Parent Testimonials

“My wife and I were at our wits-end trying to find a way to get our son to focus and enjoy learning again.  He always tests great on the standardized tests, but was not motivated at all in the classroom setting.  We were so frustrated with the square peg/square hole concept of public school.  Our son has always  tested as a gifted student, but the public school really does not offer the teaching styles necessary to reach gifted learners.  Betsy and her team helped our son discover new learning tools, memorization skills and study habits never taught at school.  At first he resisted but eventually came to appreciate the help and learned to focus on the right things.  I only wish we had found this team five years ago.  Thanks.”

JT
ECN Parent

“Betsy is an amazing, creative, and patient educoach.  She finds ways to connect with my daughter that no other teacher/trainer has.  She has also been a great support for me and given me direction on how I can work with my daughter at home.  She is also very willing to work with the teachers at school and is a valuable asset to our educational team!”

Jocelyn
ECN Parent

“We can not thank you enough for the help you are giving our son with Spanish this year.  You are a true blessing to him and to our family!”

Holly
ECN Parent

“Betsy, Thank you for all of your help over the past year and a half.  We really appreciate you keeping our rather unorganized and busy middle schooler organized and ahead of his teachers.  Your study techniques have been so helpful.  He now uses notecards and your memorization “tricks” when studying.  We’ve seen a big improvement!  Thanks again!”

Susan
ECN Parent

“Dear Betsy and Emily,  we want to give you our thanks and express our genuine joy! What great things you are doing for Kristen.  We prayed about this decision.  We questioned ourselves and you.  We hoped for a lot.  She is getting more than we hoped for.

We are grateful for the affirming atmosphere you provide for her.  Kristen’s response proves to us that you genuinely care about each child.

Kristen is blossoming right before our eyes.  She loves your school(her school).  She wants to achieve.  She is acting more responsibly.

You are helping Kristen to realize how valuable and worthwhile she is.

Pat and I are happy that you are leading her toward her full potential.

We appreciate your firmness and consistency in requiring a high standard of personal conduct and we admire your skill in resolving the inevitable little conflicts.

We pray this will be a long term commitment by all.”

Howard and Pat
KnILE parents

“I just wanted to say Thank You for putting the joy back in learning for Lara.  After the experiences Lara has had in school in recent years, the fun of school and learning was no longer there.  She was anxious about starting KnILE, but now is excited about learning and looks forward to going to school each day.  After the first day of school, which was a Thursday, she said ” I can’t wait for tomorrow!”  Since we skate every Friday, I thought she was talking about skating.  When I asked “What is special about tomorrow”, she said “school!”.

It truly is a blessing to see her fired up about school and I enjoy the excitement in her voice everyday when she comes home and tells me how many topics she completed.  We are looking forward to a great year this year and many more to come.

Thanks again for all you do!”

Linda
KnILE Parent

“Our son is bright, talented and creative.  However, he was not being successful in public school.  In our search for alternatives, we were told about Betsy de Vega and Kn.I.L.E. Prep Academy.  Finding Kn.I.L.E. School has NOT only changed our son’s life for the better, it has changed the very fabric of our family.

In this school environment, our son is excelling academically and socially.  We love this school so much that we commute one hundred miles round trip for our son to attend.  Heartfelt gratitude to Betsy de Vega and her staff for the positive difference they are making in the lives they touch!”

Joe and Cindy
KnILE parents

“My son has been attending KnILE Prep Academy for almost a year now.  This school has been a life saver for us!  I have been so pleased with how this program works for my son.  The fact that there is little to no homework has made for a more peaceful atmosphere at home in the evenings.  His attitude about is school is much more positive because he actually enjoys going to school now.  I absolutely love the staff at KnILE.  Betsy and Emily truly care about their students.  They go above and beyond to make sure that their students are successful.  The school environment is that of a family, which is exactly what my son needed in order to bring out the best in him to succeed.  We are so thankful to have found a school that allows him to learn in his own way and at his own pace.  This has created a confidence and pride that we were always hoping to see.”

