Pine Hill School Second Start Learning D

1325 Bouret Drive

San Jose, CA 95118

6 Reviews

School District
Grade

1-12
Type

private

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Reviews

Submitted by other on December 21, 2022

I was a student at Pine Hills School 36 years ago! It was an AMAZING school and I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to attend this school. I was in a group home and was sinking in a regular public school. When I was moved to Pine hill I felt like I was able to thrive in the community there. from the teachers, counselors, peers, there was such a tremendous amount of support and caring. I never felt like I was just another student or that we as students weren't important and most of all truly valued. The staff cared about our well being on every level from emotional support to academic support. As a student I received the extra help needed to thrive in my academics as well as thrive emotionally and socially with my peers. Everyone was an intrical part of each other's development there. I HIGHLY recommend this school to not only a student who needs an environment to better fit their needs and desires, but to parents and caretakers of kids who just aren't thriving in their current environment. I just cannot say enough about how positive the impacts of this school can be. :)
Submitted by other on February 04, 2020

10/10. This school fills the very wide hole that the public school system face in dealing with students with special needs. People often dont understand that difficulties in accommodating this significant student population but Pine Hill/Second Start do. The other negative reviews ive seen here on this website are clear representations of individuals who continue to NOT understand how facilitating the needs of special needs students can function or look. There is NO padded room the kids go into. There is a great behavioral specialist office that the kids go into both on good and bad days. The room is filled with games, bean bag chairs, video games/TVs, foosball table and board games. I encourage anyone in the community that has any concerns to visit the campus and talk to the staff, rather than trying to look outside in and judge a program they know NOTHING about. Yes we have kids who cry and scream and bang on walls and much more, and yes the staff will appear at-times to be apathetic to these actions, thats because thats what the staff are trained on. Its not because the staff dont care or couldnt be bothered, its that these kids are using these tactics as a diversion technique to avoid doing work. They are used to getting a rise out of teachers and staff and it usually results in them successfully avoiding work or getting out of school. There is a reason this school continues to be the number one resource for all the major districts in the san jose area but as well it works with districts all the way north as San francisco. Find another NPS for special needs students with as big of a student population in the area, you wont. This company and program are the best at what they do in the business, and their district partners and student populations and parent reviews are a testament to just that.
Submitted by parent on May 14, 2015

Please don't send your children here! They lock the kids in the padded room without anybody checking on them! Kids are given the hands on treatment when it is unneeded and the staff and teachers have a huge attitude of superiority. One even said she was from "the hood" and didn't care what the parent wanted or said. Wow.
Submitted by parent on October 03, 2014

Dont send your kids here , we were walking by and heard a child screaming and crying loudly by a fence to this school , my mom and I looked and saw a teacher twisting a kids arm and throwing him to the ground kicking him , we went into the office but they claimed they are a hands on school which makes no sense , we are filing a police report , i filmed the whole thing
Submitted by parent on December 03, 2012

This school is a 1 star and below....The good staff are gone and my son was so devastated that his favorite teachers were gone. I thought this school was going to be our last stop, but I am looking again. His bus ride is finally better since they solved that problem. This school mixes the Aspergers and Ed which they say they do not. They now have a new principal for unknown reasons.They are feeding the students candy to keep them seated. I addressed this and my son told me that it is still happening. They do not abide by the district rules as to no unhealthy food on campus.look into other programs.that do not put hands on the students and restrain to the ground.best of luck. I do not trust any school that has such a big turn around of staff as they do.
Submitted by parent on April 04, 2012

Beware this school. My student came home with bruises on his face from being restrained and I didn't even get a phone call--I had to call them and discover he'd been thrown down on the floor and sat on after verbally threatening another child. Principal Greg Zieman explained to me that if they wrote up every time they had to use restraints on the students they would spend their whole time writing--this was his excuse. My student got worse and worse until I pulled him out of there. He is still traumatized by his experiences many months later. They will tell you they know what they're doing. Take a look at their website and see whether you can honestly believe that. Their understanding of autism in particular is very poor--many times they discipline children as behavior problems, even when the children do not understand what is expected of them. To my fellow parents: I know you're desperately looking for answers--but for your child's sake don't accept this terrible solution. The only 'good' thing about this school is that they won't call you to come get your child. They will tell you all is well even if your child is getting restrained every day, and you'll never know it.