The Stand School

"The Stand discriminates against children with special needs. My child has been enrolled since September for before and afterschool care, as she attends a special education preschool outside of the Stand. When confronted about the Stand's recent response to my speech and developmentally delayed child, it became clear how incompetent the staff are in handling regular child challenges like tantrums. My child (a 3 year old) gets written up constantly for "refusing to sleep during nap time." They call asking you to pick up your child for simple things like a cough (no fever) or if your child dares to not to sleep during nap time. Today, the director, Theresa, called me numerous times asking me to pick up my daughter early because, "we are short staffed and your daughter won't nap." When I refused to leave work for such a frivolous reason, Theresa retaliated. I say retaliation because when I picked my daughter up, I received a notice stating that my daughter was being kicked out of The Stand with a two-week notice (and no refund on the annual school fee). When I questioned this decision, Theresa stated that by refusing to pick up my daughter (for not napping on demand) that I'd violated the handbook. I asked for a copy of the handbook where this policy is outlined... Theresa failed to furnish clear guidelines for such decision-making. Their non-discrimination policy also fails to address special needs and disabilities. When we enrolled our daughter, we furnished documentation and were clear up front about our child's special needs. Furthermore, I can't help but feel that Theresa's decision today is somewhat racially charged, as when I requested like copies of the policy in question for further legal review, she threatened to call the police on me... a Black man wearing a hoodie, holding my toddler's hand and standing several feet away from her. I wasn't raising my voice or cursing or doing anything worth warranting a threat to call the police. But that's the world we live in. Theresa knew that she, a white woman, could threaten to call the police on me, a Black man, and that her threat alone could have lethal ramifications, especially in a town like Colonial Heights. Macroagression aside, when challenged on her discrimination of my daughter's special needs, Theresa flat out admitted, "Due to staffing, we are constantly turning away requests for kids with special needs." That said, I do not recommend The Stand unless your child is white, perfectly behaved, and neurotypical. It's also not the place for your child if you feel like advocating to ensure the staff does right by your child."