When Ray got the last middle school spot available at Franklin Academy that year, “little did I know what a wonderful thing it was going to be for him,” said his dad Steve Hall.  Now serving on the board of Franklin Center, Steve shared his story.

 

The Struggle 

At the moment you realize your child isn’t going to go down the path you imagined for them – the activities, the friends, the school – “it’s a bit of a grieving process to realize they don’t fit the mold,” said Steve. “It’s common to go through a bit of denial” when you realize your child is neurodiverse.

Ray was adopted when he was four years old. In kindergarten, the teacher recommended they get him assessed. “He was rambunctious and his teacher advised that we get him tested. She wanted to know best how to reach him,” said Steve. “She was wonderful.”

He was assessed with ADHD and other conditions and received an IEP (individualized education plan). Elementary school was manageable. Being in one classroom each year, his parents could partner with the teacher to help Ray learn and grow.

But in middle school, dealing with seven teachers instead of one, it became unmanageable. “Some teachers had no clue how to handle a neurodiverse student,” said Steve. For example, making grades public, which the teacher saw as motivating, was devastating to a struggling student like Ray.

 

The Search

The family had relocated from San Francisco to the Twin Cities when Ray was in third grade, and Steve worked at Groves Academy. In fact their older son, Robert, was a student there. Finding Groves online had played a key role in the family’s decision to choose Minneapolis as their new home. “When I searched for ‘school for learning differences in Minneapolis’ and Groves popped up, that helped us make the final decision. Our older son had been in a similar school in San Francisco, and knowing we could find that resource here made the decision that much simpler.”

Steve knew about Franklin Academy (then the Academy of Whole Learning) because of the referring relationship between the two schools. The team at Franklin refers students who have learning differences, like dyslexia or dyscalculia, and the team at Groves refers students with other neurodiversities, like autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Even with the understanding of the Groves student profile, Steve thought Ray could fit. “I knew Groves was great, so that’s what I instinctively thought of for Ray,” said Steve. “I didn’t fully understand Franklin, even though I knew about it.”  

That’s a common situation, said Paul Gloudemans, who leads admissions for the Academy and Franklin Capstone (post-secondary options, including vocational rehabilitation, for 18-28 year olds). “Even people who know our name aren’t always sure what kinds of students we work with, because it’s a range. No two families are the same. That’s why having conversations and coming in for a tour really crystalizes who we are for parents.”

 

The Success

Once Ray enrolled at Franklin Academy, he went from feeling like an outsider, to feeling “like the mayor,” said his dad. 

“It was impossible for him to feel successful in his public school setting, unfortunately. He wouldn’t want to get out of bed in the morning, he wouldn’t want to get in the car. He would worry constantly about going to school, what would happen in school, what the other kids would say. He would never get invited to birthday parties, never get invited to sleepovers. He always felt other,” is how Steve described it. 

Then, when he started going to Franklin, “he felt like he was one of the kids who belonged. His confidence rose, he felt academically superior, which Ray had never felt before. He actually could answer the questions in class. Now as a senior in high school, he runs down the stairs every morning — he can’t wait to get to school. That’s a wonderful experience as a parent.”

Ray interned over the summer with Camp Franklin, working with the behavioral therapists at a variety of different camps. “It was so fun to see him helping the younger students,” said Camp Franklin leader Chloe Herzog. “He understands how they see things, and he’s able to relate and help them make progress. Plus the kids love having him there; he’s like everyone’s big brother.” Ray is planning to intern again between high school graduation and starting at Franklin Capstone in the fall. 

“As the saying goes, ‘a parent is only as happy as their unhappiest child’ so when you find the setting that suits them, that will make your whole family better,” said Steve. “At Franklin you’re in a community of families that have all been down this road. Unfortunately most of us have a sad story to tell of how we got to Franklin, but once we’re here, it’s night and day.”

If you would like to see if Franklin Academy is a good fit for your student, please reach out to us here. 

And if you’re looking for a summer camp that has all the fun and friendships, plus staff experienced in working with neurodiversities, see what we have to offer through Camp Franklin (registration for 2025 opens in early February). Apply here and get all the details in the brochure.

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Curious about other student’s stories? 

Bode’s story (joined in high school and then returned to public school): “In previous settings Bode would be removed from his academic classroom to work on self-regulation.   At Franklin, coaching around self-regulation was delivered right alongside teaching of the subject matter, and that made all the difference.  For the first time, Bode as a learner and we as his parents were able to identify his strengths and begin to cultivate them.  We also began to see Bode develop personal strengths like empathy and leadership.”

Charlie’s story (joined Franklin in elementary school): “In Charlie’s case, things started to go wrong in third grade. He’d been upbeat about school. Now he didn’t want to go. In fact, he asked to be home-schooled. Now Charlie is feeling confident again, where he used to say he felt stupid. ‘He has perseverance now, he believes in himself,’ said his mom. ‘They’re able to meet him exactly where he’s at. They identified a few holes in his 3rd grade math and they caught him up. Now he’s doing 4th grade and some 5th grade math.’”

Sally’s story (a young adult graduate): “Sally’s journey mirrored many Franklin Center students. By second grade, I became increasingly frustrated with the implementation of her individual education plan (IEP). Enter Franklin. For the first time in Sally’s educational journey, the teachers were educating ME about the best way to educate Sally. The most striking and somewhat shocking difference was that if I had any concerns about her plan, presto, a meeting was called, issues discussed, a collaborative solution agreed upon and implemented quickly.”

Kai’s story (joined in elementary school): “As a mentor to new families who join our school, I tell them, ‘You’re not going to see a ‘genie click’ the first week.’  We certainly didn’t. It didn’t take him a whole year to stop throwing up, though! That ended pretty quickly, and then — he started to blossom. Within the first year, Kai learned how to trust school again. At Franklin, he felt that these people were going to trust his boundaries. If he needed to take a step further, he could. It was so amazing to see him actually happy to go to school. And I was happier, too! My friends commented that I seemed so much more relaxed once Kai started going to Franklin!”