Manville School

53 PARKER HILL AVE

Boston, MA 02120

10 Reviews

School District
Grade

3-10
Type

private

Find Homes for Sale in this School Zone

Reviews

Submitted by other on January 15, 2025

I am a former student of Manville I finished I think around 2013 there's rarely a day that goes by that I don't think of my time at this place it's like a waking nightmare I still see my peers pounding and yelling inside of the isolation rooms I hear them screaming in the hallways being restrained they would try to turn us against each other by punishing the whole class for one kids behavior I don't know if I will ever be the same the memories haunt me during the day and poison my dreams at night and I think My time at this "School" has probably been the most destructive thing I have ever experienced I'm 28 now and it's hard for me to imagine living a full life I'm depressed and traumatized I don't know if I'll ever find peace but please if you get anything out of what I have to say don't send your kid here if they already go there listen to them I don't expect my review will actually change anything but if I can spare at least one kid a lifetime of pain I think I will have accomplished something
Submitted by parent on February 23, 2024

My child is a former Lower School student. I would never recommend this school to another person. The environment traumatized my kid but also the school reputation of being the place for problem kids made it almost impossible to transfer him elsewhere. Leadership is extremely patronizing and not trustworthy. IEP meetings are set up to limit parent participation, and they do not accept parents as equal members of the team. They straight up ignored service delivery on the grid, and ignored my emails about it. We have never had issues with a school like we had there. But the trauma is the major reason to avoid. Isolation rooms and restraint. Imagine your child hearing other children slam their bodies against the door of the isolation room for an hour, begging to be let out. There are other ways to do this, and they are not taking the time to understand the children in their care to find those other ways. Avoid.
Submitted by parent on July 06, 2022

Parents, read the review that was written by a student on Jul 1 2022. The experience that student describes mirrors the experience that we endured and witnessed with our son who attended this nightmare of a special education placement for 2 years. The program really is based on intimidation and punishment. The school flaunts their "evidence based" methodologies that drive their success but don't supply any detail as to what that is. The folks who run this school, the director, the clinical director, the admissions director, the milieu director, all consciously participated in 2 lost educational years for our son who we removed due to experiencing too much trauma caused by their "evidence based" methodology. Our son has still not fully recovered from what he experienced there. I know that writing this review is probably not going to prevent someone from sending their child into this hole, but if it does, then that's great. At least one child spared. But if after someone else has the same bad experience that we had, and they write a review, and then another... Eventually if enough people do, this place may have to change their ways.
Submitted by other on July 01, 2022

I attended this school for 4 years and still struggle with trauma every day from the constant violence and degrading structure. I strongly urge all parents to listen to their kids because the administration will not tell you the truth. They base their so called “behavior support” on punishment and deterioration of the child’s mental state in order to build false positive behavior based a fear of surroundings. Please listen to your child like I wish my parents listened to me.
Submitted by parent on April 29, 2016

My child entered kindergarten at Manville and is now graduating at age 17 (Manville ends at 10th grade). Life at home is often difficult given her attachment issues, so Manville quickly became, and remains, her safe haven. In each grade, she formed deep connections with a teachers and counselors. She has had several terrific therapists over the years, and especially loves Autumn, her therapist for the last few years. Manville not only provided K with a safe and positive home, but also provided tremendous support to me as a single parent. They developed home-school behavior plans and taught me to implement them. We do family therapy at Manville with a masterful clinician and it has made a great difference in our relationship. While the kids have a wide range of challenges, Manville does an amazing job of knitting together a cohesive and positive community. The mood at the school, set by the staff, is always upbeat. The staff care deeply about the kids, as do the administrators. K has learned to advocate for herself; she attends periodic academic review meetings and has input into her IEP. I have regularly attended the weekly parent support group meeting (child care provided!) and have heard stories about many other schools and programs from other parents, and they have made me more grateful to have had K at Manville for her entire academic career up to this point. She will be moving on to a new school for 11th and 12th grade and is terribly sad about it. I am too, as I know that no other school will offer us the same amazing amount of support and caring that we have received from Manville.
Submitted by parent on March 19, 2016

My son has been a student at Manville for 3 years. We have found the staff to be very compassionate and understanding of his academic and emotional needs. The teachers have helped him want to go to school and take pride in his academics. He is forming friendships for the first time. Manville does a nice job of working the social pragmatics into each day. Staff is very creative with his tough behaviors and keep us involved in all decisions. This has helped him become more reflective about his actions and proactive for future situations. My son is now able to play a team sport in our community which has bern a real struggle for him. I speak to his therapist regularly and feel that we are working together. My son's IEP covers all his areas of disability and is very thorough. His Team has helped me with finding community resources for him. My favorite piece is the Parent Support Group that meets weekly. Child care is provided by staff.The main thing I can share is that our family and neighbors see a BIG difference and a maturity in him. It has been a challenge raising a child with an emotional disability as well as Sensory Processing Disorder and dyslexia. I feel I now have a child who has learned so much about his emotions and how he expresses them. It has helped to make our family structure more cohesive. I am very thankful to Manville.
Submitted by other on September 16, 2015

Students who sit quietly and refuse to leave the classroom when they are told to "take space" are forcibly restrained and carried to isolation rooms. I was kept in an isolation room the entire school day for two days in a row because I refused to take my novels out of my hoodie pocket. No accommodations were made in the rules, and academics weren't even a second priority. Later, at a different school, my therapist commented scornfully that she had never seen an IEP so full of buzzwords as the one written there. I didn't know, because policy was that I wasn't allowed in the meeting and was never shown the IEP. While at Manville I felt had no more dignity and no more control over my life than a dog in a shelter.At the time one of my problems was that sometimes I would get a "thing" about a person, where being close to to them caused me psychological agony. There was a certain staff member, the head of the Upper School. I got that way about him, very badly. When he was nearby, I was visibly in distress. I had a lot of nightmares, and dreaded going to school. I jumped when the classroom door opened. I wondered why I saw him so much, why he was always nearby, but dismissed it as paranoia.Long story short, he admitted to my parents and team he had been following me around while I reacted that way. He claimed he had been trying to get me accustomed to him. I was visibly getting worse, and he didn't quit. And he didn't tell anyone. No one on my team, none of the other teachers. He kept it a secret. Once this was out in the open, he came in for no censure, and the last I heard he'd been promoted.Thank G-d, I got out. I left after that one year, and in the six years since I've recovered a lot. With the help of therapists and the better environment at a different school, I fought my way back to the level of health I had been at before going to Manville, and then fought more until I had conquered most of my issues. I eventually got back to public school, and I’m now at university, majoring in psychology. Ironically, this has only highlighted the abuses at Manville, because now I know how far from “best practices” their policies are. As I write this, my heart is pounding and I’m shaking. Even now I haven’t forgiven that man, and I’m furious still at the people who stood by and said nothing and did nothing.
Submitted by parent on August 28, 2014

This school is horrible. Staff are not well trained, students are taught material that is 3-4 years below their grade level, and behavior methods include locking children up in isolation rooms. Children are also allowed to punch, kick, and attack other children.
Submitted by parent on June 19, 2014

Our son is a student in the Lower School and is finally thriving after flailing around in the public school system in our town. We are extremely happy with his progress as our son finishes his first year there this week.
Submitted by parent on March 05, 2014

The behavioral practices here are draconian. Isolation rooms are restraints are standard practice. Many staff are not certified. The whole experience was destructive.