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Parent Letter to the Executive Director

Hi Ms. Ballinger,

My name is Nikki Reynolds. I am a parent of two children who benefit from R’Club services. I am writing to let you know that my children and I have had nothing but great experiences with your staff.

I am blessed to have used three locations since my children started school.

My oldest son (Nigel Reynolds) attended Bay Vista Fundamental for elementary school and he is now at Thurgood Fundamental Middle School. His experience at Bay Vista with Ms. Clemmye Barnes was phenomenal. She was so sweet, funny, strict yet very fun. All the kids feared/respected her but wanted to be around her all the time. My son adored Ms. Clemmye. He matured so much with Ms.Clemmye. She taught him to speak up for himself. She encouraged him to always tell the truth no matter what. These life skills have carried over to middle school and have helped him. Also, Ms. Clemmye talked to my youngest son Noah every morning and encouraged him to speak to her, which he eventually did. Now he says good morning and good-bye on a consistent basis. He wanted to be in her R’Club so badly. It was so funny how attached he was to her. She treated him so nicely.

My youngest son (Noah Reynolds) attended New Heights Elementary and is now at Thurgood Fundamental Middle School.

Noah, is non-verbal with Autism. When he started school, I was a nervous wreck about before and after care. However, my nerves were quickly put at ease because of the knowledge of the staff. The staff at New Heights had patience, compassion and genuinely cared about my son and his well-being. The supervisor there is Norkita O’Neil. She is a blessing sent from God. She understood everything about children with special needs and she taught her staff all about Autism. She reassured me that my son would be safe while in their care. I cannot put into words how much that meant to me. She even supported him on the campus with other staff and teachers. They would call upon her to support Noah when he was having a difficult day. Noah loves and respects Ms. Norkita. Some days at school he would only respond to her. He knew that she liked him and that she sincerely cared about him. The school would call Ms. Norkita before they called me. I appreciated. I trust Ms. Norkita and I knew that she would always do the right thing.

Now, Noah attends Thurgood were Ms. Roshelle Peak is the supervisor. It was a smooth transition for Noah because Ms. Ro is compassionate, follows concrete routines and understands children with special needs. She asked me about Noah’s likes, strengths, fears and triggers of potential melt downs. She wanted to know everything about him and that brought comfort to me. Noah likes the entire staff at Thurgood. It only took him one week to adjust to a new school. I was more anxious than he as. I was in complete awe of them. I know he adjusted quickly because he started his day off in the R’Club with Ms. Ro. I am blessed to say that Ms. Ro offers her support to his classroom teachers and school staff. I just could not be any happier with Thurgood. Ms. Ro is very organized and is always planning projects for the students and parents. She encourages family bonding.

My oldest son attends Thurgood as well. Ms. Peak ensures that my oldest son does not feel responsible for my youngest son when he is in the R’Club. She allows Nigel to be his “own” person and Nigel really appreciates this. He even verbalized this to me. It literally made my heart melt that he felt seen. Being a sibling of a child with Autism comes with many challenges and Ms. Ro makes sure those are lessened for Nigel while at school. This is the first year that both of my children are based at the same R’Club site. I could not be more blessed for it to be at Thurgood Marshall Fundamental School. I must admit, Ms. Ro has her hands full with Noah but she does not show it at all.

These locations were a perfect fit for my family. I would not leave my children with any other organization. I am sure that you are thinking, this is what they are supposed to do, it is their job. It is, but I can reassure you that they all have gone above and beyond their job duties and responsibilities. This email would be too long if I shared every detailed and experience with you. It brings me to tears to think about how blessed I have been because of your staff. The supervisors and their support staff have been awesome. They have fun activities planned, they teach life skills, independent skills, behavior management, peer conflict, they work as a school base liaison, they help them with homework and school projects, they encourage high self-esteem and many other things.

I could not let another school year end without sharing my wonderful experiences. Thank you for hiring great staff! 😊