It has been over 1.5 years since my last review, and we love the school as much as we did when our child started school 2+ years ago! Everyone on staff has been incredibly easy and pleasant to collaborate with, and responsive to my questions. The school expanded over the summer to add 2 more classrooms, so that Burkard now has 6 classrooms: K/1, 2/3, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7/8th. Having experienced a few private schools and a public school between my 2 kids, I am confident this is the best environment for my child, for both academic differentiation and SEL support. It's often lamented that parents have to choose the least bad educational option for their 2e kids, but I truly believe this is a great option. We were fortunate enough to be with his amazing 2/3 teachers for 2 years, and have a new set of teachers we love this year, too. Speaking with parents across grades, they also think highly of their teaching teams. My son continues to thrive academically (measured by his overall engagement, as well as MAP testing), and we are very happy with the math differentiation he receives. Each year, I have been pleased with the attention and care the staff takes to make sure he's challenged at the right level. They take great care to plan engaging lessons across ELA, science, social studies and SEL, and incorporate hands on projects regularly to extend their learning. My son regularly shares interesting facts he learned in class! Math is a subject he continues to be passionate about, so I reach out to the school annually for math acceleration. He is given math assessments at the start of each year to determine the appropriate placement, and is given the option of joining a higher level class, or doing independent study in his classroom. We opted this year to have him join the higher level math class on a modified schedule, and we are grateful for the ability to choose the right option for him. The daily SEL teaching is also very well done. Many schools don't have the ability to go in-depth with SEL, but our BT has devised fun games and exercises for the kids to put their SEL knowledge into practice. It was so sweet to hear that my son's 4th grade class taught new recess games to the K/1 class! The BT's keep a close watch throughout the day, so the students are able to learn and play in a physically and emotionally safe environment. When conflicts arise, the staff is there to help the students resolve the issue in an appropriate way. We get daily reports, and twice monthly newsletters sharing what he's learning, so I know he's receiving a high quality education. If your child is at a school that is not meeting their needs, I encourage you to tour the Burkard School. It is truly a gem of a school! read more

We found TBS about three years ago and it is quite surprising that there aren't more schools for bright kids who have significant social & emotional challenges, including mood disorders. We unfortunately found very little real understanding and expertise along the way, moving from program to program, from school to school, in every case deeply involved with the IEP process. Then we decided to try TBS. The results have been nothing short of amazing. Our student's self-esteem and emotional intelligence started to grow from the start and has continued to grow ever since. No more calls asking us to come quickly, the benefits to our entire household have been pretty incredible, across parents, siblings, and friends alike. When your student talks to you about how the kids at school are 'just like me', when they express a sense of belonging and common purpose to thrive in the face of big emotions, you can only smile and reflect on the journey. ...and imagine what it's like for other parents to understand you, understand your child, and understand so much of the details of the journey. The TBS community, made up of students, teachers, and parents is one that sees your child as deserving, powerful, and good. read more

Our daughter was successful in public school until the 2nd grade. At that point, despite the good intentions of her behaviorist and teachers, she was experiencing tantrums from severe anxiety, eloping from school, and being ostracized in class and on the playground. When they went to implement the Zones of Regulation with her in class, they told her mid-tantrum, "get in the green zone, or else you will lose recess." Ha! We fought unsuccessfully to get social skills goals included in her IEP, after all, "she was doing fine academically." In the end, despite her robust IEP, she was running aground. Enter The Burkard School... For us, finding Burkard was a fluke. During a tour of another local special education school, I just so happened to overhear a couple talking about an open house they were attending that evening. We got to chatting, and I wound up joining them at the open house. There I listened to countless parents come to the front of the room and with teary eyes talk about their situation and children who sounded just like mine. I knew that night that this school was the one. It's four years later now, and you wouldn't be able to convince me that it wasn't divine intervention that led us here. Finally, my daughter was in an environment where she is understood and her strengths are celebrated. She is explicitly taught social emotional learning for an hour every day. She has a group of friends, and loves to go to school. She belongs to the Dungeons and Dragons club, the student-led Cat Club, writes for the Burkard student newspaper, and leads lessons on Greek and Latin root words. Every day isn't perfect, but when things get tough the teachers help and support her, and she is learning the skills she needs to self-regulate. She is a much more confident, happy, and self assured person than we ever imagined she could become all those years ago. When it hit the fan in public school we looked all over the Bay Area, but nothing felt quite right. We were looking for a unicorn. Could we find a school that celebrates student neurodiversity, provides flexible yet rigorous academics, explicitly teaches social emotional learning, helps students gain self regulation skills, gives them the opportunity to participate in extracurriculars, and have a social life without being labeled "that" kid? The answer is, yes! Burkard is it -- unicorns are in fact real. If you are looking for something else for your ND kid, I can't recommend The Burkard School enough. read more