Trevy
KnILE parent

This summer marks the second year that our family has been using the KnILE center to supplement our educational needs. My son is on the autism spectrum and my daughter has been diagnosed with both ADHD and anxiety. While each struggles with learning issues related to their difficulties, Betsy and her team have managed to help them feel success and help them become more confident. Most importantly, learning is always fun at the KnILE center and as a professional educator that is key to me! I can see the improvement that the tutoring sessions provide during the school year. They couldn’t stop talking about the fun they had at their SMART summer camp, we look forward to going again. I am grateful for the cognitive help, partnership  and advocacy Betsy has provided us these past two years.

“For the last year, I have watched KNILE Center work wonders.  We knew we had a very bright child with visual learning issues but were stumped on how to help or where to even begin.  We started there because the school wanted to hold her back a year, but we knew the problem was deeper and insisted we would privately tutor her back to grade level so they would pass her.  We began with the bad news that she had about 15 diagnosis visually, but 20/20 vision. Homework had always been an all consuming battle of wills.  Teachers would easily dismiss the problems as attention issues.

Betsy and her team brought my little Helen Keller out of her shell.  They didn’t just focus on her weaknesses, they redeveloped her lost self esteem. With their help, she became convinced she’s a math/science genius. Navigating the school process for learning issues was overwhelming and Betsy showed up at every ARD/504 meeting, holding our hands and having samples of her work.  We were novice to the school interventions, but Betsy was always at our side advocating for her and clarifying what we couldn’t articulate as well as interpreting the process.

Recently, she underwent another advanced vision test which revealed three forms of dyslexia, no surprise, but missed by the public school testing. The developmental vision specialist and vision therapists comments were that they could not believe she had made the progress that she had within a year especially with her improved visual motor skills or that she made A/B honor roll in a public school considering the extent of her vision issues.  The improvements in many areas were so remarkable that they completely changed her therapy program from what they expected, while at the same time just shaking their heads.

Betsy and her staff are masters of cognitive games that develop the motor skills critical to a dyslexic. It was amazing to hear her come home so happy about how she “shaved off 30 seconds” on her challenge in a game like that.  What I loved the most was that they were not confined to a program, they helped her with homework, etc. so that we had so much of our family time back as well as a kid with confidence again.  They designed their time around her school curriculum and specific needs.  It was not an “out of the box” program.  Because they are right beside Iron Cross Gymnastics, she was able to train there and was accepted into competitive cheerleading this year.

The doctor has recommended intensive visual therapy this year and we’ve pulled her out of public school to the KNILE Academy because we know they have the environment where she can thrive despite her challenges.  Last summer, we had a very disheartening situation and hours each night of remediation.  This year we ended up with a very self confident girl due to the staff at KNILE Academy genuinely caring and building her back up.”

Regina
ECN &  KnILE parent

There is nothing worse than having your fears confirmed as your son’s teacher says, “Yes, I am seeing signs of Dyslexia.”  Your heart skips a beat, but then you decide you will deal with it the best you can.

That’s where we were about three weeks into Kindergarten.  My son was tested for ADHD, and again, the specialist said she saw more of a visual disconnect than ADHD.  One of my close friends mentioned to me that Betsy De Vega was having a specialist speak about Dyslexia at her school, the KnILE Center.  I have known Betsy for many years, but I didn’t realize that her school addressed children with reading disabilities.

My son was too young to test for Dyslexia, but everyone agreed that early intervention was the best course no matter what.  My son began tutoring at the KnILE Center twice a week.  By the end of the school year, he was completely on target with his reading level.   Considering he could only recognize six letters at the beginning of his Kindergarten year, this was truly remarkable.  In my mind, there is no doubt that he would not have made the progress he made if we had gone to a traditional tutor.  I believe that the strategies and techniques used at KnILE Center are responsible for the quick turn-around.

My son is now in the first grade.  He is reading well.  We still tutor once a week just to make sure we keep progressing.  I am so thankful to Betsy and her staff for their help in our time of need.

Forever grateful,

Angela
ECN Parent