I bought multigrain bread made by Rising Stars Academy at the Metropolitan Variety Store in…read moreDetroit's West Village. The bread was delicious and healthy. I'll definitely be buying more. I have previously mentioned the wonderful products made by Dutton Farms, a special education school in Rochester Hills. The products that their students make, like soap, hand sanitizer, and lip balm, are superior to anything made by mega conglomerates. I am also happy to support Rising Stars, another amazing special education school for adults with disabilities located in Center Line. The multigrain bread was fresh and tasty. It's also cheaper than any of the healthy bread you'll find at places like Whole Foods. I am happy to support a locally owned variety store like Metropolitan that sells products from schools like Rising Stars. I hope that more people choose locally made products created by programs that benefit the community over food made by corporate factories with questionable labor and safety practices!

From the owner: Bakery, Food production facility, restaurant, catering - all within the confines of a school that…read moreis dedicated to giving opportunities for employment for students with special needs.

Love this store and the work they do with young adults with developmental disability in our…read morecommunity. The new location at 15415 Jefferson is so beautiful! It's bright, open and chock full of gorgeous gently used clothing at remarkable prices. If you haven't seen it, you need to get there!

I love this little store and always walk out of there with something. It's a resale store that is…read moresupported by the Full Circle Foundation to give youth / young adults with learning disabilities an opportunity to work in the community. Because it's in the Pointes, the caliber of clothes there is pretty nice. They must weed out any schlocky stuff because it's all nice and frequently high end. In the last month I walked out of there with Franco Sarto boots for $5, multiple Ann Taylor & Banana Republic & J Crew sweaters, nice shirts & tops, you get the idea. They have some kind of 'special' every day, whether it's 50% off, buy one get one, or my favorite recently, everything for a buck. That's right, a buck. If you're not too embarrassed to shop at a resale store, come on by. Finally, the youth that work there are so nice and are really happy to help you out. So not only are you getting a bargain, you're supporting a great organization.

We are in our third year here and love our school! The staff and administrators are wonderful and…read moreso caring. My child has ADHD and has struggled with learning to read and I've had very positive experiences with all of her teachers along with help she gets daily from a reading interventionist. There's so much focus on community and I love that. My younger kids ask almost every day when they get to go to the school like their big sister. There are so many ways to be involved and I love the diversity of the families we get to be involved with.

Run away from this place…read more Their teacher, in the Beech room, physically assaulted my 5 year old son by digging her nails into the inside of his wrist and yanking him to the floor forcefully. My son also shared that this teacher always digs her nails into him hard when she grabs him. I told administrators, the principal, and superintendent they wanted to cover it up. Black parents please beware before sending your child here. Other Black parents have told me that their children were called the "n" word and nothing was done by the staff or superintendent. This school is violent and the children are left screaming and yelling at eachother with no adult intervention. The staff is rude and quite unprofessional. There are suppose to be peace meetings, but there is no peace when there are 5,6,7,8 year olds in one classroom with one teacher and the 8 year olds are grabbing the 5 year olds to yell at them in the corner while teachers sit by and watch. This is not montessori. This is chaos. The 5 year olds are left crying while the teacher barely pays attention to rest of class because they are so overwhelmed. This is a violent place. My childs life will never be the same because of this place.

Maria was a life saver! Some back-story, I was at my wits…read moreend dealing with the middle school when my son started having severe behavioral issues after entering the 6th grade. It got so bad I was receiving 3-4 calls/emails almost every day- disrupting my work and my peace. IEP meetings were occurring but ultimately ineffective and nothing seemed to be improving. He was not getting an education and the school did not want him there or wanted to seclude him for disruptive behaviors. After Maria got involved, she came to me with a specific plan of what we needed to target for IEP changes. She was involved for several meetings and ultimately helped me get my son placed in a therapeutic school. Not an alternative school but an actual private therapy school and the school district paid. He is now in the 7th grade, almost a full year-in and thriving. She was truly a blessing for me and my son!

From the owner: Student Advocates represent the best interests of a child with a disability in the public school…read moresetting. They ensure that their educational rights are being met including their right to FAPE (a Free and Public Education). If a child with a disability is not making meaningful educational progress, they can assist by collaborating with parents and the school district to better the situation for that child. While an advocate is not a lawyer and cannot provide legal advice, their expertise and knowledge surrounding the civil rights and educational rights of children guided by the state and federal laws can be invaluable to a parent that does not have that background. Navigating this complex process is very overwhelming and intimidating to most. The average person may not be skilled and knowledgeable enough to obtain the optimal outcomes best suited for their child. I have personally walked this road with my own child for years now. I learned the hard way trying to do this on my own. Looking back now I wish I had sought help with student advocacy early on. I advocate for all children needing accommodations or special educational services at school. All children deserve to learn and thrive to the best of their abilities regardless of their disability or learning differences. Parents should feel confident that the school district and staff collaborates productively with them in developing a 504 Plan or IEP specific to their child's needs and situation.

Nancy Kaufman is a true professional. She reviewed our grandson's current speech session and…read moreinvited him and his current speech therapist in for additional help. She spent quality time evaluating and working with our grandson's current speech while we watched in a 2 way mirror. Our therapist took notes and stated how helpful this will be going forward in fixing the apraxia my grandson has. We are so grateful to have a path. Nancy is so kind and we appreciated her time and attention. Highly recommend!

We waited more than a year, and got a call from a coordinator just to be told "Don't send your kid…read morehere", "We are not miracle workers". We had to make a very dramatic entrance to the clinic because we had to put up a fight. After starting speech & OT, we were then greeted by very unhelpful insurance coordinator. Our child is not on the spectrum so he didn't have unlimited access to therapies, which ultimately led us to pay completely out of pocket. One day we've learned how the speech therapists at KCC are in "trouble" if they can't get the kids to speak. That's why they wanted our son to go elsewhere because he was a severe case of apraxia and not a good "marketing material" for not being able to sell a success story in x amount of time. We have connected with other renowned speech therapy, and left for good. The kind that do not abandon therapies. It was the best decision we made for our son. It is also pretty odd that they are in this business for more than 30 years and they only have 13 google reviews.

I am an alumni of Divine Child high school ( class of 2024) and had an amazing experience. The…read moreteachers are so amazing and accommodating when it came to my learning disabilities. The Learning support program is truly amazing , which led me to have great success and graduate with honors. A lot of my favorite memories happened while I was a student at DC. It truly was a great catholic school education and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to be a student at DCHS.

My son attended Divine Child High School and graduated in 2016. Our family has nothing but high…read moreaccolades for the Divine Child education, faculty, staff, coaches, band director and priests. DC is the complete campus with the parish and elementary/high schools on one campus. With the addition of the new Alumni Athletic field in 2016, the campus is now the total package. The education offered is excellent. There are a wide variety of classes and extracurricular activities for every type of student. My son entered college with 22 college credits due to the advancement placement tests that he had taken. With a student body of approximately 851 students, DC is the right size to have an excellent High School experience for both the student and parent. Larry Bird