Achievekids has two Special Education Schools, one in Palo Alto and the other in San Jose, that offer the students individualized educational programs, caring, committed teachers, and small and highly-structured classes. The program is interdisciplinary; students and staff work together to achieve goals in many areas, including life, academic, occupational, communication, and social skills.

Students learn through individual and group instruction and active participation in the community. Classroom teams composed of teachers, mental health professionals, speech therapists, and clinical caseworkers work closely together to provide each student an individualized program that addresses the student's specific developmental needs.

Achievekids offers a widely varying selection of academic services from graded, core curriculum courses required for high school graduation to life-skill oriented, functionally-based academics. Academics at Achievekids are linked with learning social skills and using them within the community. We work to provide our high-functioning students the fundamentals needed to return to public school by offering a classroom structure similar to traditional educational environments. For our students who will not return to an inclusive school environment, we have a structured setting in which we teach them the necessary skills to become independent adults including, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and working.

Palo Alto has just completed a remodel of classrooms and the San Jose facility was renovated two years ago. These clean, well-lighted facilities not only utilize the latest adaptive technology, but rely on the latest training of instructors who provide caring, thoughtful leadership in their classrooms.

Contact the Palo Alto School Director at tom@achievekids.org
Contact the San Jose School Director at skye@achievekids.org

What types of children does Achievekids serve?

We specialize in serving children who have significant behavioral problems and who have not been successfully served in the school district or county special education programs. We work with children who have been identified by their school district as having a developmental delay, mental retardation or emotional disturbance. The most common diagnoses that our students have include autism, mental retardation, pervasive developmental delay and Asperger’s Syndrome. Some of the common diagnoses of mental illness that our students have include depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Many of our students also have a dual diagnosis, which means they have both a developmental delay and an emotional disturbance.

What geographic area does Achievekids serve?

In our non-public school, we accept referrals from school districts in Santa Clara County, San Mateo County and nearby areas of Alameda County and Santa Cruz County.