Bay Area Special Needs Schools
AchieveKids serves over 100 children, aged 5 to 22, at their campuses in San Jose and Palo Alto. They educate children with a wide range of special needs, including autistic spectrum disorder, mental retardation, mood disorders, disruptive behavioral disorders, anxiety disorders and psychotic disorders.
All Children’s Academics is dedicated to providing a supportive and inclusive learning environment that caters to the individual needs of each student. Students encompass a range of academic and social learning differences, as well as those diagnosed with anxiety, ADHD, ADD, Autism, PANDAS, Sensory Processing Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Dyscalculia.
Arbor Bay School has a mission to increase opportunities for children in prekindergarten through eighth grade with mild to moderate learning differences to achieve academic and social success. They provide highly individualized and specialized instruction, combined with speech and occupational therapy in a small classroom environment. They are located in San Carlos adjacent to Burton Park.
Athena Academy is a nonprofit private school in Palo Alto devoted to using the best teaching methods for each dyslexic student. They develop an individualized education program for each student to help them overcome obstacles and to teach to their strengths.
The Bridge School is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to ensure that individuals with severe speech and physical impairments achieve full participation in their communities through the use of augmentative and alternative means of communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT) applications and through the development, implementation and dissemination of innovative life-long educational strategies.
The Burkard School is a small independent K-8 school for bright children who need extra support with self-regulation, executive functioning, and/or social-emotional learning in the classroom.
Charles Armstrong School has proven its ability to change the lives of students with learning differences by providing a signature educational environment. Our program is research-based and stresses academic excellence while emphasizing students' strengths. The foremost goal at CAS is to prepare students to transition successfully to their next life experience, fully prepared with the capabilities to thrive. If students know themselves well, and can articulate their strengths and needs to others, there is a great possibility that they will be successful no matter where life leads them.
Compass is a comprehensive high school for students with learning differences. Their supportive, individualized approach not only includes a college preparatory program, but also offers students and their families integrated services and support. They help students develop their full academic potential, critical learning strategies, social competence, and self-advocacy so Compass High School graduates will have the knowledge and confidence they need to succeed.
Creative Learning Center is a non-public school (NPS) that services children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other similar neurological disorders with programs including summer camps, social skills development groups, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy services, ABA eligibility assessments, in-home and clinic ABA services, and Relationship Development Interventions Program.
Esther B. Clark (EBC) School is a nonpublic therapeutic school serving students between the ages of eight and sixteen who have anxiety, depression and/or ADHD and may also have accompanying learning disabilities or speech-language disorders. Students participate in a six-hour day that addresses each student's therapeutic, behavioral and academic issues in individualized and small group formats.
Fusion Academy is a private school for grades sixth through twelfth. Class sizes are as small as they come: just one student and one teacher. The educational experience is completely customized around each student. In addition to being taught on a one-to-one basis, all classes are self-paced, and the material is presented in a way that considers each student's individual interests, strengths and learning style.
Hope Technology School educates over 140 children from preschool through 8th grade, including both typical and special needs students. We also have a Vocational Education Program for middle and high school aged students. The special needs of our students may include Autism, ADHD, Down Syndrome, learning differences, speech disorders and emotional challenges.
Los Altos Christian School has been serving students in the Bay Area from Preschool through 8th Grade for over 30 years. For their elementary school students, there is a track of small classes that uses a multi-sensory approache to education across the curriculum. Each subject is taught on grade level using methods such as Slingerland, Orton Gillingham, Lindamood-Bell, Step-Up-to Writing, Making Math Real and others. With 10-12 students per class, they focus on visuals, listening strategies and hands-on learning for each child. The program is designed for students who have specific learning differences, dyslexia, auditory processing disorder, attention deficit disorder (ADD and ADHD), sensory possessing disorder, mild social skills issues, and other related learning differences.
Monterey Preparatory is an accredited middle and high school with curriculum specifically designed to address students’ individual learning differences. Their courses meet Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and UC A-G criteria. Students develop social and emotional awareness through daily opportunities for collaboration, play, study and solving problems together in a compassionate atmosphere. The school has a close-knit community that engenders trust, compassion and lasting friendships. Students are encouraged to take on leadership through active participation in school events and activities. Students benefit from working with neurologically diverse peers because they are able to adopt and adapt to a wider range of learning styles and problem solving tactics.
Since 1969, Morgan Autism Center has been serving the greater San Francisco Bay Area as a leading provider of individualized educational services for people with autism spectrum disorder. The Morgan Autism Center Model mines the best techniques from multiple developmental and educational models and applies them to the individual needs of the students. The result is a nurturing, joyful environment that focuses on constant program optimization to deliver greater opportunities for success.
They are a nonprofit, nonpublic school, certified by the California Department of Education and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. They serve students ages six through twenty-two who live with moderate to severe Autism, with a specific emphasis on non-verbal students and those with especially challenging behaviors and communication disorders. At the heart of their model is the vision for every student to develop the ability to self-regulate, to relate and to communicate. As a result, the teaching philosophy is based on student-centered, social-emotional learning.
Sand Hill School provides a joyful and personalized learning environment for young, bright children with learning and attention challenges. They instill confidence and a love of learning by helping students to acquire the skills and resiliency to thrive in traditional classrooms. They aim to become the premier K-8 school for children with learning, attention and social challenges.
Stanbridge Academy provides a comprehensive, structured academic environment for K–12 students who learn differently. Their students have a variety of learning and social challenges, and they benefit from small class sizes, differentiated instruction, development of executive functioning skills and a school-wide social learning curriculum. They provide a complete, whole-school experience for students at every grade level, and they work with high school students and their families to plan for postsecondary college and career transitions. An independent school fully-accredited by both CAIS and WASC, Stanbridge has been supporting the academic, social and emotional growth of LD students for more than 30 years.
Star Academy in San Rafael provides a comprehensive, individualized education program for students with learning differences in grades 1-12. They help students experience academic success on a daily basis. As students achieve and recognize these successes, their confidence grows and they find joy in learning. Elementary, middle and high school students all benefit from Star's calm, nurturing, and highly supportive environment, which is conducive to learning. High school students earn their high school diploma at Star Academy and prepare to transition to college and other pursuits.
Stellar Academy is a private, special education school in Newark, California, serving the needs of 1st – 8th grade students with dyslexia. Their program, which includes the Slingerland Approach to Language Arts instruction, is helping to unlock the door of language for students throughout Alameda County. Stellar Academy serves students from San Jose, Fremont, Newark, Pleasanton, Palo Alto, San Mateo, San Ramon, Livermore, Morgan Hill, Oakland, and beyond.
Sterne School accepts students fifth through twelfth grades who have experienced a level of difficulty in traditional classroom settings because their learning style was not identified and/or addressed. Their students display a wide range of learning profiles including: dyslexia, attention differences, nonverbal learning differences and organizational challenges. Self-advocacy and empowerment are at the heart of our program. Sterne provides an environment that promotes self-confidence, motivating students to work through challenges within a supportive framework. The Sterne leadership partners with parents, caregivers and other professionals to ensure consistency.
Wings Learning Center was created to address the academic and social needs of children with autism and communication disorders, making it possible for them to interact, learn and live with typically developing children. Wings is a school for children between the ages of five and twenty-two. Their mission is two-fold: (1) To create a learning environment where children can learn academic, social and interactive skills at a self challenging pace and (2) To provide education opportunities for professionals to obtain the necessary skills to promote effective inclusive environments for children with different learning abilities.