It has been over 1.5 years since my last review, and we love the school as much as we did when our…read morechild started school 2+ years ago! Everyone on staff has been incredibly easy and pleasant to collaborate with, and responsive to my questions. The school expanded over the summer to add 2 more classrooms, so that Burkard now has 6 classrooms: K/1, 2/3, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7/8th. Having experienced a few private schools and a public school between my 2 kids, I am confident this is the best environment for my child, for both academic differentiation and SEL support. It's often lamented that parents have to choose the least bad educational option for their 2e kids, but I truly believe this is a great option. We were fortunate enough to be with his amazing 2/3 teachers for 2 years, and have a new set of teachers we love this year, too. Speaking with parents across grades, they also think highly of their teaching teams. My son continues to thrive academically (measured by his overall engagement, as well as MAP testing), and we are very happy with the math differentiation he receives. Each year, I have been pleased with the attention and care the staff takes to make sure he's challenged at the right level. They take great care to plan engaging lessons across ELA, science, social studies and SEL, and incorporate hands on projects regularly to extend their learning. My son regularly shares interesting facts he learned in class! Math is a subject he continues to be passionate about, so I reach out to the school annually for math acceleration. He is given math assessments at the start of each year to determine the appropriate placement, and is given the option of joining a higher level class, or doing independent study in his classroom. We opted this year to have him join the higher level math class on a modified schedule, and we are grateful for the ability to choose the right option for him. The daily SEL teaching is also very well done. Many schools don't have the ability to go in-depth with SEL, but our BT has devised fun games and exercises for the kids to put their SEL knowledge into practice. It was so sweet to hear that my son's 4th grade class taught new recess games to the K/1 class! The BT's keep a close watch throughout the day, so the students are able to learn and play in a physically and emotionally safe environment. When conflicts arise, the staff is there to help the students resolve the issue in an appropriate way. We get daily reports, and twice monthly newsletters sharing what he's learning, so I know he's receiving a high quality education. If your child is at a school that is not meeting their needs, I encourage you to tour the Burkard School. It is truly a gem of a school!

We found TBS about three years ago and it is quite surprising that there aren't more schools for…read morebright kids who have significant social & emotional challenges, including mood disorders. We unfortunately found very little real understanding and expertise along the way, moving from program to program, from school to school, in every case deeply involved with the IEP process. Then we decided to try TBS. The results have been nothing short of amazing. Our student's self-esteem and emotional intelligence started to grow from the start and has continued to grow ever since. No more calls asking us to come quickly, the benefits to our entire household have been pretty incredible, across parents, siblings, and friends alike. When your student talks to you about how the kids at school are 'just like me', when they express a sense of belonging and common purpose to thrive in the face of big emotions, you can only smile and reflect on the journey. ...and imagine what it's like for other parents to understand you, understand your child, and understand so much of the details of the journey. The TBS community, made up of students, teachers, and parents is one that sees your child as deserving, powerful, and good.

Great place for children with disabilities of all types. The teachers are ALL professional and…read morehardworking. They are caring and patient, but will also push your child to strive and reach their potential and goals. I LOVE this place! I will continue to support this center! Thank you to all the teachers especially a WONDERFUL teacher named Ms. Patty!

Great Teachers and Staff. Both my boys attended here and are doing so well! Thank you to all who…read morework here and helped all our kiddos thrive!

Hiring Adrienne as an educational advocate for my daughter has been the best decision for my family…read moreand my daughter's right to an education. In the spring, I started the IEP process for my child, with concerns about dyslexia, autism, and pencil grip. Fast forward to the beginning of the next school year, and my daughter had been escaping the classroom. Since this was an "emotional issue," not a learning one, I was concerned I would not ask the right questions to get her help with her anxiety at school. Enter hiring Adrienne. When Adrienne reviewed our spring evaluations, she noticed several missing tests. She pointed out that if my daughter scored low in this, they should have done follow-up testing for that. The testing they missed conveniently showed all of the early signs of dyslexia. By the end of our last IEP meeting, my daughter now has services tailored to how she needs to learn for her visual perceptual skills and phonological processing delays. Adrienne even fought for additional time and won, adding additional goals. Adrienne asks clarifying questions to the IEP team that I would not have thought to ask. She does so in a friendly, professional manner. If you are contemplating hiring an advocate, please call Adrienne!

