Julie Billiart School Westlake

"My daughter with autism recently had a kindergarten assessment at Julie Billiart school. Before my daughter‘s assessment I attended an open house where they spoke about the school and services they provided. During the videos and informative speech I was led to believe that this was an inclusive place for children on the spectrum to learn. I was given so much hope on how different it was from the public school setting where my daughter currently struggles. I expressed my concerns on the behavior challenges my daughter faces and I was told to still bring her to the assessment. My daughter was asked to leave after 20 minutes into her assessment when she could not calm down after not being able to select a certain colored object. I was told her behavior challenges would not be a good fit for Julie Billiart schools. While I understand this I still came away very confused. What I took from this is that the school hand selects students to how they want their classroom to look. This to me was sad because I felt my daughter was not given a fair chance being that this was her first time ever entering this unfamiliar place. With her autism she entered the school anxious because she did not know where she was. While I’ve heard nothing but great things about the school I felt like it was important for me to write this review so that other parents who have more challenging children on the spectrum like myself would prepare themselves and not get their hopes too high. It is not all inclusive. It does not help all children on the spectrum. If your child walks in and is having a bad day they are asked to leave and you get a phone call that they did not make it in. That is exactly what happened to me and I’m sad for my daughter. I wish she was given a fair chance."

"We are so blessed and so grateful to all of you at Julie Billiart Westlake (JBW). Your kindness, support, encouragement, patience, experience, and love of what you do shines through you all each and every day. Our son loves going to school. The relationships he has developed with the JBW staff have been built on trust, which allows him to be himself, and know they are all there to help him grow and develop into the amazing person he will become. Thank you all for everything you do for our son, and our family. We feel your love and support, and appreciate you all."