Why Oakwood: Hope Springs Eternal

Our long journey to understanding Edward's learning differences started shortly before the pandemic in early 2020 when he was in first grade. We moved from Germany the summer before, where Edward had attended German school and spoke fluent German. The new American public school believed that his written language acquisition was delayed because of his German schooling and did not believe interventions were necessary. They agreed to observe Edward and report back to us in April. Well, you know what happened to April, May, June, and all of the months to follow. 

Keeping Hope

Online schooling not being an option, we enrolled Edward quickly in a local Montessori program that had great aspirations to get him reading. We had hope. We also hired a neuropsychologist to evaluate Edward, and we finally received a diagnosis of severe dyslexia, among other learning differences. With answers, we had hope. The Montessori's reading specialist worked with Edward for a year and a half, pulling him out of the classroom for once-a-week sessions. He also attended a summer program known for its work with children with learning differences, and yet, we saw little to no improvement with either intervention. 

At the end of third grade, Edward started an online program that he would do two hours a day, either before or after school. This time, we saw improvement. Slow progress but movement.

Unfortunately, what we also saw by fourth grade was a very unhappy kid. Edward was lost at school. He felt like he wasn't like the other children; he felt left out all of the time, and he started disliking himself. Though he loved the teachers, he never wanted to go to school. Gradually, we saw his friendships disintegrate. And by March of 2023, all of us agreed that he needed more intervention than the Montessori and add-on school could provide. Thus began our fervent search for a new home for Edward. Forget reading, at this point, we just wanted a happy, healthy kid. 

Discovering Oakwood

Oakwood's campus was like a dream. Everyone seemed so nice and they said all of the right things. But we had heard the right things before, so we tried not to get our hopes up. I interviewed the parents of current students and they used words like "transformational" and "life-changing." Again, we were very fearful to put too much hope in a school being the solution for our son. When Mrs. Jedlicka (Oakwood's Admissions Director) called and offered Edward a spot at Oakwood for the upcoming school year my heart surged as I accepted without hesitation. Hope springs eternal.

To say that Oakwood has been transformational for Edward is an understatement. Edward loves school. He is eager to get dressed in the morning to go. He has made not one, but nine friends. And he has a school filled with people who know exactly how to help him be the best version of himself. 

We have a special kiddo. He is honest, curious, affectionate, and thoughtful. He has a great sense of humor and is very respectful. Thanks to Oakwood we have our kiddo back. Oh, and did I mention he can read now? Yeah, that too.