The Porter School

I wouldn't recommend this school. They don't challenge the students enough academically. The classroom environment is very unstructured and no discipline. Teacher was not always polite to child and my child was afraid to go to school anymore. The administrative staff is not friendly.
—Submitted by a parent

We are finishing our 2nd year and couldn't be more pleased. When I enrolled my son, he was so easily frustrated and challenged by behavior that he really hadn't learned even the most basic things in public school. My son's behavior challenges have practically vanished, As far as academics, he's progressed wonderfully. Ex. 2nd grade age reading books on his own - like Artemis Fowl, and Red Pyramid. Math gains have also been great, at or above grade level. I'm really glad we choose Porter and will forever be grateful for the wonderful teachers and staff for their support.
—Submitted by a parent

My son has been at Porter for 2 years and beginning his 3rd year. He has sensory integration issues and the school is very aware of how to work with students with this type of disability. In public school, they never understood his stemming and adversions to smells and sounds and this school does. The teachers have all been nice and he gets a lot of attention w/the smaller class sizes.
—Submitted by a parent

This school is fine for younger kids but the entire school is taught at a 1st grade level-my child attended for 2 yrs and regressed academically-I went to another private school in the same area and she was taught at 2 grades higher even though Porter School said she was'nt ready. and REFUSED to teach her at that level-From the words of my child "this school was a pre-school and all we did was recess and bounce around."
—Submitted by a parent

We chose Porter after a referrel from a parent. All three of our daughters were attending a catholic school that was not able to accommodate the newly diagnosis of dyslexia. This is our first year at Porter and we are very impressed with the personal attention and detail to each child and how they work with the parent. They test in the beginning and at the end of the year. They discovered that my youngest has a strong visual tendency after trying 6 different reading programs with her. She is working in three now in order to help close the gaps she has in her reading and language. All three of our girls are strong in Math so they take them where they are and build on it. My oldest is actually doing pre-algebra! The only thing we miss is the catholic formation because they are not a religious school.
—Submitted by a parent

Porter Academy is a fantastic school and has done wonders for my daughter. I will be forever grateful for the founders, teachers and staff of this school. I read all of the other reviews and I was quite disappointed and surprised to see that there are negative reviews at all. It makes me think that it is probably a parent issue and not a school issue with the negative reviewers. The problem is; if a parent is in denial about their child or does not follow up on the teacher recommendations; then they will not see results. It takes a village and one school (no matter how wonderful the people are) cannot make a total difference unless the parents also make a commitment to their child's education and progress. Porter Academy is great and I am a proud parent!
—Submitted by a parent

This school is fine for speech and OT. However, academically my child regressed as well. My child was taught at Porter 2 years below where he should have been taught (which is 2 years below where he should be chronologically. I did not see any gains after 1 year and at any school your child should be moving forward. They do not give any tests and that is doing kids a disservice since any school they go to when they leave Porter will be giving tests and assessments. There was even no written checklists or notes when you go to a parent/teacher conference. I am suprised this school will still be open in a few more years as parents realize their children are so behind when they get to the next school.
—Submitted by a parent

We took our child out of Porter. The concept is wonderful but this school doesn't do many of the things they promise. I would wonder if the msg from September 27th was written by one of the representatives of the school, because this is often the 'pitch' that parents receive, howver the students are not academically challenged nor are many of the teachers specifically trained to work with kids with learning differences. We were dissatisfied, our kid regressed so we took him out. Make sure you do a very close look at what your child's needs are before enrolling in this school.
—Submitted by a parent

My daughter received little benefit from being at the school. The children are not challenged academically.
—Submitted by a parent

The quality of academ. prog. is excellent and the quality of the teachers is exceptional. Porter has integrated the extras, music, art, sports, into their curric - excellent! This year expecially there is very active parent involvement. This school has so much to offer special needs student. They are respectful of your child and foster the child to respect themselves, all too rare in most schools. I really want to emphasize again how truly special these teachers are...they go above and beyond every day, and our children do too! The administration is excellent too, always make parents feel comfortable and welcome and are excellent at what they do too. Many families moved from different states to attend this school. That is how special it is!
—Submitted by a parent

I am very pleased with The Porter School and how they have helped my son. When we came in Auuust. my son could not recognize his numbers past six, nor could he count past six. He was unable to recognize all of his letters and his handwriting was very poor. Through the highly trained, skilled and loving teachers, by January of the same school year, he is reading primary books, is able to add, subtract and has a working knowledge of fractions. I would highly recommend this school to any parent whose child is struggling in other school environments.
—Submitted by Cathey, a parent