Picnic Valley

Our family loves Laurel Dell. Our son is entering 2nd grade next year, so his Elementary school experience has been a bit of a wacky one as both his Kindergarten and 1st grade years were affected by COVID closures. The principal and teachers have been extraordinary throughout the past two years. My son is performing at or above grade level, which is incredible considering half of his elementary education has been remote. The staff is dedicated to student safety, well-being, and academic success, and it shows. The Laurel Dell staff and parent community is loving and we have something very special here.

This school is specialized to teach students on the higher end of the autism spectrum. Strong emphasis is given to teaching social awareness and thinking of others. We have been there several years and the staff have been unfailingly kind, positive, and respectful working with my son who has difficult behavior issues. They are very willing to work with parents, and try new things to meet the individual needs of students. I have seen some students improve their behavior and social skills tremendously while at Anova. The negatives are that the classroom teachers are not that experienced, the academics are meh and there has been a high teacher/therapist turnover rate. Many of the students have challenging behaviors. However, the leadership and the staff as a whole definitely have their heart in the right place, and they offer a unique program which overall meets the needs of this population.