Adrienne has been amazing support for us during our son's IEP process and taking responsibility for…read morenavigating this difficult journey. She guided us along the way and made very good suggestions. She is responsive, trustworthy and dependable. I would recommend her to anyone who is struggling through school's IEP process and needs a competent education advocate. We are glad we found her!

This school is an absolute gem!! I cannot believe that we were lucky enough to find such a perfect…read moreeducational home for our younger daughter, who fits the "twice exceptional" (or multi-exceptional) profile perfectly. Anne Boswell was exceptional during the admissions process. Victoria Trevor is a fantastic and deeply caring school director and math teacher. We also love Mr. Aakash, Ms Ariel, Ms Katy, and everyone else there!

TLDR: best school I've ever seen. The amount of work they put into the emotional well-being of…read morekids is astonishing. Teacher-student ratio is 4 (students) to 1 (teacher), students cherish every minute of the school. Where do I start? Probably 2 years ago, in a public school, where my sweet, bright, curious, always friendly 7 y o turned into a severely depressed, school-hating, crazy-acting, constantly talking about self-harm sad little person. Every day I would receive emails from school saying that my son would go above and beyond trying to escape from English classes. At home, he would beg me day and night not to take him to school. For home much longer could I stomach that? I took him out, and put him in homeschooling. Diagnosed him for dyslexia (that was pretty obvious), and started working with him myself and with dyslexia tutors. And... that did not help much! He was so confident that there was something fundamentally wrong with him, and these special classes made him believe it even more. I tried to see if he would like a couple of small private schools, he made it very clear that he would not. I was at loss, but, luckily, his therapist recommended Athena, and we signed up for a summer camp. On the first day, I had to drag him there, he came back smiling and with a forgotten peace inside. A few more days of camp - and my happy, curious, confident kid was back again!! 1,5 years later, I still feel like crying as I am writing it. It, of course, took him about a year of Athena enrollment to truly believe that he can be anyone he wants, that dyslexia is actually a superpower (now, when they taught him to read, he can read upside down and mirrored text, that is indeed a dyslexia perk). He's made a lot of friends. Teachers adore him, and he loves them back. He reads everything now. I drive him from South San Jose to Palo Alto and back, 2 hours per day. I pay expensive tuition (more that half of what I make), and I regret nothing. I would like to add that every person that works at Athena is very kind, not just polite and smiling, but deeply caring about the students. There is a lot of 1-o-1 work with each child. Teachers prepare the topics that interest students. Students, that have even deeply traumatized by their learning experience somewhere else, thrive. Thank you so much, Athena founders, teachers, and administration, for making this heavenly school.

We've had a really positive experience with Ascent Autism…read more My teenage son has always struggled socially, especially with starting conversations and knowing what to say in group settings. He's a smart kid, but social situations have never come naturally to him, and he would usually avoid them if he could. After joining the Ascent social peer group, we started noticing changes that honestly surprised me. At first, he was quiet in the sessions, but over time he became more comfortable and started participating more. He's definitely more confident now than he was a few months ago. One of the biggest things we've noticed is that he's more willing to talk to people outside of our immediate family. Recently we had relatives visiting, and instead of disappearing into his room, he actually sat with everyone and joined the conversation. That may sound small, but for us it was a huge moment. The facilitators are patient and supportive, and they do a great job keeping the conversations structured without making it feel forced or uncomfortable. My son actually looks forward to the sessions, which I never expected. We're really grateful we found Ascent and would absolutely recommend it to other families who are looking for support with social confidence and real-life communication skills.

