Merlin Day Academy has been a wonderful, supportive place for our son. He has thrived there and we…read moreare grateful for all of the kindness and patience that the staff has showed to both him and all of the children. He has made real gains with using his AAC device and also learning strategies to help him control behavior. They have also presumed competence in his education and have helped him move up the ladder academically. He has benefitted from all of the therapy modalities and I have been impressed with everyone he's worked with: parapros, teachers, and therapists.

This is our 3rd year at Merlin; before that our son was at Blue Bird Day, a preschool also under…read morethe Eya's Landing umbrella. We have only had positive experiences at both schools. Merlin provides comprehensive therapeutic services, including ABA, ST, PT, OT, and Social Work, in addition to educational services. The staff are insightful, creative, patient, compassionate and fun, and my son absolutely loves his time at school. The learning mixed with therapeutic play is just right for him developmentally, and his therapists take a holistic approach to building social and academic, and other skills he'll need to function throughout life. As someone who taught for nearly a decade and has worked in school settings since, I can fully appreciate the level of individual attention he gets from his therapists and therapeutic assistants, the extensive communication with families to stay up to date on our goals for our child and to let us know how his day is going (including notes and photos throughout the day!). And mostly I appreciate that he is not just sitting around at a desk all day doing differentiated work--I he is active and thinking, engaged, and having fun as he builds new skills. I see the review from two and a half months ago, and I think the context there is important: hers was the very first child to transition from private insurance to ISBE funding, so it makes sense that she personally would have experienced the growing pains as they adjust to a different system. I can imagine that this is a steep learning curve, and I'd extend some grace to them as they figure it out. In our second year at the Avondale location, I'd say they have worked out a lot of kinks, and that this is a joyful place for my child to learn throughout the day. We have found it to be a godsend.

Mo is an amazing and knowledgeable advocate in her field. I would highly recommend her. She was a…read moregreat listener, understood al the in's & outs of the bureaucracy surrounding special needs. She helped us get our son's district to send him to a private therapy ASD school and have the district pay for it and transportation. She's a blessing for those of us who want to advocate for our kids but don't know how.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mo at a resource fair and hearing her presentation on IEP 101. She is…read morevery knowledgeable, thorough in reviewing and captures the important details to an IEP. Mo took the lead at the IEP meeting and was very helpful in communicating with the team on adjusting areas of the IEP, adding more information to the IEP and making recommendations for evaluations. This was my second time working/learning from Mo and I will continue to refer back to her when needed and for my next meetings.

Language program is great to get exposure to a different language and cultures, however, my…read morechildren did not become proficient, despite studying the language five days a week for many years.

I've been a LaSalle parent for 6+ years and it has been a wonderful experience. My kids are…read moresupported and engaged academically. The teachers, counselor, and admin truly care about the well-being of our students. The language teachers are all native speakers who are dedicated to their students learning a new language as well as world culture. I'm a former CPS primary school teacher and I can say, LaSalle is as good as it gets.