Anonymous
Post 04/27/2022 14:16     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
Anonymous wrote:I have a kid at Nora currently. I don’t know if my DC can be successful in college. I do know that DC would not be able to graduate from high school without a supportive setting like Nora, and without a high school diploma, there’s no chance college will be in the picture.

I am sorry OP that your DC was not well served at Nora. It is a collection of kids who have unique issues and it’s so hard to know if you are doing the right thing at each stage.


Very accurate. We chose Nora so our child could complete High School. Not all of these kids will be able to function in typical college environment for NT students.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2022 13:32     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
I have a kid at Nora currently. I don’t know if my DC can be successful in college. I do know that DC would not be able to graduate from high school without a supportive setting like Nora, and without a high school diploma, there’s no chance college will be in the picture.

I am sorry OP that your DC was not well served at Nora. It is a collection of kids who have unique issues and it’s so hard to know if you are doing the right thing at each stage.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2022 11:26     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
Yes, lots of kids graduating from TNS struggle in college/don’t graduate. But, you cannot place all the blame on the TNS. Some of these kids have real challenges. They cannot be solved by Nora. It is difficult but you need to be honest with yourself about your child.
Anonymous
Post 04/27/2022 10:38     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
Anonymous wrote:As a parent who sent their child to TNS for four years, here are my take aways. The problem with the Nora School is that though it takes in many students who are on the spectrum, or as others like to say "spectrum adjacent"/ ADHD, they are not equipped in programming or staff to take on the targeted instruction/teaching and interventions to meet students needs. Their staff is not qualified to take on such students. They are a small school for students who need extra support, but lack in structure and accountability. This in my opinion creates a false sense of security and accomplishment for students who pass no matter what. I only saw the impact of this when my son graduated and went on to college. He had no tangible skills, and needed even more support in college than in high school. It is a grave regret that I continued to send my child here. Out of the class of 18 that my son graduated, 6 did not make it through the first year of college, and 6 did not graduate. How can you justify 132k dollars for such results? Point being, that TNS will get your child to college, but will they thrive once they are there?


Don't feel too bad, it's really hard to see it when your child is in the school. We had a similar experience. We sent our child to a small K-8 that also provided a lot of support and gave the same false sense of security and accomplishment. Our child then went on to a public high school and it all came crashing down. I guess we at least learned 4 yrs earlier than you did but we have now spent probably equal to a 4 yr private school tuition on outside private tutoring, therapy and support. I look back and realize had we been at a public school we might still have spent the same or close to but at least it would have been over 8 years and it would have happened earlier. Trying to cram it all into 4 years of high school has been very difficult.
Anonymous
Post 04/26/2022 09:39     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
As a parent who sent their child to TNS for four years, here are my take aways. The problem with the Nora School is that though it takes in many students who are on the spectrum, or as others like to say "spectrum adjacent"/ ADHD, they are not equipped in programming or staff to take on the targeted instruction/teaching and interventions to meet students needs. Their staff is not qualified to take on such students. They are a small school for students who need extra support, but lack in structure and accountability. This in my opinion creates a false sense of security and accomplishment for students who pass no matter what. I only saw the impact of this when my son graduated and went on to college. He had no tangible skills, and needed even more support in college than in high school. It is a grave regret that I continued to send my child here. Out of the class of 18 that my son graduated, 6 did not make it through the first year of college, and 6 did not graduate. How can you justify 132k dollars for such results? Point being, that TNS will get your child to college, but will they thrive once they are there?
Anonymous
Post 05/06/2021 10:09     Subject: Re:Tell me about Nora School
Anonymous wrote:I'm bumping this thread to ask for feedback on the social scene at Nora. My daughter has had a tough year, has been dealing with depression and school refusal, but prior to this year was pretty social and an excellent student. Would she be happy socially at the Nora school?


Nota has been impactful for our daughter, working to balance life with depression and anxiety. The social scene is small but very positive as all of the kids have great empathy for one another’s journey and overall goals of staying on academic track and path to college.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2021 17:37     Subject: Re:Tell me about Nora School
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Me too! I was hoping to tour it this spring, but I guess it'll have to wait until fall.

Our neurospychologist has been recommending it for years. He says it's about 1/3 autistic kids and good for kids who need executive function support and a gentler social environment, but have the academics to be going to college.


