Testimonials
Arbor Bay School parent Faith Clarke
My son is currently in the fifth grade at Arbor Bay School. He started at ABS in second grade. Until he started ABS, he demonstrated poor impulse control and was often fidgety and even disruptive in class. He had great difficulty with focus and attention and was not engaging in the learning process or even with his peers.
Fortunately, we discovered Arbor Bay School. At ABS my son is in a classroom with approximately 12 students and three qualified teachers. This enables him to receive the individualized attention he so needs. The low teacher to student ratio forces him to stay more focused. The teachers understand his need for frequent movement breaks. They encourage his personal interests and incorporate them into the lesson plan when possible. I like the fact that every opportunity is capitalized on to foster language and social skills.
It's exciting to see that my son has made very good progress in many areas while at ABS. Most importantly, he likes to go to school, and has become interested in learning. Arbor Bay School feels like a real community and has been a very welcoming place for both my son and me.
Arbor Bay School parent Jerri Jensen
Arbor Bay School has changed the trajectory of my child's future. In a holistic environment that embraces the unique gifts, interests, and challenges of every child, the team at Arbor Bay has applied the breadth of considerable expertise and passion to determining what would spell success for my daughter. Claire's prior educational experience was marked by ever-increasing assaults on her self-esteem, and weakening attempts to appropriately address her complex needs. Today, after years of diminishing results in other classroom settings, Claire is flourishing socially, academically, and emotionally. She is proud of herself and her ever-appreciated accomplishments, and she respects and appreciates those around her-in sharp contrast to her sense of herself before she arrived at this innovative school.
Arbor Bay School parent Irene Olivera
Why did I send Madi to school 36 miles from home, an hour plus with traffic each morning and an hour home... instead of sending her to her local special education class? Why are we crossing a bridge each morning to drive her to school and leaving our son in daycare just to make sure Madi is given a chance? Why? Because there is no other school like Arbor Bay School for my Apraxic child.
When Madi arrived at Arbor Bay School she began for the first time to thrive. Within three months of participating in the Arbor Bay School program, combined with the speech and occupational therapy offered, she actually told me she loved me for the first time. One day in December, 2006 she came to me and said, "I Love You". Madi's teacher, Mrs. Emily King, taught my daughter to say "I Love You" to ME! I was thrilled; she had never said that before. I guess I never taught my daughter to tell me, "I Love You," because of her struggle with speech. But Emily taught her, and they have taught her so much more. That was just the beginning and it assured me she would be able to communicate with me.
Madi continues to thrive. Her Apraxia is pretty severe, yet she is able to communicate if you are willing to listen. She has an incredible personality and she is full of life. Her disability doesn't bring her down, rather it lifts her up. And the teachers at Arbor Bay School make her feel like she has no disability. Madi doesn't realize she's any different than anyone else.
I would love for a school like Arbor Bay School to be located in my area so we had more local friends and there was less of a drive. If there were a local school where all of the therapeutic services were provided on a daily basis, and everyone working with my child discussed her progress weekly or bi-weekly, that would be great. But because there is not, we drive the hour commute to Arbor Bay School.
I feel like Madi didn't start school until she arrived at Arbor Bay School. This is her 5th year there, and I will continue to fight for her to stay at Arbor Bay School.
Arbor Bay School parents Lee and Pete Caraher
Arbor Bay is a special and unique school in the Bay Area and in all of Northern California. We chose to place Liam at Arbor Bay after an exhaustive search for the right school, with the right philosophy, the right curricula, and the right teachers ready and more than willing to work with every student in ways that will help each one reach their potential. In his fourth year at the school, Liam has made tremendous progress in every discipline, beyond everyone's expectations. We attribute this to the incredible dedication of and collaboration among all of the teachers, therapists and administrators at the school. We feel Arbor Bay is in Liam's corner, and does everything it can to help him grow - from working with us (his parents), coordinating therapies with our varied private therapists and working with the school district to ensure he gets what he needs. We are thrilled to be a part of the Arbor Bay School Community.
Arbor Bay School parent Dori Tanaka
Before we found Arbor Bay School, we had watched with dismay as our bright and happy boy shut down and even regressed in another school setting. We searched seemingly everywhere for something that at first didn't seem to exist: a place where a bright child with complicated and significant communication disorders could learn and thrive.
We found that place at Arbor Bay School. Our son arrived at Arbor Bay School thinking that school was a place where trying to talk was pointless, where he had no interest in participating, and where he was essentially lost. Within a short time after starting at Arbor Bay School, this began to change. With the wonderful environment at the school, the staff's multi-sensory approach, and the close collaboration between teachers and specialists, we soon saw our son begin to flourish. Experts who had seen him in the previous setting told us that in the Arbor Bay classroom he "looked like a different child" and that it was "like night and day."
We got back the happy, bright child we had previously known, and things took off from there. Now he loves school (we can hardly get him to leave at the end of the day), he raises his hand with enthusiasm, he speaks to teachers and friends with confidence, and he actually requests to do the fine motor tasks which he had previously dreaded. We have seen his academic strengths cultivated and have seen often amazing improvement in his areas of need. We truly can't say enough about this wonderful school.