Interview with The Study Academy PARENT, Carly Telpner

Her very specific needs were being met at the school in a way that I didn't even fully realize they could. I just knew that she would get a lot of very individualized attention in a very small classroom setting. And the teachers truly just understood what she needed and also helped her verbalize what she needed in terms of advocating for herself.

Conversations go really deep beyond just class size. It starts to go into what kind of accommodations are actually available, is the kid fully understood, is this going to be a safe emotional environment for my child when things are tough, with other students, or when there's social issues.

They both have two very different learning profiles and two very different psychoeducational assessment profiles, and they're both thriving within the school.

I know that my younger daughter especially counts the teachers as some of her greatest friends, and they are. They're wonderful allies.

They're wonderful at getting the most out of a child who does not have the same kind of motivations as other kids, being non-neurotypical. Like, if she doesn't want to do it, she's not going to do it. But somehow these teachers just get her, and they get the best work out of her.

Coming to The Study as a parent, you also feel validated in the sense of, yeah, this has been really hard. Like, there's a reason we're here. There's a reason we've come to The Study.

Every one of our kids is completely different, but all of us appreciate and understand and care about each other's kids… I've yet to see a school community like this, especially from the parents, in the sense that we're all in this together. It's such an understanding school community and parent community. 

It's not like a status quo where, "We've just always done it this way, so we're just going to keep doing it." They're always looking at ways to better serve the population and the parents.

The culture is very relaxed, yet on the ball in many ways. And so I find that, having two kids who were so different at the school, they were able to really relate to each kid and then relate to me.

The values are obviously inclusivity, being very caring, non-judgmental, just overall being a safe place for kids and parents. A very safe place for both to be exactly who they are.

Most kids who go to the school obviously have unique needs, and so there's kind of a special bond between all of us parents because we all have sort of experienced similar things in the education system, and also just in general as parents with kids who are not neurotypical.

Everybody's very approachable and understanding. And it's just a really lovely community of people who just kind of get it and get that it might not be conventional, but we can all make it work, and we can all make it a really great experience for our kids. So, it ends up being a really great community of people.

For my older daughter, she's come a long way in the sense that they've helped her. Here at home, we have helped, too. We've partnered with the school, but she is so good at advocating for herself and very proud of herself for being able to do that.

There are a lot of life skills that they help teach as well, and help instill that I know she would not have necessarily gotten elsewhere.

The Study is a unicorn of a school. They try to find kids who need that extra help and who they know are going to really benefit from the program.

They really see each of my kids for exactly who they are. Instead of trying to push them into a box, just finding the best way for them to succeed in life, not just at school, through looking at every avenue available to them.

Ask schools to connect you with other parents who might have kids who are similar to them, and have those real conversations. I've done it for quite a few families, and sometimes it's the right fit; sometimes it's not.