Im a former student, and all I can say is that its alright, but not the best education youll be getting. You will get better friends and education at other private schools. So if you want to have a successful future, maybe dont consider this your first choice.

My son always comes home with knowledge and information that I actually never knew! Its a joy driving home hearing about his day.. This school is such a blessing

Our son has attended Pinnacle for a year and we have seen such a difference in him. He has made friends and feels like he fits in and enjoyed learning in the small class setting. He has improved and learned so much from the amazing staff.

Pinnacle Academy is the BEST! Our biggest regret is that we didn’t move our daughter sooner! She has thrived this past year beyond our expectations and is thrilled to go to school every day!

My son is 16 and has gone to the pinnacle academy since he was 4. Words cannot ever express the weight that was lifted off my shoulders the day I first dropped him off and every day since. My son has experienced a wonderful, interesting, unique and most of all caring education here. I highly recommend The Pinnacle Academy.

My son has been attending this school for 2 years. I just wish we found this school sooner. He has ADHD and was failing miserably in public school due to his condition. Understandably, the public school system couldnt give him the specialized and one on one guidance/support that he needed. From day one its been a success story. He loves the teachers and the curriculum and he looks forward to going to school everyday. He went from all failing grades to the Honor Roll in very little time. Beyond the grades though, they also focus a lot on career develop. They provide so many options that you never even knew existed. This school is definitely a blessing and comes highly recommended!! The staff are truly caring and devoted to each child equally. Thank you Pinnacle Family for saving my son!🙏

This school has been a blessing to our son as well as our family as a while. We are thankful to have them in our community. Our son has never enjoyed school. He is now eager to go every morning and has a loving staff and friends he knows truly care about him!

We have been so pleased with Pinnacle Academy over the past three years my son has attended. He has made friends and is able to learn at his pace and his level. These were things that did not happen in his previous school experiences . The teachers and staff have been wonderfully supportive and they know my son well. Pinnacle provides everything a parent longs for in a school, a caring, safe environment for their child to learn and grow!

My son has been attending Pinnacle Academy for 4 years and we are so thankful that this kind of school exists right here in Lakewood Ranch. We tried 2 public schools and 1 other private school before landing at Pinnacle . The public schools were not equipped to provide the type of learning environment he needed . We are so glad that our son has found a home where he feels comfortable being himself and is not ashamed of his learning challenges . The small class sizes and specialized learning environment is unique and it gives him the freedom to learn in a safe environment. We highly recommend Pinnacle Academy !

Weve struggled for many years to find a perfect learning environment for our daughter and because of that she has changed many schools and teachers. Since she was 11 month old she went through Early Intervention, then through the Special Needs and ESE programs, and the older she got the further behind she was. We felt that the public system just wasnt equipped with the necessary tools to help her succeed.It is so great to see the incredible progress our daughter has made in her first year at Pinnacle and we are extremely happy to have finally found a school that offers the individualized curriculum, attention and learning strategies to help her succeed. Her teacher Mrs Kristina has done an amazing job in finding our daughters strengths, earning her trust and sparking her curiosity and desire to learn.

We have two boys in this school that went from not participating, having melt downs and crying on the way to public school every day to A B students at Pinnacle. They are happy at Pinnacle and we intend to keep them there where they have friends and are participating in the technology classes and travel to competitions. This is a good school, we havent had any problems what so ever.

Where to start....Pinnacle Academy has been a life saver for our family! When our son started there at 3 1/2 yrs old he was nonverbal and was unable to express his feelings without melting down. Within 6 months he was talking and had made major improvements with his abilities to express himself. The wonderful teachers at Pinnacle have been an amazing blessing for our son! They have treated our son with a true love and passion for helping him achieve every goal within his reach. Fast forward 5 1/2 years and he is right on track for his abilities and grade level. During his IEP meetings goals are set and as he masters them, new ones are put in place. His father and I are shown examples of his work and graphs showing his progress and where he is excelling and where he needs an additional work. We have utilized the additional services offered at Pinnacle to help our son meet the goals that he needed extra help achieving and it has worked out just as planned. Over the years we have built a family relationship with the staff and other parents at Pinnacle and we would not want it any other way!! We feel at ease having our son there and we know that he is not only being taught what he needs but he is being taught with the avenue that allows him to learn at his level. I can not express enough what a true blessing Pinnacle has been for our son and how much we cherish the love that is shown to our son. I would also like to add a comment about the cost and the fundraisers that are at the school. If you have not toured the school to see all of the AMAZING things that are provided to the children, then you really can not comprehend how the funds are allocated right to the children! I wish my daughter’s high school was even half as amazing as Pinnacle! I have never understood a parent not wanting to invest in their child’s education. It’s the best ROI you could ever wish for! The children are our future! We must cherish, love, nurture, and invest in them!

I cannot say enough great things about Pinnacle Academy. My son has made amazing strides by attending Pinnacle. This school really understands how to create a true school environment. Thank you!

My son has Aspergers and after attending several schools that didnt work for him, he attended Pinnacle Academy for five years from eighth onward. He found, what he describes as “a home” at Pinnacle. Pinnacle Academy has a nurturing environment and a unique ability to truly teach each student’s individual learning styles within a classroom. There is such a positive vibe on campus, you know everyone that works there loves what they do, but also has a deep commitment to every student and family that attends Pinnacle. My son flourished at Pinnacle and is currently a college freshman living on campus.

