Athena Academy

This school has been amazing for our child. We found the school a year and a half after the dyslexic identification. We were at a traditional school and as good as the school was, our child’s learning style was different than their teaching method. I found Athena on a webpage and called in. Luckily, the head of school and founder picked up the phone. We spent almost an hour talking about the school, the program, the teaching differences, and where the school was going next. I immediately contacted my wife and texted «It’s PERFECT !!!». We jumped at the opportunity to get him to Athena.
The change in our child was immediate. The change in our home life was immediate. Over the year and a half, he has grown immensely in confidence and capability. The teachers are outstanding, the environment is incredibly supportive, and the students all get along. They have all experienced a common path and that connection runs deep. As parents, we have all traveled that path with them and that results in a school where everyone is focused in the same way.
We feel lucky to have found Athena and we look forward to the continued development of our child both academically and as a person.

When we found out that our oldest daughter is dyslexic, we realized immediately that our chronically underfunded local public school was going to be of no value to her. She needed a different setting, a community that knew the very best ways to help her, love her, and teach her how to be successful in the world. We looked at several of the normal go-​to schools in the Bay Area for dyslexic children, and while they have good reputations we felt that they were missing a very significant social/​emotional component that we knew our daughter needed. Instead of a larger school for dyslexic children, she needed a smaller, more intimate space where she could first heal from the damage done to her self-​esteem during her last year in public school (like many undiagnosed dyslexics, she was feeling like she was «stupid» and «the dumbest one in the class»). She needed an environment where she felt accepted for who she was and provided a sense of community to start her healing process — and we knew that she also needed an academically sound education that is tailored to the way dyslexics learn.
We found all of this at Athena, and you will too. It’s a place full of big hearts, sharp minds and wisdom — staff and students alike. Athena hires the most amazing teachers to guide pupils and help them find their strengths and discover the enormous progress that they are capable of achieving. The change we’ve seen in our daughter’s self-​image was not only desperately needed, it has been transformational in many other aspects of her life. Athena has helped our daughter and us as her parents understand intellectually and emotionally that dyslexia is simply a difference, even a gift, and most absolutely not a disability.
We were afraid for our daughter’s future, before finding Athena. Now she’s on a great path and we can’t wait to see the person she grows up to become.