I've waited a long time to review our experience with Allegiance because what happened there…read moregenuinely affected my child and our entire family.
We came excited about the language, music, enrichment, and opportunities they advertised. Unfortunately, when my then 4-year-old began displaying behavioral challenges and signs of neurodivergence, we quickly discovered how ill-equipped the school seemed to be for a child who didn't fit neatly into their mold.
My child was FOUR YEARS OLD and suspended from school.
Instead of feeling like a team was trying to understand a very young child, we experienced escalating discipline, exclusion, poor communication, finger-pointing, and constant documentation of what he did wrong. Our child and family were made to feel like an anomaly and a problem they didn't know how to handle.
We weren't expecting them to figure it out alone. We brought our own professional BCBA, provided strategies, advocated for behavioral planning, and practically spoon-fed them interventions. Despite lacking comparable behavioral expertise themselves, they wouldn't allow our BCBA into the classroom to help. We never saw anything close to a consistent behavioral plan actually implemented.
Eventually, it felt like more effort was going into creating a paper trail than helping our child succeed. It escalated to CPS being called. The social worker found no basis for a case and expressed concern to us about the pattern of documentation and what appeared to be an effort to build a case against our family/child. Whatever ASA's intentions, we felt targeted rather than supported.
Again, this was a FOUR/FIVE-YEAR-OLD.
The consequences were real. My son began having nightmares. His self-esteem was destroyed. A bright, loving, curious little boy increasingly received the message that HE was the problem. The experience was heartbreaking and genuinely traumatic for our family.
There were a few amazing individuals at ASA who truly cared for my son, and I'll always appreciate them. Unfortunately, a few good people couldn't compensate for what felt like a dysfunctional, inexperienced system that was winging it when faced with needs outside its comfort zone.
The clearest confirmation came after leaving.
My son is now in public school and the difference is NIGHT AND DAY. His challenges didn't magically disappear; his current school is simply prepared to address them. They developed behavioral plans they ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT, use practical strategies to reduce maladaptive behaviors, provide 1:1 support from staff familiar with ABA principles, communicate collaboratively, and adjust interventions when needed. His current team was also surprised by aspects of his previous IEP, including its quality and subjective language used to describe him.
Most importantly, they see the whole child. They can address his blurting, impulsivity, and other challenges while ALSO recognizing his kindness, intelligence, giftedness, and potential. They appreciate our family's involvement rather than treating us as adversaries. Academically, they provided more challenging work from day one while still offering STEAM/robotics, art, and enrichment.
And my child is THRIVING.
That comparison has been incredibly validating. Experienced educators are supporting the same child ASA struggled so much to handle. They hold him accountable without making him feel inherently bad. They have practical ideas, actual plans, experience, and--most importantly--empathy.
ASA may work well for some children. But if your child has ADHD, neurodivergence, behavioral needs, an IEP, or a "high-functioning" disability, I strongly recommend asking detailed questions about their actual special-education and behavioral experience before enrolling. I've since heard similar concerns from other special-needs families.
For us, the language, music, and advertised extras were nowhere near worth the emotional cost. ASA often felt less like an established professional institution and more like an inexperienced pilot program figuring things out as it went--with my four-year-old caught in that learning curve.
For a school claiming to serve ALL students, our child certainly didn't feel included in that "all."
They never truly gave him a chance.
Today, the same child is thriving elsewhere. There are tears now too--but thankfully, they're tears of joy.
I only wish we could undo the trauma it took to get here. Thank God we left.
