Doesn't Everyone Deserve a School?

When I went looking for a school for my boy a year ago, I heard the same thing everywhere I looked: "he doesn't fit." Too bright, too active, too complicated -- the reasons were different, but every time it came down to the same thing. As one admissions director told me, "we don't have to take kids with unique needs, so we don't."

In a way, it made sense: their models rely on creating cohorts of 5-12 kids who all have the same learning profile in common, and teaching to the needs of that cohort.

But what about the kids who don't fit?

That's why we started Cajal Academy: to have a school with the framework, methodology and expertise to understand all the facets of a child and how they work together -- and then to actually apply modern scientific understandings to address the parts that hold them back, while letting them soar in the areas of their strengths.

Because that's what I want for my child: a place where the adults take responsibility for helping him discover his strengths, instead of leaving the kids holding the bag for their differences. A place where instead of putting him in a bubble, there is a commitment to bringing all possible science and expertise to bear to reduce the obstacles that hold him back, and to giving him agency along the way.

That’s what we’re building at Cajal Academy—and that’s why we’re building it. Because every child deserves a school.