Thanks, that's helpful. One of my concerns about Nora is the peer group, so I'd love to hear more. Social is definitely my kid's strength, and he's a pretty extroverted kid. He makes friends with everyone, so a diverse peer group is great. But he's also a kid who wants to have a lot of peer interaction. I imagine that in high school he's going to want to be inviting friends over, and hanging out with friends after school, etc . . . In my experience with some of his friends who have ASD, or social anxiety is that they're often more introverted and are sometimes kind of done with peer interaction by the time the evening or weekend rolls around. So, I think that he probably needs a peer group where there are also a fair number of more extroverted kids who are going to want interactions outside of school. Does anyone know how that balance is at Nora?


My autistic kid loves to do these things too, although doesn't always know how to initiate it. So if our kids are in school together, I hope he extends invitations.


OP here,

Unfortunately we decided in the end that we couldn’t afford the tuition. Otherwise I’m sure our boys would have gotten along!
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2021 17:25     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
I considered it for my teen, but ultimately found it was too expensive. I do attend the talks there.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2021 17:20     Subject: Re:Tell me about Nora School
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Me too! I was hoping to tour it this spring, but I guess it'll have to wait until fall.

Our neurospychologist has been recommending it for years. He says it's about 1/3 autistic kids and good for kids who need executive function support and a gentler social environment, but have the academics to be going to college.


Thanks, that's helpful. One of my concerns about Nora is the peer group, so I'd love to hear more. Social is definitely my kid's strength, and he's a pretty extroverted kid. He makes friends with everyone, so a diverse peer group is great. But he's also a kid who wants to have a lot of peer interaction. I imagine that in high school he's going to want to be inviting friends over, and hanging out with friends after school, etc . . . In my experience with some of his friends who have ASD, or social anxiety is that they're often more introverted and are sometimes kind of done with peer interaction by the time the evening or weekend rolls around. So, I think that he probably needs a peer group where there are also a fair number of more extroverted kids who are going to want interactions outside of school. Does anyone know how that balance is at Nora?


My autistic kid loves to do these things too, although doesn't always know how to initiate it. So if our kids are in school together, I hope he extends invitations.
Anonymous
Post 04/29/2021 16:43     Subject: Re:Tell me about Nora School
I'm bumping this thread to ask for feedback on the social scene at Nora. My daughter has had a tough year, has been dealing with depression and school refusal, but prior to this year was pretty social and an excellent student. Would she be happy socially at the Nora school?
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2020 20:37     Subject: Re:Tell me about Nora School
Anonymous wrote:Me too! I was hoping to tour it this spring, but I guess it'll have to wait until fall.

Our neurospychologist has been recommending it for years. He says it's about 1/3 autistic kids and good for kids who need executive function support and a gentler social environment, but have the academics to be going to college.


Thanks, that's helpful. One of my concerns about Nora is the peer group, so I'd love to hear more. Social is definitely my kid's strength, and he's a pretty extroverted kid. He makes friends with everyone, so a diverse peer group is great. But he's also a kid who wants to have a lot of peer interaction. I imagine that in high school he's going to want to be inviting friends over, and hanging out with friends after school, etc . . . In my experience with some of his friends who have ASD, or social anxiety is that they're often more introverted and are sometimes kind of done with peer interaction by the time the evening or weekend rolls around. So, I think that he probably needs a peer group where there are also a fair number of more extroverted kids who are going to want interactions outside of school. Does anyone know how that balance is at Nora?
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2020 19:56     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
Anonymous wrote:I considered it but it was too expensive. What kind of colleges do the kids go to afterward?


OP here,

They have a list on their website, on the right on the academics page. Not surprisingly there are lots of small schools that have a reputation for doing a good job with kids who need some extra support. My guess is that's where my kid would go anyway.

Anonymous
Post 04/17/2020 19:45     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
I considered it but it was too expensive. What kind of colleges do the kids go to afterward?
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2020 19:22     Subject: Re:Tell me about Nora School
Me too! I was hoping to tour it this spring, but I guess it'll have to wait until fall.

Our neurospychologist has been recommending it for years. He says it's about 1/3 autistic kids and good for kids who need executive function support and a gentler social environment, but have the academics to be going to college.
Anonymous
Post 04/17/2020 18:44     Subject: Tell me about Nora School
I'm looking at this school for my kid who will be a freshman in the fall of 2021.