I also agree with your points, my response to athletics (as a former parent)- is that as of four years ago the TNS athletics is a self-help therapy circle where everyone can be winners. For my child athletics was a passion and a strength for them that he wished was more valued. When speaking to their AD I heard that they had a D1/D2 athlete graduate about 5 years prior- but that it wasn't even in a sport they offered. I can only imagine what that was like for them.......

IMO I think it is fine and great that in the classroom we build a warm and forgiving culture but a disservice to students who have a competitive edge, students need empathy but also grit. For the price tag, I would have liked to have seen more organization and class when came to team uniforms/appearance and pride- ironically their mascot. I attended a Barrie School game where opposing parents were laughing at our appearance. TNS is at a point where they can accept and serve a range of students, but their extracurricular offerings turn off some perspective families- as our close friends have toured and picked LAB or Sienna instead.

TNS is billed as a school for students who struggled elsewhere- academically and/or socially. That IMO that is a rebuilding characteristic. Finally, unless you have diagnoses or are spreading information about student/school population I am concerned. As you might know, ASD is a scaled diagnosis and a range. What students are labeled as or not is none of our concerns.

Anonymous wrote:The Nora School used to accept anyone and everyone, as a small independent school it was happy to have almost anyone. In the last years it has become more rigorous and taken a more serious approach to college prep. Historically, TNS was originally the Washington Ethical HS, known for smoking cigarettes in class and weed on the porch. It renamed itself in the early 2000's. The school accepts a wide variety of students but is best known for its EF programming and structured supports for students. Though some students w/ autism would do well there, it is by no means a socio-pragmatic program or an ASD specialized school. Any psychologist that is spreading data that TNS is 1/3 ASD, is out of their depth. TNS is a good rebound/rebuild school, but not a choice for a typically competitive or ambitious student. The school has a weak athletic program and has a left-leaning curriculum that is rooted in SJ.

As a current parent, I agree with most of this, except for the unnecessary criticism of what it may or may not have been like 30 years ago.

I don't know the actual percentage of autistic kids, but based on my child's friends, I'd say the percentage is high. But it doesn't have any "autism therapies" like ABA, which for me and many other parents of autistic teens is a good thing.

I don't know what you mean by "rebound" school. It's a great fit for my child, but he's not rebounding or rebuilding from anything. No one is there in order to get an edge on competitive college admissions and, again, that's a good thing.

It's not that it has a weak athletic program, it has almost no athletic program. It doesn't field losing teams -- it offers essentially rec teams in one sport per season that plays a handful of non-competitive against like minded schools.

The Nora School used to accept anyone and everyone, as a small independent school it was happy to have almost anyone. In the last years it has become more rigorous and taken a more serious approach to college prep. Historically, TNS was originally the Washington Ethical HS, known for smoking cigarettes in class and weed on the porch. It renamed itself in the early 2000's. The school accepts a wide variety of students but is best known for its EF programming and structured supports for students. Though some students w/ autism would do well there, it is by no means a socio-pragmatic program or an ASD specialized school. Any psychologist that is spreading data that TNS is 1/3 ASD, is out of their depth. TNS is a good rebound/rebuild school, but not a choice for a typically competitive or ambitious student. The school has a weak athletic program and has a left-leaning curriculum that is rooted in SJ.

Anonymous wrote:I'm so pleasantly surprised by the lack of comments like "the college list isn't any better than public so why bother paying for it" or "there isn't much homework, so it must be glorified babysitting." Even though other schools draw those comments, occasionally dcum recognizes that different kids need different schools.

DD will likely wind up at the same sort of college after Nora that she would have attended if she stayed in public school. We didn’t send her to Nora so she could get into a higher ranked college. We sent her so she can graduate emotionally whole.

I'm so pleasantly surprised by the lack of comments like "the college list isn't any better than public so why bother paying for it" or "there isn't much homework, so it must be glorified babysitting." Even though other schools draw those comments, occasionally dcum recognizes that different kids need different schools.

I have seen Nora work well for students who fall between the cracks at other schools or who don't work up to their potential unless challenged. Kids with all types of diversity tend to feel good there.

The faculty is probably diverse by percentage. There are four Black teachers, but probably only about 12 teachers total.

It’s a college prep school for reasonably well-behaved kids who can benefit from a small, supportive environment. Some like my child have adhd and anxiety. Some are autistic. Some are LGBTQ, some in substance abuse recovery. Many go on to small liberal arts colleges, some to HBCUs. I’ve heard of Oberlin, NYU, Clark and Goucher as some of this year’s acceptances. But my child isn’t a senior, so I don’t know most of the other acceptances.

Anonymous wrote:Can be a good fit for kids with autism.

Our psychologist told us that about 1/3 of the students are autistic.

Can be a good fit for kids with autism.

We are there now and love it. It's a gen ed school -- all the seniors I know are college bound next year -- but everyone has something, ranging from autism to anxiety to executive function issues. Classes are tiny, teachers work hard to form relationships with students, they really understand anxiety. Some students may have been literally failing at previous schools, others just unhappy. The kids I know with externalizing behaviors weren't accepted, but the kids certainly aren't paragons of behavior perfection and lots have avoidance-type behaviors stemming from anxiety. I don't think the faculty is any more diverse than other schools.

I believe its for kids with special needs, like autism. Ask on the SN board?

I can’t tell who this school is for. Kids failing in other schools, autistic kids, kids with behavior issues, kids who have no behavior issues but who need super small classes, kids of color primarily who seek a school with faculty of color. Anyone?