Our now-third grader started at The Burkard School (TBS) after one nightmare of a month at an elite private school. He was disregulated, his anxiety was spiraling out of control, and his teacher's mission was to get him out of there, which showed in her treatment of him. We feel so lucky to have heard about TBS right away, because after just a few days at TBS our son did a near 180. Why TBS? For us it's the magical combination of small classes (max 10), carefully selected teachers, trained behavioralists in each classroom, and a founder/director who sees the good in every child that walks through the doors. In all honesty, TBS changed our lives. No more dreading phone calls from school, no more dragging him kicking & screaming into the classroom, no more being singled out or treated harshly because he's different. Our son has adhd & a severe anxiety disorder and at age 8 he knows he is someplace special, where he can learn more because he is taught so many SEL skills, where he can be somewhere safe & not be bullied, where he can thrive. I honestly don't know what we would have done without this place & I am so glad I never had to find out. read more

This is a truly fantastic school for a 2e child. Our child came to Burkard after a disaster of a 2nd grade in a top-rated public school. He's diagnosed on the autism spectrum, but the public school system isn't well designed for a child that's academically multiple years advanced and emotionally multiple years behind. The public school had effectively isolated my child, and we were preparing to have to homeschool him. The Burkard School has been an amazingly supportive place where he now thrives. He has friends in multiple grades and looks forward to going to school every day. We have seen huge transformations in his behavior at home and at school, and he's been successful in activities where he is surrounded by neurotypical kids (camp and clubs). The structure of TBS is integral to their success: very small class sizes (6-10 kids) and a dedicated behaviorist who co-teaches with the academic teacher. The kids get an hour of SEL instruction every day, based on the needs of the kids in the class, and the behaviorist is always there to support whoever needs it during other lessons. The staff emphasizes empathy and to not be judgmental towards each others' difficulties, which makes it an exceptionally supportive environment. When my son does have a bad moment, he knows that he'll still be accepted by his classmates and the staff, and he bounces back quickly. He feels safe at TBS. He learns so much from his peers' struggles as well (ranging from anxiety to ASD to ADHD), and they regularly converse about what is difficult for each other with a shared vocabulary and understanding. TBS has also been great academically. They've adapted to cater to my son's needs in subjects where he's particularly advanced, such as skipping him ahead in mathematics. In all subjects though, they just get through more material than I ever saw happening in the public school. They accomplish this through having a very consistent schedule and small class sizes. This means the kids know what's coming, and so there's very little "hurry-and-wait" time; they can get right to the next topic and can move at the speed of a small number of students. In the event of an atypical day (field trips, parties, or testing days), they do a great job of front-loading the kids to make it smooth and turning it into an SEL exercise. Honestly, it's also just been great to have a community of parents and teachers that understand the needs of these kids. I feel like my son can attend play-dates now without me worrying about how the other parents will react if he has a rougher moment.This school didn't just bring him a community, but it brought one to our entire family. read more

Burkard and Agapi are amazing, caring, supportive and so willing to help. Our son has been there for several years and is thriving and now ready to move on - I could not recommend it more highly if you have a child who is struggling in a typical school environment. read more

The Burkard School has been the perfect place for our "twice-exceptional" (2e) daughter who is very bright but struggled for years at a better known private school until we realized that the problem was not with her but with her school fit. She is thriving at The Burkard School due to its small classes (no more than 10 students in a class), the quality and quantity of its faculty (a teacher and behavioral specialist in each classroom), and its academic and SEL curricula. While it doesn't have the physical facilities of more established schools, it does have a trampoline and quiet area in each classroom, and my daughter is now happy, confident, and learning, which she wasn't at her prior school. I highly recommend the school to parents of bright children who aren't doing well at mainstream schools (whether due to ASD, ADD/ADHD, DMDD, PANS/PANDAS, or other unnamed variations in emotional regulation or executive function). Many of the parents talk about how their children were frequently disciplined at their previous school or ostracized but now love school and have friends. My advice, if your child is unhappy at their current school, is to not wait for a scheduled open house at other schools but to email to arrange a phone call or meeting with the director. If it seems like a potential match, the next steps might be talking with other parents or for your child to "shadow" for a few days. While we weren't planning to do a mid-year school change, after shadowing, my daughter didn't want to return to her old school, so she kept shadowing at Burkard until we were able to schedule visits to other schools (ruling them out) and enroll her. Many other children join mid-year. For those wondering how it compares to other schools that serve idiosyncratic children, its focus is on bright children (ones who are capable of performing at or above, often far above, grade level), it is not equipped to handle learning disorders such as dyslexia and dysgraphia (except possibly if they were secondary to other issues that kept them from learning), and it is not for students who need a more therapeutic environment, such as Esther B. Clark. read more

This school provides a life changing experience for students that find a standard school environment challenging - if your child is neurodiverse such as ADHD, spectrum etc, you'll know that a class size of 30 where the expectation is to sit still, follow instructions immediately, etc, doesn't work. Ever since our child joined The Burkard School his experience of learning has changed incredibly, the support he's given in growing socio-emotionally, in an environment that accepts and supports him, means he's developing a love of learning, growing academically, while also building the skills to be able to succeed in the future in a more standardized school environment. The care and attention the teachers and behavioral specialists show to the kids is incredible. I can't thank Agapi, the TBS team, and the TBS community enough for the environment and program they provide, it's something I think every school should incorporate. read more

