Stanbridge Academy

Excellent small school for kids with learning differences. Strong emphasis on social support as well as academics. There are so many social opportunities here that my son feels like he belongs!! He feels like he has friends and looks forward to going to school each day. He literally prefers school days to weekends and holidays. My son is in the high school. There are dances, clubs, sports and after school movies, a pool party that kids can attend. The school also has outdoor education at the beginning of the year and a week long experiential trip at the end that might include life skills training (e.g., learning to ride public transit, manage money at restaurants, plan menus, shop at grocery stores and more). Class size is small to ensure that students get plenty of attention and teachers know each student very well. Highly recommend this school for kids who are not getting the attention they need from public school or larger independent schools. We have been very happy. more

Stanbridge is a terrific school for students with mild to moderate learning differences. The incredible teachers like working with these students, and it is obvious in the connections they build with the students. The teachers are able to differentiate education and challenge the students. My child has been there 6 years and is now in high school. He has close friends, is engaged and excited about what he is learning, and has learned to be more resilient and better at problem solving. He has made more progress here than he would have being fully included in a top public school in our district. Absolutely the best thing we ever did for our son and our family was to send him to this school. Students do not become more independent by having higher STAR test scores. Students become more independent by being a part of a community and having teachers and staff address the bigger picture of education, not just test scores. more

Good: The faculty at Stanbridge is truly dedicated to the academic and social needs of every individual student there. They have small class sizes with no more than 8 students in each class which my son truly benefits from. The level of instruction is personalized to his strengths and the teachers use a variety of resources and technologies to help him reach his potential. His teachers are always available to talk whenever I have a question. After many false starts elsewhere, Stanbridge has been a lifesaver!. Bad: There is very little not to like at Stanbridge. The tuition can be expensive, but I know they provide financial assistance to some families. After trying some other schools, my son was never able to find success like he has at Stanbridge. It is a wonderful investment and worth every penny!. Other: Stanbridge is a fantastic resource for families with special needs students (my son is an "Aspie") They have a great staff and wonderful counselors and resource faculty. We discovered this school last year and wish we would have found it earlier. A hidden gem!. more

Good: The faculty at Stanbridge is truly dedicated to the academic and social needs of every individual student there. They have small class sizes with no more than 8 students in each class which my son truly benefits from. The level of instruction is personalized to his strengths and the teachers use a variety of resources and technologies to help him reach his potential. His teachers are always available to talk whenever I have a question. After many false starts elsewhere, Stanbridge has been a lifesaver!. Bad: There is very little not to like at Stanbridge. The tuition can be expensive, but I know they provide financial assistance to some families. After trying some other schools, my son was never able to find success like he has at Stanbridge. It is a wonderful investment and worth every penny!. Other: Stanbridge is a fantastic resource for families with special needs students (my son is an "Aspie") They have a great staff and wonderful counselors and resource faculty. We discovered this school last year and wish we would have found it earlier. A hidden gem!. more

I highly recommend that parents take a look at Stanbridge Academy for their students with learning disabilities or executive function deficits. I am the parent of a high school student with Aspergers Syndrome in his third year at Stanbridge after attending two other independent, special needs schools in the Bay Area. While there is no such thing as a perfect school (just as there are no perfect parents), we believe that Stanbridge is the best educational environment for our son with the highest concentration of committed, energetic teachers who really engage, understand and care about the kids. In particular, Stanbridge is the first school where the administration and teachers made an effort to address my son’s strength in math in addition to his deficits, going so far as to set up a class with just 4 students who were ready for high school math in 7th and 8th grade. My heart goes out to the parents who posted negative reviews on this site; I know what it’s like to find your child in a situation that doesn’t work for him or her. Finding the right school fit for any learning disabled student and family expectations is critical and challenging. While I don’t doubt the validity of someone else’s experience, my own has been that Stanbridge is a wonderful school with teachers, counselors, therapists and other professionals committed to educating and bringing out the best in our children with integrity and respect for their individuality. Tuition is high, but necessary to cover the cost of a low student to teacher ratio, experiential program, and ancillary services provided by the school (speech therapy, counseling, assistive technology, etc.). My son commutes to Stanbridge with two other students every day from Oakland even though there are other closer alternatives. The time and effort of the 70 mile roundtrip commute, however, is more than worth it for what Stanbridge does for my son. more

We couldn't be happier with Stanbridge. I don't think we could find a better place for our LD son on the West Coast. In fact students come from as far away as Marin, Oakland, Hayward, and Campbell. There have been a number of outstanding teachers added in the last few years and the program is really blossoming. You should definitely visit and ask for parent references. You may even be able to get your school district to pay the tuition. The school is near capacity. Many of the grade levels are nearly full and openings over the next few years may be very limited. more

Our child was here for several years, and we pulled out due to major dissatisfaction over the course of the last year. Many of the beloved, seasoned teachers have left or been let go in an effort to mold the school into a more "mainstream, accredited" school. In an effort to raise test scores many of the kids who are being admitted had more emotional and behavioral problems as opposed LD issues. There was little social support outside of the classroom (i.e. lunch time), and for LD kids this is imperative! My child was shoved by another student and hit his head on the pavement. I was never called or notified, even though the offending child was suspended! The tuition was exorbitant considering much of the "experientials" had been reduced or cut all together. We certainly weren't paying for the high quality academics, so we were disappointed. They were also constantly fund raising. Almost all focus was on the high school and most extra circulars focused on them. Very little focused on the lower grades. The head of school was very indifferent. She would be very receptive to take your feedback, but nothing would ever come of it. But the absolute worst of it was that our child did not progress academically at all. Not only did our child not progress, he regressed! We feel we wasted years of schooling and dollars that could have been better allocated elsewhere to progress his strengths and alleviate his challenges. We've found a much better school now, and our child has made incredible progress since leaving Stanbridge Academy. more

You're desperate. The choices are between home schooling and a dysfunctional public venue. Stanbridge would appear a possible (albeit expensive) solution to your problem. I say "appear" because there are soooo many issues with this school I barely know where to start. It has such an amazing potential that it is truly heartbreaking that they don't have their act together. From the lack of talent/training in some of the key people, to the fact that there are infrequent progress evaluations (in LD? that's an essential!!)Stanbridge has lost much of its past trajectory. I should not use this forum to name names and I'm too incredibly irritated to even start, but I will say that the kids who actually need this school are wasting valuable time by not receiving adequate interventions. It's a beautiful old building with lots of homey charm. Don't let it confuse you. Elementry classrooms were renovated a few years ago and allow less space to kids who need just the opposite. Bullying is a major issue. I can't hit all of the problems here....they really need a educational specialist to do a complete evaluation with input from families, and I'm NOT talking about the board. When did this school become a private project for a few wealthy families? If they are such BIG time funders, how come the tuition is so steep? If you are among the parents forced into finding a place where your child will get the help he/she needs, God speed and good luck. There are a very limited amount of choices out there. Look long. Look hard. Look else where. more