Our family was let down by First Discoveries Academy. From the outside, the venue appears to be a…read moredream school, especially for those kids who have special needs and might struggle in mainstream schools. We took a tour of the place in July with Cindy, the owner. Cindy and I all agreed it would be a good fit for our child, even though my husband had a bad feeling about the place, so we paid a $500 deposit to hold her spot, with a starting date on September 1. Cindy gave me the information for the scholarship to pay for the (very expensive) school fees. I obtained and provided the required documentation to the scholarship program and was approved for the scholarship. After that, I shelled out another $130 for school supplies on a list I had to acquire myself on their difficult-to-navigate website. Cindy then informed me that I would receive a conference call to educate me on the inclusion program, but, that call never came. A few days before our child was to begin school, I took her for a two-hour visit (they require a visit before the child is able to attend school) and dropped off the $130 worth of school supplies. When I went back to pick her up, Cindy informed me that our child needed ABA to be able to attend the facility, as it was part of the "inclusion program". Again, the program she said she would call to speak to me about, but never did. I said that was fine and that we would sign up for ABA and pay out of pocket until we were able to get it approved through our insurance. Cindy said she would send the referral to the ABA provider, and someone would reach out to me soon. She said I could leave my school supplies, since our child would be able to attend her school in the near future. Well, weeks passed by, and I heard nothing. I called the school several times over a course of two or three days before I finally got ahold of Cindy for an update. She stated that there may have been a technical issue when she sent the referral over to the ABA provider, so she would send it again. In other words, she forgot to, just like she forgot to call me about the inclusion program. Again, more time went by with no communication, whatsoever, so, after putting a lot of effort towards contacting Cindy again, she finally wrote me an email saying there's a waiting list for ABA. I said we would wait a little longer, as I really, really wanted our child to attend this school. Weeks went by with no communication, so, reality finally sank in for me, and we decided to not let this place waste any more precious early childhood time, so I began the process of enrolling our child into a different school. I informed Cindy via email that we were disappointed with her lack of communication and for wasting time, and that I had located another program for our child. I requested our deposit back, as well as our school supplies, and stated that my husband or myself would come by and pick them up. Cindy finally responded and unapologetically offered to mail me a check for our deposit, along with $100 for the school supplies. So, that means they used our things without our permission. What would have happened if our child began school at First Discoveries and she had no supplies because they had the audacity to use (steal) our possessions? So, after stating that the supplies were worth $130, and that they didn't have permission to use our things, but we would accept Cindy's offer of the deposit plus $100, here I am waiting for our shorted refund. Too bad we can't receive a refund for our time, emotions, and effort this place wasted. Perhaps this is a blessing in disguise because now I know why my husband had a bad feeling, and I would never trust this place with my child. Learned my lesson.
