How "a school for children with autism" can run without a qualified director/leader is beyond me. I understand they do have a Board Certified Behavioral Analyst but this begs the question: why isn't the facility in better shape? I have heard he/she is a bully and brings their problems to work with them. What a shame for parents trying to seek help for their children.

I wanted to like this school, but the two months I spent trying to enroll my daughters was a…read morenightmare. My husband and I took a tour of the school and it seemed like there were a lot of activities and resources for the kids despite the building having an industrial feel and looking a bit run down. We decided to apply despite the hundreds of dollars in application fees just to review our paperwork. At the time, we did not realize most ABA places do not do that. They said the typical time from application to start date was usually a few weeks, but ours took 2 months because they had trouble certifying one of their providers with my insurance company. That was understandable, but it's what happened in the meantime that made me rethink the school. It was difficult to get anyone to answer the phone, and most of my messages were never returned. Messages I left with various people were never passed on to the right ones. Nobody knew what was going on and in some cases they didn't even know who to ask. All the while, my insurance company insisted the problem was on the school's end and that they were having consistent trouble getting in touch with them and that the school filed paperwork wrong three times. It gave me the impression of a school whose management is in chaos and disarray. Finally, after all that was sorted out and just days before my daughters were supposed to start, they suddenly sprung us with $5,000 in further application fees and said they required a 1-year contract. None of this had ever been mentioned in person, on the phone, or in the paperwork we signed at any point in the preceding two months. It raised a lot of red flags to be asked to spend a small fortune in unexpected hidden fees and be required to commit to a long-term contract before my girls had even started. Maybe the school is struggling financially and is desperate to extract as much money in fees as possible? I have no idea. I just know no other ABA place has such insanely high hidden fees. Because my kids never had a chance to get therapy here, I really can't speak to the quality of care. All I know is that getting quality care is much more difficult when management is very disorganized.

I am the proud father of a special needs child. He attended Ravenscroft for 6 months. I got a call…read morefrom the school saying my child had wet himself. He is almost non verbal; so it took me to the next day to get him to talk to me about it. Apparently the teacher made him set outside in the 90 degree heat until he used the bathroom on himself. He was upset because he had to use the bathroom. This is all my lawyer said I could disclose, and their is MUCH more.

I went here to buy a Bus off of the Maintenance department, and when I arrived there were two young…read moregirls sitting on a golf cart waiting on me. One was their "notary". It felt like I wan in trouble or in the "office" in school it was weird. They said here is a list of everything that is wrong with it. I told them I was gonna use it to go across the country bc I am homeless going through a divorce. I did not go on my gut bc they were so professional, they could have wrote that bus off on their taxes, but instead they stole my whole savings, every dime. The guy that sold it to me had gold rings looking like a 100 dollar pimp. The money was for those young girls I was talking about at the beginning. The dash had been replaced with a newer one, but I got the computer to show me the real odometer reading, it was over 300, 000 miles, but the dash was showing 111,000 miles. They knew I would not make it back to WV from NC, and the lemon laws in NC are only for new cars. 6814725579 for more info. I donated the bus to a girl in Virginia working at an EXXON, lol. told her to scrap it. I did not even get home to work on it. UwU

If you are on the fence about Brain Balance for your child, I've got two words for you: Do. It…read more It has made a huge difference in our daughter's life. It won't be overnight and it won't solve every problem your child has, but it will make solid, foundational changes that will hold them in good stead for the rest of their lives. We tried it for our daughter with the most extreme ADHD symptoms and were so pleased, we put our other daughter (with less extreme symptoms) in as well. Our situation: two girls, daily calls and texts from teachers regarding behavior and not paying attention in school. I got an average of 2 calls per girl each day. I dreaded answering my phone and my stomach hurt when I saw the school name pop up on my phone. My husband is dead set against medication; me not so much. So the combination of diet, program and home exercises made sense for us. The cost is really high. Not going to lie about it. But it's worth every single dollar. I've watched first-hand as things started to change - small things like my daughter doing less donkey kicks while she watched her tablet, her starting to do things the 1st or 2nd time I told her, making eye contact when she speaks, and moving to having control over her actions. Finally, both my girls would tell me that they wanted to do better, be better but they couldn't reach those goals. Their brains didn't have the connections to give them that level of control. It's an amazing process to watch and to know that you are hitting the root of the problem rather than applying temporary band-aids.

Going to Brain Balance was the best thing we ever did for our son! They gave us answers when nobody…read moreelse could ! Plus they help us correct a lot of problems ! The staff was wonderful !

I liked and loved going to Gigi's Playhouse I had so much fun there I wanna go there soon it's so…read morecute and adorable plus fantastic wonderful pretty cool and amazing I hope they're doing well the service requested was great the quality was awesome their value is one of my values I love them so much they deserve so much like the best right now

From the owner: GiGi's Playhouse Raleigh is a Down Syndrome Achievement Center that provides FREE therapeutic &…read moreeducational programming to individuals of all ages with Down syndrome.

LwtB is a fantastic school that creates miracles in the classroom every day. My son has been there…read more7 years and has made progress unimaginable relative to his prior tenure in the county school system. Any parent that has a special needs child should look into getting their child into LwtB.

My daughter has been thriving at Learn With the Best for the past 2 years! We live in the Wake…read moreForest area and the drive and tution have all been worth it. The peace of mind I have in knowing that my child is in caring and purpose driven hands. The small class room ratios, excellent communication and dedication towards our kids are incredible. I'm so grateful for my daughter's experience here, it has been life changing for our family.