Everything that was mentioned in Laura C's review confirms our continued concerns about our son's experience at Spectrum, concluding with "Dr. Linda" (who DID demand that everyone, including parents, call her that) refusing to refund or defer payments we made when my son required surgery that kept him from attending 2 weeks that we previously paid for. Our son is someone who, if not asked repeatedly to do something, is perfectly content sitting in a corner, alone, reading or doing whatever he wants to do at that moment. He often does not seek interaction unless prompted to do so. With literally every other school and program he has been involved with, aside from Spectrum, we have been advised that the issues he has at home that my wife and I both see present themselves at school as well. However, at Spectrum, whenever myself or my wife came to pick him up, we were told that he did "great" and there was always a project that I know my son did not complete. Perhaps he did something rudimentary, but there was simply no way he did that - and this happened every week. It was as if they needed something tangible to prove to us that he was doing "great" and that he built something. Some days, I'd show up and they would be watching a movie. There was no understanding of exactly what was going on there, and my son - while very expressive on everything else he does - could not provide any explanation of what he did between the time we left him there and when we picked him up. To the point made by Laura C. about "no mommies," Dr. Linda was cold with both my wife and my son's twice-per-week caretaker in terms of leaving immediately on several occasions. This was all brought to a head when we paid for the last 2 weeks of camp this summer, but about a month later, my son required surgery that had to be scheduled during those 2 weeks. We called "Dr. Linda" to advise her that we would need to be refunded the tuition, stating that it was unforeseeable, and that we had paid in full and in advance for over a year. Her first response had no mention of my son's surgery, but was that I had called her during business hours (during which I advised the person who took the call that I knew it was during school hours, and she could call me back after school was over) and it took away from her "primary interest" of the children. Further, she said she prefers to respond by email, not a phone call. I responded by email, stating that it was odd and a bit ridiculous that she effectively stated that she did not return phone calls to parents of the children at the school, and reinterating our need for a refund. Her emailed response was simply "we don't give refunds." I asked again, and again, and her responses ranged from "that is our policy" to stating that the "Board" (which I can only assume is just Linda) would allow him to attend alternate weeks, which I told her was not an option prior. I told her that she was making a larger issue out of something that seemed so simple - my son needs surgery, we can't attend, we're paying customers, and it's just good business. I just had no idea why she simply wouldn't do the right thing. It was approximately $1K, which remains lost because we literally could not send him since he had to have the surgery. That, plus all of the other mitigating factors described above, require me to strongly warn all other parents considering Spectrum to look for alternative programs for their gifted children. There are others nearby. Don't settle on this one. read more
