Berkeley Parents Network: Orion Academy

Berkeley Parents Network

Orion Academy

Berkeley Parents Network > Reviews > K-12 Schools > Orion Academy

Website for Orion Academy: http://www.orionacademy.org/

Oct 2001

Does any one have any experience with, or information about, Orion Academy in Moraga? It is a very new private school for children with learning disabilities which we are considering for high school. They are having an open house this month which we will attend, but we are hoping for objective info since it is so new and very expensive. For other parents looking for alternatives, the open house is Oct. 17 from 6:00 to 8:00. Their phone number is 925 377-0789, and you need to RSVP by Oct. 12 for the open house.

I think you will find when you attend the openhouse this month that Orion is a school designed for a very specific kind of disability, namely those disorders which fall along the autistic scale and kids who have been diagnosed with NLD (non-verbal learning disorder). It is probably a great school and is a true godsend if it is what you need. For those of the rest of us with kids with your more dyslexia kind of stuff, there is not really much out there. We are always looking. It's kinda scary. We are at Raskob right now, we always have parents return to talk of their experiences at high school after Raskob (which goes through middle school). Some schools work out, some do not. Some work with the kids even though they have no one on staff who has the specific training, some boot the kids out after a couple of months because they (the schools) are college prep and don't consider these kids college material. It is far easier, we hear, to find a college for these kids than a high school in this area. This is still so unbelievable to me since there is such a need, and the numbers of kids who could benefit is astronomical.

Regarding Orion school. I have heard the director speak at a professional meeting for therapists in Alameda County. She struck me as professional, caring and realistic about the progress severely learning disabled children can accomplish. She was speaking regarding Asperger's disorder. Peggy

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