TBS is truly a gem that we found and lucky for my son, it seemed THE school for him when I had the school tour. I heard there is no school in the entire Boston that has a behavioral specialist in each classroom. Problem statement: we were looking for a school for my son who has ADHD/ anxiety, academically he is at and slightly above his grade level. He tends to get angry and irritable easily and may at times said something hurtful and had hard time making friends in our neighborhood huge public school. (Note: he had more friends when school was in distant learning as he had friends at Footsteps, he was warmly welcomed by some kids when he spent his entire day there.) My son was delighted as he learnt about (special education) schools that give more breaks and give space for kids to regulation their emotions. Upon quietly listening from a mom's testimony of her own son's transformation after switching to one, he came in terms of leaving his best friend, the only school life he knew of (K-3 in public school) and shadowed at Burkard, ready for the big change. I seconded all the reviews about the passion behind the Burkard staff who treated our kids with empathy and patience. Second of all, I also agreed that the small class size with carefully selected teachers, the explicit SEL class and after school social group that covers every faucet of social learning has tremendously helped my son. From the beginning, I could see the big difference in his plummeted anxiety while he was shadowing for those few days. Now, I think the mental health aspect of the school program (e.g. recycling negative thoughts) may have helped even more than his therapist whom he only sees weekly, but we will never know. Now, let me tell you something more! In Burkard, no kid sit alone in the playground! The staff organized group play with the foam blocks and scooter boards during lunch break. My son on his second day of shadow decided to join the other kids to play. There are friendly kids who are keen to inviting the newbie to play. My son claimed that he know every single kid at Burkard after shadowing (It may be only the lower grades). He said he loved Burkard and felt at home. Being treated as an enrolled student, he participated in the yearbook. He already met his goal of two new friends while shadowing! From my son's comments, he is never judgmental to other kids' struggles, he perceived that with understanding. I felt that he is also accepted as who he is during birthday party interactions. In extended care, my son received lots of attention. (He usually does less well in unstructured time due to understimulation). But lucky for him, he really likes the enrichment programs of Dungeon and Dragons, cooking, robotics, coding and theatre. He wrote his own skit and did a show with his friends. It is no wonder after his rave reviews, his 1st grader sister who does not have needs also insisted on transferring to Burkard. Last but no least, upon my son's description of the hands-on science class makes me interested to sit in the classroom and attend class as well. read more

This school has been a lifesaver and couldn't be a better match for our son. After a few years in public school, it quickly became apparent it was not going to be a good long term fit. We toured many different schools who we thought would meet his needs and were saddened when we didn't get in. There was a reason. And that reason is TBS. This entire school is dedicated to the social emotional well being of kids like mine, while also focusing on academics. To me SEL is a critical life skill and TBS has far exceeded our expectations. I can't recommend highly enough. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. read more

The Burkard School is an incredible institution, with a strong, purposeful mission to help kids with social and emotional challenges achieve their fullest potential. Agapi and her staff are incredible, and there is a genuine sense of community and support amongst the educators and SEL specialists. What you'll also find is that there is also a strong parent community. We've all "been through it" at different levels, struggling to find the right place for our kids to thrive, and it's a relief to find others who can relate with you. "Empathy" is a word that embodies everyone you come into contact with. We honestly don't know what we'd do if hadn't found TBS, but we are very thankful to be a part of this community. read more

This school is a great place for a child that struggles with confidence, anxiety or not always aware of social ques. Small class sizes. Teacher's and staff support is above and beyond expectations. Personalized approach to each student. Family support. Great academics. Homework club! The Burkard community transformed our child's behavior, improved child's self- esteem, and strengthened family relrelationships. So glad we have found this school. read more

The Burkard School is an amazing place. Our son is charismatic, bright, and funny but he struggles with ADHD, mood disorder, anxiety and depression. When we found TBS we told our kiddo "this is a school for bright kids with big feelings - just like you". And after two years at TBS I can honestly say this school has saved our lives. Before coming here we switched schools every year, hoping to find a better fit for our wonderful little boy. The public school system does not know how to handle children with behavioral challenges. In 1st grade the public school assigned our son a full-time aid, which did help him do what he was told so the teacher could get through the day - but it wasn't a solution for our child. The aid did not teach him coping skills, and I was horrified to learn that one day she let him "cry it out" for an hour rather than helping him work through the challenge. When we found TBS it was like a dream come true. Small class sizes ensure academic content is more individualized, caring staff create trust with the children, and the integrated SEL and behavioral support is life-changing. TBS understands the difference between equity and equality, and accepts our family as part of the community. Our son's self esteem has gone way up, he is learning to deploy coping skills independently at home, and now he loves going to school every morning. We couldn't be happier. read more

TBS has been nothing short of life-changing for our family. Our son is a very bright student who had struggled with attention, sensory processing, and social issues. He thrives in the small class sizes and the personalized approach to learning at TBS. In the past few years we have seen him blossom into a leader who loves helping teachers and students. The teachers at TBS are highly skilled and completely committed to the children's development. There's also a really great parent community. read more