We had an intake interview with one of their people to assess my 17 year old son for a fit in their…read moresocial program. The interviewer was not personable at all. She didn't introduce herself or attempt to engage my son in conversation. She read her script and asked her questions, barely looking up from what I assume was her computer. The 30 minute session was over in 15 minutes and was really just awkward. I am concerned that someone with the social skills exhibited would be adept at modeling behavior that would assist anyone in improving their social skills. The very first thing addressed was the cost of the sessions which while understandable, combined with the lack of introduction or trying to set anyone at ease much less my ASD son, made me feel as though improving my sons well being wasn't their first interest. In a world where everyone has a service to sell, how a potential customer is treated is tantamount. The potential customer should leave an assessment feeling hopeful, not like hopeless. It looks like they have had one review in a year and it was positive. Hopefully that means someone has benefited. However, we will continue to seek services elsewhere.

I came here with my son for a special event. The place is spacious and there were a lot very unique…read morelarge scale toys for children to play with along with many helpful staff members. There are many developmental toys and activities which the children had a blast exploring. The space was very clean and well organized! I saw the staff actively tidying the space, assisting with the different payment features, and engaging the children. They offer memberships, as well host private events and various therapies that are held on site. It's a one stop shop. Their memberships can be covered by the Regional Center or funded through Self Determination program, but of course, you can pay of pocket. The owner Lindsay is extremely knowledgeable and helpful! This San Ramon location is their first location, but have since expanded to two more sites in Berkeley and Belmont. They also have tables for parents to have a break or work at which is very thoughtful. When I went also had a smaller tot area as well as an inclusive, larger space for all. Overall, this is a wonderful facility that fosters inclusion and a welcome addition to the area.

We checked out the San Ramon location and had a great experience. Marisa was really welcoming &…read morehelpful with explaining the equipment and the programs that are available. We Will definitely be back.

Dr. Bylund assessed my teenage daughter who was struggling with test taking and other school work…read more She had to work 10 times harder than her peers to get decent grades and we were concerned about how she would manage in college in a couple years. Her issues weren't severe enough for any teachers or school officials to notice and she was at risk of slipping through the cracks. Dr. Bylund conducted a thorough assessment and provided us with not only answers as to what she was dealing with, but a comprehensive plan of practical suggestions to help her succeed. Understanding her learning issues and how to help her made such a difference. In fact, she used the strategies in college and graduated with honors. She now works a special education teacher as a way to help other students reach their full potential. I highly recommend Dr. Bylund!

Dr. Bylund is a powerful advocate for children and people with learning disabilities. His knowledge…read moreas a former school site and district professional, allows him to provide the best advocacy and evaluation for your child. This is a huge difference. There are so many Neuropsychologists who can evaluate for Dyslexia or learning disabilities, however, many of them have mostly clinical experience and have never been at the school or district level. Dr. Bylund understands learning differences, he can help explain how these differences are impacting your child at school. He can help advocate for your child. We were specifically seeking a licensed, Neuropsychologist who was expert in Dyslexia and who would be willing evaluate our child, attend IEP meetings, and also be willing to ultimately go with us to court if our fight to help our son get placement in private school was not successful. After looking for a Dyslexia Expert for about 8 mos, we had called many well-known Neuropsychologists up and down the SF Bay Area Peninsula, San Francisco, and greater Bay Area, and though many are licensed, they were not willing to testify in court as an expert in Dyslexia. Many were willing to charge me 2-4x's what Dr. Bylund charges, but they would not stand up for my child at IEP meetings or testify as an expert. They merely wanted money to evaluate my child but not speak up for him. Dr. Bylund's evaluation was thorough and he was more reasonably priced than so many. He is professional, kind, and most importantly, an expert at evaluating your child. He impressed everyone with his knowledge about learning differences and Dyslexia at my son's IEP meetings. My educational attorney and educational advocate refer all of their clients to Dr. Bylund. Even if you live out of the area, call or contact Dr. Bylund.

Very good personalized care from people who truly want to see your children succeed. They also…read morehave PrTMS services to go along with their ABA clinic.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of kids that need ABA services, but thank God there's Genesis to help…read morethe kids and families. The care is amazing for all the staff and families.