Cisco Center

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Cisco Nochera has wonderful intentions with Cisco Center,,, He is a deeply caring man who is very passionate about the growth and development of children with special needs. However, he is moderately "hands off" with the day to day happenings within Cisco Center. Aside from Cisco, the only actual therapist/special educator on staff is his wife, Carla. The rest of the helpers are high school or college students who don't have licenses or anything. Initially, my son enjoyed Cisco Center but overnight his entire perception changed. He was afraid to go, was unhappy and we saw a stark difference in his behavior. Upon beginning ABA therapy midway through his time at Cisco Center, his ABA therapist wanted to do inclusion within the setting of the school (partially at my request so maybe she could find out what was going on when I wasn't there). Cisco was very happy to let her provide inclusion but she was met with a lot of push back from Carla, who refused to listen or work with my son's therapist; even going so far as accusing her of causing my son's behavior challenges within the center (though I had heard very differently from staff members prior). The staff was unwilling to meet the unique needs of my son and weren't willing to collaborate with my son's private therapy team. Their approach to special education and sensory integration is very heavy handed some of their methods are outdated and could be seen as potentially harmful to the students. The facility is a house that was roughly converted into a school setting and is often dirty and smells very dingy. I observed ant problems on the second floor. There is very little community support for the Center and there is a significant lack of organization within the facility and amongst the staff. There simply isn't enough money to achieve Cisco's dream... hire the appropriately licensed and trained staff, have an adequate (and clean!) facility and to help the community. While they advertise it as a preschool setting, it is truly just a daycare. My husband and I made the decision to pull our son out of Cisco Center after just a few months. He is now attending Marley Glen Special School and is absolutely thriving. He has made more progress in the week he has been at Marley Glen than the several months he was at Cisco Center. I don't want to feel like we wasted our money (and, believe me, the tuition cost is EXTREMELY high) at Cisco Center... Some of the staff members (while having no formal training, certifications or licensed) are truly wonderful people who honestly care about the students, I feel that parents need to truly investigate their options and make sound decisions on what's best for their child's particular needs. It saddens me to put such a negative review and the only reason I give 2 stars is because of Cisco Nochera and the handful of staff members I felt I could trust to care for my son. However, this is not a preschool, the understanding and training of special needs is antiquated, it's dirty, disorganized and they are not very receptive to collaboration and inclusion. If this school is going to rise to their cause, they need greater support, greater funding, they need to be willing to let down their pride and allow for up to date training and staffing, they need to have someone coming to clean and exterminate the building, a more active board (who seems unwilling to actively raise awareness and fund raise for the school... their answer to costs is simply to raise the tuition) and a more preschool based approach for the students instead of the continuous level chaos that greets the students each and every day.