Northgate

Our family’s experience with Da Vinci Academy in the D20 district was deeply disappointing and honestly heartbreaking.After our son’s school choice application was accepted, my wife and I were excited about the opportunity for him to attend. Because our son has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis, we simply reached out early to ask about support services and whether an evaluation process could begin ahead of the school year so we could properly plan for his needs.Communication from the school was extremely poor from the beginning. Emails often went unanswered, and when we finally secured a Zoom meeting with staff, the interaction felt cold and unwelcoming. Rather than discussing solutions, collaboration, or learning more about our child, the atmosphere felt dismissive and negative from the start.What happened next shocked us. Only about a week later, we received a call informing us that the school was revoking our son’s registration because they allegedly did not have the staffing to support his autism-related needs as a choice student. This decision was made without ever meeting our son in person, without conducting an evaluation, and without any meaningful attempt to understand who he is as a child.As parents, it felt like our son was judged based solely on the mention of autism rather than being treated as an individual deserving of consideration, dignity, and opportunity. We were not asking for extraordinary treatment — only to begin a conversation early and advocate responsibly for our child.The entire experience left us feeling misled, excluded, and deeply concerned about how families with special-needs children are viewed when they seek support proactively.I sincerely hope the district reevaluates how these situations are handled in the future, because no family should feel pushed away simply for asking questions about services their child may need. Autistic children are not welcome at The Da Vinci Academy.