Chronos Academy, the Opportunity to Explore an Amazing World

Our son is gifted…

…incredibly curious and capable of interacting with ideas and concepts at a level that frequently surprises adults. He can easily get absorbed looking at a tiny patch of urban garden, wondering about how the individual rocks, insects, and plants have all created a tiny ecosystem. When we take hikes, these quickly turn into mushroom hunts. He regularly gets lost in books about black holes, astronomy, cryptography or deep sea fish. He is kind and has a good sense of humor — he’s developed a particular fondness for The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes.

He also has anxiety and ADHD – primarily manifested in a difficulty to get him to rejoin a group plan once he’s become focused on his own activity or area of exploration. In a traditional classroom, this doesn’t align well with a teacher trying to support 15-20 students. Unfortunately, he spent the first several years in school bored, trying to pay attention to schoolwork that didn't interest or challenge him. He became very comfortable not doing work he didn’t find engaging. For example, on many assignments (math, vocabulary, reading comprehension, etc.), he could get 100% correct, so he might do a few problems (or perhaps just read them) and then decide that he’d rather read a book or learn about something else.

While his first school was a small, supportive environment, it was frustrating for him (and for us) how much of the focus was on his challenges rather than his strengths. He became more anxious and withdrawn. At the end of the day, he couldn't tell us what he'd learned at school. He was slow to get up in the morning, and regularly asked if he could stay home and read.

At Chronos Academy he's been given the chance to be himself.  He's never been told to stop fidgeting or to pay closer attention. His teachers, Celeste, Daniel, and Shannon somehow know that asking him a thoughtful question works better – it turns out that he is paying attention, even if it appears his mind may be wandering.

His perspective on school has shifted dramatically for the better in the brief time he's been with Chronos Academy. The academic environment really captivates him – for the first time ever he comes home and tells us what he's learned at school. The social environment and teacher-student interactions are also really positive for him – at Chronos Academy he feels included and appreciated in a way that he never really did at his previous school.

If I had to boil it down to one key attribute, it's that Chronos Academy focuses on the things that our son is good at and encourages him. The things he isn’t as good at are still improving, but his sense of internal ability and willingness to "take risks" on things that were hard for him is dramatically different. The presentation that he gave on electricity is a perfect example of that. While he loves the topic, asking him to present in a free-form way back in January would have been terrifying. In June, he was excited to talk about it and share his knowledge. Chronos Academy has encouraged him to explore his interests (within the daily curriculum, of course) and he's quickly gone from thinking school was a place that was constraining him, to a place that is giving him the opportunity to learn and explore an amazing world.

Parents of a 5th Grader