Parent Testimonials

We feel lucky to have such a supportive parent group here at Epiphany. Please enjoy some of their stories about Epiphany!

Our son had a good start in a language-immersion, magnet school program, but by second grade was slipping behind. He then received a 504 plan, and then an IEP, and it was apparent by fourth grade that he needed more individualized attention and a greater understanding of his learning challenges than public school would or could provide him at this stage. What was more disturbing is that this boy, that many had called “bright,” was showing signs of giving up and was clearly exasperated. We were exasperated. He hated school and fought homework and fought us each morning to avoid school.

Finding the right program saw us applying to and touring numerous private and public schools, and after much soul searching and consultations, the roadmap pointed to The Epiphany School of Charlotte.

It proved to be one of the best decisions we ever made. After only three months, our son’s outlook has transformed in ways I wasn’t sure we’d see in three years. He is finally engaged, participating in class, and even improving socially. His environment now meets his educational and emotional needs. The outstanding teachers and staff work on the skills he needs to improve both his executive functioning and work on his social and emotional challenges. He is gaining confidence. He is simply a different boy, at school and at home.

I would encourage any parent struggling with the same challenges we have wrestled with to give Epiphany a thorough examination. There’s a lot to love.

Ken N., Epiphany School of Charlotte parent

Our son has had an amazing experience at Epiphany. At his previous school, there were tears as he was getting out of the car each morning and little motivation to work. At Epiphany, he’s happy and is in the environment where he can focus on learning and on developing his social skills. He went from dreading school, resisting schoolwork and homework to being student of the month last month! It has been, for him, life changing. The support of the Epiphany staff and other families who understand our Aspie is tremendous. Epiphany has been such a blessing to our family.

Laura T., Epiphany School of Charlotte parent

The Epiphany School of Charlotte has been a wonderfully positive, life-changing experience for our family. Our son is now in his second year at Epiphany and is in the sixth grade. He is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He came to Epiphany from the Charlotte Mecklenburg School System (CMS) where he started in the Bright Beginnings program as a preschooler and attended through fourth grade. Our experience in CMS was up and down. He would have a good year followed by a really tough and heartbreaking year. We attribute that to CMS’s inability to provide adequately experienced and trained teachers who understand the need for behavioral services and sensory accommodations for some children. They also seem reluctant to provide EC services to a bright child.

In contrast, the entire staff at the Epiphany School is focused on the social and behavioral needs of their students throughout the day. Even when the kids are having fun, there are no lost, unsupervised moments that we experienced at CMS. At Epiphany, every moment can become a teachable moment. We feel like our son is never overlooked and none of our issues are sidestepped.

The improvement in his sense of wellbeing has been phenomenal. He has more confidence and will stick with tough situations a little longer now. The end result is that he seems to be building friendships, and even gets invited to birthday parties. Our younger son has benefitted in ways that we did not expect; in hindsight, it appears that he was experiencing stress, because he was trying to take care of and protect his older brother. But now, they play together every afternoon and really enjoy each other’s company. Our afterschool time is fun and productive - without long homework battles. And most importantly, we can try more new things as a family. We are not as restricted in what we can do as a family, and can explore and experience things together with fewer restrictions than before. We attribute a lot of this to the Friends and Feelings program at Epiphany.

Tom M., Epiphany School of Charlotte parent