A true hidden gem for the community! We found this school for our daughter three years ago and…read morechanged our lives forever! She is flourishing where in public schools was left out and behind. I vouch for this school and, if you're struggling finding the right place for your child, give them a try! Don't just submit the application when you apply - go and meet the people, do a "shadow day", and engage.

This school is doing the Lords work. I am so thankful and…read moregrateful to have my son be enrolled at New Way Academy. The entire staff is phenomenal from The teachers all way down to the security guard. Most importantly my son loves it. He said so the other day when I picked him up from school. He said that he is so happy that he gets to go to New Way Academy because it's the best school that he's ever been to. We haven't had one bad experience since we've been here. GOD bless New Way Academy.

My sons have attended LIFE for nearly five years, and I cannot say enough positive things about the…read morestaff and program. The therapists, teachers, and instructional assistants are deeply committed to supporting children with disabilities, and it is clear that my boys are genuinely cared for and valued each day they are at LIFE. The ABA program is exceptional and has far exceeded our experiences with previous programs. Many of LIFE's leaders are Board Certified Behavior Analysts, and a significant number of staff members are Registered Behavior Technicians, which speaks to the quality, expertise, and integrity of the program. I wholeheartedly recommend LIFE to any family seeking a supportive, professional, and compassionate environment for children with intellectual disabilities.

My son, who is 10, level 3 non verbal autistic hasn't even been attending this school for a year…read moreyet and has made so much progress. He is even interacting with his peers and learning how to take turns and play. When I seen and heard this I wanted to cry. He smiles every day while walking to class, and tells me "go play" on his aac device, which he refused to use for me, until he started going here. I have yet to get a call saying I need to come get him because he wet through his clothes, I get to see pictures of all the fun activities they do, and his teacher let's me know if she finds new things he likes so I can get them for home. I have heard so many people say they have been on the waiting list for years, and I am just so happy that he got in within 9 months. It was definitely worth the wait, and also very worth the drive, we come from Florence.

It about time that a special needs school advocate was on yelp with a review!! Great job there and…read moreI have referred Christina to other parents with special needs children so they don't have to face that dreaded IEP alone with the TEACHERS staring down and trying to intimidate you. Thank you for being there, -Rosalee

Christina was so incredibly helpful with our families unique situation. She helped me to understand…read morehow the AZ Charter school system works and how to navigate the paperwork required to get our child the services he needed. Her experience as a teacher was paramount because she so obviously understood what was needed to reach our specific goals. She was so respectful and considerate in all of her communication and recommendations (and quick to respond always). I really felt like she came from a place of compassion and understanding and never a place of judgement. Beyond helping with the school situation, she spent time with our family to offer ideas and methods to help us with the behavior issues we were seeing at home. I really appreciated the graceful manner in which she integrated into our family dynamic - so that she could really see what was happening and offer realistic and helpful advice. Her services provided me with a sense that I have the emotional tools to be the best parent possible for our child. I'd recommend her in a heartbeat to any parent needing any advocacy help.

This is a great school, it can be challenging for some students though. It helps to recognize your…read morechild's strengths, academically before enrolling. This school does a great job about covering all bases of academics but gears more towards math and science. If your child is more of an arts and literature student, this is not the school for them. That doesn't mean your child isn't smart or adequate enough for this school but why put them through the misery of attending a school where they don't enjoy learning? There are plenty of parents who have more than one child and may one have one or two enrolled at BASIS and the other(s) enrolled elsewhere. I love the LET teachers assigned in the lower levels, they really do a great job in assisting the kids in succeeding and the teachers and the deans are all great and caring towards the kids. This school is very anti-bullying which is another plus for this parent.

The fun Fridays aren't fun as they used too be but other than that, it's a good schoolread more

As a kid I went there for two years the first year was good the teachers were fine but the second…read moreyear went downhill it was unprofessional we had no history or PE and they played inappropriate music infront a a bunch of small kids also the kids were getting held back from going home and was getting screamed at for talking a little and ms Kris was the most unprofessional principal I've known. I felt very non supportive I was forced to do things like take off my hoddie when I was struggling and a lot of stuff so if you want your child going there it's not the best place for one BECUASE bullying teachers a ton of stuff

I am a teacher at The ACES School. I was attracted to working here because of the 4:1 student to…read moreteacher ratio. Having this small proportion of students to staff makes my job of teaching concepts to mastery obtainable. I am able to reach each student that I teach because I get to have the one on one experience with them that I was missing while teaching in public education. Each student's curriculum is tailored to their academic needs. I am able to find what gaps that they might have in their learning and reteach them the missing skill or concept. My students enjoy learning new things every day. Our campus is filled with happy, positive and caring adults and students. We are a community of learners here at The Aces and we take pride in encouraging each individual to "Do their best" and "Be their best." We enjoy acknowledgement of each individual's accomplishments and we celebrate them. Visitors are always welcome on campus for a scheduled tour. If you stop by my classroom I am the teacher with a Bearded Dragon Lizard for a classroom pet. Please stop in and say hello and see for yourself the great things that we are doing on the Aces campus.

