Parent/Guardian Feedback
Testimonials
I just want to thank you for your sweet words about our son. I can’t tell you how much it means that he spends his day with people who love him. Parkland Prep is such a wonderful place for him. I believe the reason he has made so much progress isn’t only because you have superb educators, but also because he knows he is loved! You are awesome!
<Staff> I was thinking back about my troubles in school and how when I came to Parkland things were different and better. I just wanted to send you an email to thank you for everything you did for me. It helped me a lot and showed me a lot about how other people live their lives and what they go through. If it wasn’t for you and the Parkland staff I don’t know if I would be done with school. I wanted to take the time to say thanks for helping me to get my high school diploma and pushing me to succeed. Even though I am not in college at the moment due to career choice confusion I am looking for a job. I just thought a nice update on how I am doing would be fun!
I cannot believe the day is finally here and that my son is done with high school!” I have been looking forward to this day for a long time. I wanted to thank the principal, his teachers, and all of your staff for everything each of you have done to help my son. He has grown as a person because of all of you. Parkland has been a positive experience for him, one that he truly needed. He was given the kind, loving, discipline he didn’t get in other schools. He and I both knew that everyone was there to help him, and truly cared about him. I am so thankful he was placed in your school! Of course he had some bumps along the way but, each of you helped him learn to help himself. Parkland taught my son how to handle himself in a positive way, and how to think about the future with hope. I hope you will share my thankfulness with everyone there.
Thanks for the reply and the explanation. My son loves you all and loves school so much. He has been playing, playing, playing! We’ve noticed that he is really getting good at pretending and imaginative play. That is so exciting to see. He sang us all kinds of songs and entertained everyone with songs he learned from school. He taught all of his cousins the months of the year song, with the actions. We sing your praises to everyone who will listen. Everyone agreed that they see big differences in him. We told everyone how absolutely wonderful Parkland is and has been for our son. Thank you all for everything!
I wanted to share with everyone a sampling of behavior comparison for my client. The reports are from Winter 2012 to Spring 2013. I cannot print out all of the comparisons until I complete the question for home and community but I did want to give you all a visual of how much better my client is doing behavioral! As I was completing this tool, I knew we would see some significant changes. Thank you Parkland for all that you have done to help my client.
Wow you guys are WONDERFUL for what you do! Thank you for your understanding of my son. I know he is trying to get a disappointed reaction out of you. He is learning and has to understand that nothing he does will disappoint us in him as person, a great one, but that his choices, actions and words do disappoint people who care about him and whom he cares about.
My son had another wonderful day today. He made the choice to participate in PE, and was able to do so without any negative peer interactions. He has been making more and more positive choices. I appreciate everything Parkland teachers and staff do to recognize his improvement. I will continue to work with you to reinforce consistently that I know he can recognize that he can do well. He told me he struggled a little bit at lunch today with feelings that something bad might happen, but he was able to work through it with your caring staff. When he returned to class, he was able to get to work on his academics!
Thank you for the information about credits and graduation. I think it would be a real feather in my son’s cap if after all of his struggles he managed to finish early! He realizes that he would still have to wait for the graduation ceremony in June. I have seen such a turnaround in him since we had our last IEP meeting. He seems to be on a mission to prove to the administration at his home school that he is not just a screw-up’ but an intelligent young man that with the right help has shown he can be a success. He has never seen grades like is now achieving. Parkland has managed to do something in 5 months that his home school hasn’t been able to do in years. You have given my son a sense of worth and helped his self-esteem tremendously. Thank you.
I wanted to thank the whole staff and faculty at Parkland for your positive influence on my client. He has made some great progress academically this year with you. His academic progress was a struggle in the past. We really appreciate the time and attention you have given him.
Thank you for the encouraging call yesterday. I am so glad you agree that my son genuinely is a good boy. His impulsivity gets him into trouble. He did try to do the right thing the first time by walking away but then he did lash out later. Thank you for keeping him and others safe at Parkland.
My husband and I want to sincerely thank you all for how attentive you were with our son and us during his placement with Parkland. Our son felt safe and welcomed at Parkland. At dinner I nearly fell of my chair when he asked if he could do summer school at Parkland! We are hopeful that our son will continue to do well now that he is back in his home school. We have come to know and believe that should he ever need a therapeutic school setting again, we are confident that he will thrive with Parkland. Thank you for all you do for kids who need some extra love and attention.
My son has struggled with ADHD, possible depression and has had an IEP since 2nd grade. My son’s academic, emotional and social struggles have continued as he entered high school where he got into trouble with illegal substances twice his freshman year. Then we were introduced to Parkland Prep and that’s when everything began to change. I will never forget a phone conversation in the early days at Parkland Prep where a particular teacher told me my son was an excellent chess player and an analytical thinker! My son had always thought he was put into special education classes because he was stupid so he never tried. But now my son realized he is actually very bright. I cannot say enough how thankful I am that my son was able to have that “one teacher” who has completely changed his life. I am so grateful to Parkland Preparatory Academy teachers and staff for seeing my son’s abilities, nurturing them, and helping him believe in himself. My son has hope and has set high goals for his future– college, grad school and beyond. I attribute all of this great success story 100% to one particular teacher and Parkland Preparatory Academy. I still get emotional as I think about this story, and I probably will for the rest of my life! (Excerpt from Thank You Letter.)
I writing you to commend one of your staff on the professionalism he exhibited when he called me after my son did not earn his incentive one day. Your staff’s mild tone, concern, politeness, and gentle way of explaining the situation to me was so refreshing. He gave no psychological or therapist opinions about what my son understood or could do, only offered support for helping him to move forward and earn incentives in the future. He was also very sensitive to me in understanding how hard it is for a single parent raising a child with autism. As always I will remain committed to helping you helping me make my son the best student he’s able to be. Kudos to your awesome staff member! Everyone school needs someone like him. I totally appreciated the manner in which he handled the situation. (Thank You Email.)
Well today is somewhat of a bittersweet day for me. My son will be finishing up at Parkland and is earning his high school education. With that being said I wanted to take a minute to thank you for everything you have done to get him to this day. It has been a long, hard road and at times success seemed impossible. You made him see something in himself that no one else has been able to. You made him believe that he could achieve anything he put his mind to. You made him see that everyone was wrong about him, he was not ‘just a screw up.’ You have made him a success story. You have shown with the right teacher and guidance that the toughest of students can succeed. You are not only an amazing teacher but a special person who I know my son and I will always be grateful to have known.
I wanted to take a minute to let you and your staff know about our recent graduate. She walked in our ceremony last Sunday afternoon, and she was very pleased. We held her Summary of Performance and she is on her way to her freshman year at DePaul University! I thought you and your team would like to hear about her success. Thanks to you and the team at Parkland Preparatory Academy for helping us get her to graduation. I hope you have a safe and successful year at Parkland.
When asked about Parkland Preparatory Acdemy, the first response my wife and I offer is that Parkland saved our son’s educational life. We knew there had to be a place for our son to thrive and we were grateful to have discovered Parkland Prep. Sending our son to Parkland Prep was no easy decision, as I know it is not any easy decision for parents who might be reading this right now. But I encourage you to give your child the most powerful gift you can ever give them…an education at Parkland Preparatory Academy. Be prepared for a struggle from your child, as well as within yourself. The struggle may not go away quickly, but it will be worth it. We look today upon a find young man who is self confident, disciplined, and has the courage to face the many challenges life will have in store for him. While we do worry about him, as all parents do, we know that Parkland Prep helped give him the solid foundation he needed to make his way.