Sand Hill School

I believe it's one of the best school in the world for kids with learning differences. The results for my child are tremendous. People who work here are so knowledgeable and enthusiastic!

Our son is new at Sand Hill this year. We are obviously early in the year, but this far it's pretty much miraculous. Honestly, I can hardly talk about the difference it's made to us without tearing up. At this point last year, I thought I might have to pull him from our PAUSD school. His anxiety and attention issues were out of control; he was having panic attacks and acting out and disrupting class (he'd been happy and under the radar till 4th grade, though I'd raised concerns repeatedly -- we'd had an IEP meeting and decided it was fine and nothing was needed, then BAM!). This year, at Sand Hill, he's ready for school early every morning. He comes home and does his homework without being asked every night. He feels smart and confident and well liked.

C has always struggled with writing -- back in Kindergarten, we would fight for hours over writing a few words about his favorite things. In second grade, his spelling was radically off, to the point that it looked like some lesser known funky language, like Welsh or Finnish, was his first language. Writing was super slow and laborious and nowhere near his very strong vocabulary and verbal skills. This has also been coupled with some substantial focus and organization issues. We limped on for a bit, supplementing with tutoring, until hit hit a wall in 4th grade. Then the panic and behavior issues were so severe I thought I might have to home school him, which I don't think would have been good for either of us. We managed to get supports in place for the second half of the year and made it through but were looking ahead at middle school with dread.

From his first shadow day at Sand Hill (for entering 5th), C felt like it was the place for him. He is so happy to be with "other kids like him". It's enabled him to be comfortable asking for the accommodations he needs, like fidgets or a bouncy band for his chair, because half the class has them. He spends several hours a day learning in a small group of just a few kids with a teacher, which is so much easier for him than being in a group of 20+ kids of varying abilities. He can actually excel and be appreciated for the things he's good at. Sand Hill can accommodate the fact that he is a strong reader but a struggling writer and place him accordingly for those subjects. We had our first conference and they have a plan in place to work on his areas of need, including executive function as an explicit, school supported goal. We are also able to have OT push-ins to work with him on the mechanics of writing (at public school he wasn't bad enough to qualify for OT).

I know it's hard to think about sending your kid to a specialized school for kids with learning differences, but I really urge parents to look at Sand Hill. I look back now at the years we spent supplementing with tutoring just to keep C's head above water, and I wish we had moved him somewhere he could progress and be appreciated sooner. It feels stigmatizing to some of us adults, but to my kid it's total relief.

My daughter is in middle school at Sand Hill and she absolutely loves her new school. She feels engaged, challenged, understood, and empowered. The staff at Sand Hill is both nurturing and inspiring. Teachers help give students the tools to overcome challenges and the confidence to build on their strengths. Our family is thrilled to be part of such a motivated and supportive community.

Our daughter is making progress like never before! The teachers are incredibly supportive and capable. The facilities are impeccable. And the kids are happy and learning so much. Highly recommended!

Our child, like many children, has a unique set of needs that led us to look for a school that provided something different from our local public school. Our child *needed* Sand Hill School; He needs a school where he is not only learning essential life skills (academic, executive functioning, social, emotional, and more,) but he is also learning to be aware, and confident, in his uniqueness. For the development of his self-esteem alone, Sand Hill School, has been an invaluable opportunity for our child.