I went to both the Gilbert campus and the Peoria campus. The Gilbert campus was the best of the two…read morekind staff, respectful, understanding, and supportive. Peoria was the complete opposite the IBI (aces version of detention) at Peoria was let's say abusive. The staff in there scream in people's faces, make you stand at a wall and not talk or look at anything or anyone for extended periods of time. When the staff at Peoria aces got mad they would slam doors, slam keyboards on desks, and yell. Gilbert aces was amazing, no slamming doors from staff. The occasional raising of voice to get attention but thats it. I don't recommend Peoria aces at all. All of this information is coming from a previous Austin Centers student.

This school has been a life changer for my grandson. He is thriving and loves going to school. The…read moreprincipal and staff truly care about these students. I wish it could be open year round!! Thank you for all you do for these children.

If you have child that is high functioning child that can get overwhelmed easily from having high…read moredemands and needs structure and patience to flourish, stay away from this place. The teachers are overwhelmed and don't have enough support to handle high demand ASD kids especially ones that require outside the box thinking specialist and ones that require unique curriculum to help them grow. The school forced my daughter to do lower grade academics and then tried to say that I wasn't happy with her academic achievement! She received 100% in her Language Arts 3rd grade 4th quarter and they still insisted that she wasn't ready for 4th grade due to behaviors. Since the start of the school year, my daughter struggled with the high demand that was being placed on her to fit into their programs and she was purposely placed in lower academic curriculum due to her behavior and I tried to constantly advocate that the behaviors were due to boredom but no one would listen to me. I was told that until my daughter started following directions and behaviors improve, her academic would stay the same. I just recently had my daughter's IQ tested and it came back top 5%. She tested into 5th grade reading and 7th grade spelling; her math was behind because the school refused to teach her grade level math telling me initially that she was behind and then they said oh we are too ahead in the curriculum and we can't have her join the 3rd grade class then they wanted me to get her caught up during the summer if she wanted to be in 4th grade. The owner (Victoria) just doesn't really care about your children. Your child is just $$$$ to her. She just wants the money and wouldn't care if your child succeeded or not. They have also had such a huge turn over with their staff and I am not surprised at all. The only reason I tried this place was cause of the so called "great reviews". I usually don't like to place reviews, but I just had to share since so many people recommend this school! I would be very careful with placing my child here.

Note: I wrote this in the past and am posting it now) ---- I am a past student that attended…read moreGateway academy for one year , and god! I would not recommend you go here if you or your child is gifted or at least grade level. You ask for harder work, and are dismissed by teachers that wish they could actually teach you more, but as per the dictators policy (Mrs. Robin) they can't give me actual challenges. I have had 2 tests maybe, and I'm more than halfway through the year. To add to this, these tests were the easiest tests I've ever taken in my life! Do not send your child here! Also, here's a list that I took at the begining of the year (when I still had hopes of leaving) which doesn't include a lot of the new stuff. Here's a summary of the information because the school would probably kick me out (not that I would mind) Version to my parents My classes this year aren't challenging me or giving me the resources I need to learn. In math, we're a month behind because the online curriculum still isn't fixed, and we're stuck reviewing topics I mastered in sixth grade. Science work is so easy and drawn-out that deadlines mean nothing, and tests are recycled to the point where grades don't reflect real understanding. Language class is almost entirely Duolingo, which doesn't teach grammar or real communication skills, and even "enrichment" work takes weeks for something I could finish in days. History is just fill-in-the-blank notes and shallow projects instead of meaningful, in-depth learning like I had before. I'm not being pushed to grow, and staying here is holding me back academically. Version for administration In math, we are already a month behind because the Savaas curriculum still isn't fixed, despite my teacher contacting Mr. Anthony 1-2 weeks ago. My teacher wasn't given proper resources and had to reuse slides from a previous school, so the pace is slow. We've spent over a week reviewing order of operations and negative numbers, which I mastered in sixth grade. In science, deadlines are stretched far beyond what's needed--two weeks to take notes that should take 2-3 days, and tests are meaningless because, after taking them, we just redo the same questions for credit. Even when I ask for harder work, I'm told I still have to do the same easy assignments, which wastes time. Language class is almost entirely Duolingo, which doesn't teach grammar or sentence structure, and enrichment work is stretched over three weeks for tasks I could finish in days. History is mostly fill-in-the-blank notes and shallow projects, like spending a week on domestication with no deeper exploration, compared to last year when I created in-depth presentations on world history topics. I'm not being challenged, my time is being wasted, and staying here will hold me back academically.

Gateway Academy is a WONDERFUL school!! We feel SO LUCKY to have found this school! Our son is on…read morethe Autism Spectrum and Gateway Academy is the PERFECT fit! Our son is safe and free to be himself in the most nurturing environment. He is HAPPY heading into school everyday and as parents that is all we have hoped for! The entire staff and all of the teachers are simply AMAZING! We can't recommend this school enough!! A+++++++++ =)