Jodi Loop, Autaugaville, AL 36003

Wonderful school with an amazing principal and vice principal. They’re always smiling and put the kids first. Teachers are kind and make learning fun. They have a great character building curriculum.

We were so excited for our child to attend PKS, but also nervous because we suspected they had autism. But we had pursued an evaluation already and already had their IEP rolling, so we figured we were doing the best we could to set them up for a great year.Our child ended up not getting as much support as we'd hoped. When we explained their sensory needs to their teacher, the response was "I don't think they have sensory needs." It was implied our parenting wasn't firm enough. The materials we provided for proactive support went mostly unused because our child did not seek them out independently, though with them being so young, I'm not sure they really had the ability to do this yet. Most behavior struggles our child had were categorized as "defiance" and the main focus was punishment or loss of privileges. This ended up affecting our child's self-esteem a lot; they hyper-fixated on behavior tracking and started believing there wasn't a way for them to be good enough in school. On more than one occasion, our kid was injured by others and teachers didn't notice, but they did notice the response (lying on the ground and crying, running away...and eventually, pushing or shoving) and categorized that as defiance. In the second half of the year, our child did get diagnosed with autism as suspected. In the IEP meeting, more supports were promised, like visits to a sensory room. This did not end up happening, I was told by the para, because teachers were busy administering tests.There were still a lot of things we loved about PKS. Our child learned a lot there. But if you believe your child may be neurodivergent: get them on a waitlist to get an evaluation ASAP, and try to get the IEP process rolling. Also speak with administration about your concerns. We talked with the principal before the school year about our concerns over teacher placement, and were told "oh, you can't go wrong with any teacher at PKS!" And we believed it to be true. It's a great school; most teachers are probably great for most kids. But I wish I'd said, "Yes, but some teachers are uniquely equipped to connect and succeed with special-needs kids. Please take their disability into account." It's in everyone's best interest for a kid with special needs to be in a class that is the best fit. Although our kid's teacher seemed great for most average kids, they had a hard time understanding our kid and supporting them, and this made the school year more difficult for everyone.