My son Ray has attended Wildwood Academy since its inception in 2002. Wildwood fills a need in our community to educate students with specific abilities and challenges in a supportive, consistent, and nurturing environment. The facility is warm and inviting and very conducive to learning. Words are not enough to describe the dedicated and caring staff who have often gone "above and beyond" for Ray and me. It is with bittersweet emotion that Ray moves on from Wildwood this year. All the friendships we've formed and the support and encouragement we have received from all of you will never, ever be forgotten. My sincere thanks for all you've done.
Amy Tiberia
Robyn has been attending Wildwood for 1 year and I am very pleased with how well she is doing. When she first started, she couldn't do simple addition. Now, one year later, she's doing multiplication. I find her homework has improved. She no longer makes a fuss about doing it, but sits down as soon as she's home from school and gets it done. I suspect this is because her understanding is better and therefore her confidence in her ability to do things has improved. We've already reserved her space for next year. Thanks!
Tina Planzer
Our son Vinay has been attending Wildwood Academy since the fall of 2005 and the positive impact on his life, and ours, has been immeasurable. School is now an enjoyable and exciting experience for him, filled with fun, encouragement, support, and academic success. He looks forward to school every day and speaks of it in glowing and cheerful terms at the end of the day. Frustration and confusion have been replaced with patience, diligence and clarity. We have seen our son become a confident and outgoing person who has grown emotionally and intellectually. We are deeply grateful to the teachers and staff at Wildwood. Their knowledge, kindness, sense of purpose and vision is shaping our son's life in a most meaningful way.
We are thrilled. Thank you.
Geetha and Kasi Rao
Our son has been greatly enriched by his years at Wildwood. His academic progress has been strong. Most importantly, Harrison loves coming to school and is very happy here.
Nancy Shea
The school gave our one son strong self esteem. He is now reading with intonation after struggling for years. Both spelling and writing have greatly improved. His math skills were good, but are now above grade level. He loves intramurals! Our other son came to Wildwood as a depressed, anxious and sad child. Now, he is happy and eager to participate in all classes, even phys. ed. His social skills were non-existent. He has made excellent gains and has finally made some friends. He was even able to go on the overnight trip! His ability to cope with school work has extremely improved! The boys feel very comfortable at Wildwood, and feel as if the school is their second home.
Flavia Tafner
By the middle of Grade 3, our son's challenges with reading and writing were significant enough for him to be tested for learning disabilities. It turned out he has dyslexia and we were not optimistic the public school system would be able to provide him with the support he needed to succeed. Wildwood Academy was suggested as an option and from the time we walked through the doors for the first time we knew it was the right fit.
Prior to attending Wildwood our son's confidence was very low and he was a pretty sad little boy. Within weeks we could see a positive difference in his demeanour. He had the necessary level of attention from the teachers that enabled him to be clear on what he needed to do and the support to help him. The Direct Instruction Method used helped him develop strategies to overcome his dyslexia and feel confident about his ability to learn. He found himself in a classroom of children who were all very smart, they just learned differently and Wildwood created the environment for them to do just that.
Over the five and a half years our son attended Wildwood all of the teachers he had were nothing short of amazing and so very dedicated to helping all of their students succeed. With the smaller class size they were able to really get to know what each student was capable of and weren't afraid to stretch them to their potential while making it safe for them to do so.
Communication with the school and the teachers was phenomenal and the level of detail provided on our son's progress kept us fully informed on what he was learning, how he was doing and any challenges he was having.
Our son started Grade 9 in the public high school system this fall and while he had trepidations on how he would do in a much larger school system, any fears were quickly put to rest. He is excelling and enjoying high school, and this would not have been possible without the incredible foundation provided from his years at Wildwood.
Jacki Challenger and David Kanester
One of the best things about Wildwood was the one on one instruction from the teachers. It really helped with my understanding and took the fear out of learning.
Ben Kanester (student)
As parents of a former student who has graduated from Wildwood Academy, we are pleased to be able to offer our opinion of the excellent educational experience that our child enjoyed in his 4 years at the school.
In our search for educational excellence, we have had experience at no less than 4 other public and private schools prior to starting at Wildwood. At Wildwood, we were able to observe and were encouraged to be a part of the significant and meaningful development of our childs academic, social and emotional progress, and this process was initiated almost immediately. We feel that the entire organisation and, most notably, the gifted and dedicated teachers, were responsible for a transformation in our son that has allowed him to enter high school in an academic stream, despite his ongoing challenges. For this we are not only grateful, but are also confident that there is no equal experience available within our geographic area.
We would recommend Wildwood Academy to any parents of a child who may have educational challenges. Those who are seeking a high-quality educational experience for their child will not be disappointed.
Sincerely
Kim and Jim Foley
Sept 2, 2010
We placed our son into Grade 6 at the Wildwood Academy in Oakville. Our son, who had been diagnosed with various learning disabilities, spent his first few academic years in schools both public and private, mainstream and special needs, in multiple countries. From the moment we entered the Wildwood Academy we knew we had found the right environment for our son. The well laid out special purpose built facility with its small classrooms, large learning center and full sized gymnasium was appealing from the start. We found the staff to be knowledgeable and articulate about their program. Many children with learning disabilities do well with small class sizes, well structure routines and personalized attention. Wildwood's approach of Direct Instructional Learning whereby concepts are repeated until mastered was an excellent learning approach for our son. However, academics are only one aspect of a successful school experience for children. The staff at Wildwood encouraged team play through various sporting activities with a large emphasis on understanding and following the rules. They paid close attention to young children's peer relationships and interactive behaviour. After three successful years our son developed into a mature young man who transitioned very well into his current high school. The whole child approach that the Wildwood Academy brings to each student is a tremendous skill and asset.
Greg and Leslie Tayler