I cant say enough about how happy I am that I found Pinnacle Academy. Wonderful and caring Teachers and Staff. They are always striving to help every child reach their full potential!

Pinnacle has been a God send for our Son and our family! Compared to a public school, this is another world entirely - this is definitely not a one size fits all progam. Our Sons teacher Mrs Joy has patiently taken the time analyze our Sons strengths as well as impediments to progress and created a learning environment which resulted in tangible growth and improved outcomes. The love and care she has for the kids is truly inspiring to us and our Son actually looks forward to going to school even though he knows he wont get to watch youtube and will have to do his work. We lived in Houston and Austin which had very good schools and programs but we moved to Florida based on the recommendation of a family we know who had children at Pinnacle and we have not been dissappointed.Stephen

Im a student here at pinnacle and i love it here. You should totally send your kids here. We are very friendly

STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS SCHOOL! They are absolutely terrible and most certainly out for your money and do not have a childs best interest at heart! Our very high functioning son with ADHD started there in 4th grade with mostly behavioral challenges which is why we sought out this school. We were promised so much from the start and over the years many things that were promised to us completely disappeared such as speech therapies and counseling services. Although we felt sometimes he was making some progress we often questioned their tactics in education and their continuous tuition hikes and how they were constantly seeking money in some way, shape or form. We finally learned the beginning of 8th grade that our son was not even on a track for a regular Hugh School Education and Diploma and they were basically just teaching him how to fill out an application an apparently just bag groceries or flip burgers the rest of his life. They called it a Career Path or something of that nature, we were MORTIFIED to learn this and just how much they had been failing to teach our son the normal curriculum he should have had all that time and being told he was receiving. After constant run around we chose to move our son to a Middle School with a highly rated ESE program. Through multiple intensive evaluations we learned that our son after over 4 years with Pinnacle and at this time in 8th grade and 14 years old was performing in Math & Reading at still a 3rd to 4th grade level!!!!!!!!!! At 14 and in 8th grade! It has been an uphill battle and our son and us along with very caring teachers and staff at his new school have certainly struggled to get him caught up. It is so disheartening and has caused a lot of emotional and mental damage to our son! We face everyday battles and challenges and all because this terrible school did a huge INJUSTICE to our son and basically left him behind! Their doors should be closed and NO parent should ever even consider putting their child in this awful school that causes severe and irreparable damage to children and families! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN! The Department of Education and whoever monitors Private Schools like this should really step in and do something about this place and there should be nothing short of a criminal investigation!

Parents beware. Options are scarce in Florida for special needs. Kristina will promise you the world. In my experience, my son was just a payment . This school does accept the McKay Scholarship but that doesnt cover the MANDATORY summer camp program that cost $1400. The breaking point was when we were going to be away the entire summer and was told that was fine that he wasnt attending camp/summer school but we had to pay anyway or he wasnt going to have a spot in the next school year. This was after 3 years, and 3 years of paying for summer camp. ALSO...beware of the hidden fees.. yearly registration fees of over $500 dollars..mandatory service hours..or you can pay $150 instead of working the hours. We found that Pinnacle was nothing more than a glorified day care service...we did feel that he was safe but had nooo benefit whatsoever. He is back in the public school system and finally feeling like other kids...homework, school functions, pep rallies....oh I forgot to mention, Pinnacle did NO field trips, didnt stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, kids ate in their little portable with no interaction with others than the few students in their class. If you are hoping for socialization, this is not the place to go. I feel like I did a disservice to my son for wasting 3 years of his learning potential. I also later learned that they have teachers that are not special ed certified.. I will forever feel mommy guilt for trusting then with my son. Biggest mistake I have made.

Used to go to school here. Really good school!

Stay away from this school! Rude, unprofessional and driven only by money.I spoke with Tracy who is supposedly someone who has been in this school for over 15 years, the conversation was decent until I shared with her that my son qualifies for the Mackay scholarship…there was an immediate shift in her attitude and she went from: come tour the school and schedule an assessment for your son for one or two days to: I have someone by my desk just in case I have to go and I am not sure we have enough time to schedule your tour and I will need to check and have someone call you!She was the one who called me and now she had someone by her desk.Terrible service, terrible manners..money hungry…check other options before investing $14,000 here!

Personally for the past thirteen years Pinnacle Academy is the only great school offered in Manatee County FL. for children with autism. New families and old that have an autistic child should look into this program before excepting a county based seat for your disabled child. The county is currently focusing on other important projects like building a grand high school in Parrish. They are planning to make one of the almost abandoned schools in a horrible part of town the launching pad as they put it but a dump zone as I see it for all disabled children. The problem with this is the school support staff has changed so many times that new parents and new county staff keep repeating the same empty statements to parents. As I just read under Pinnacles parent portal that expense is a huge let down when working with the John McKay and private school seating. Pinnacle never hides these fees and the parent signs paperwork to include all information. I know dealing with medicaid, APD, DCF, Obama-care, med waiver, and even private insurance all these are fruitless and moneyless programs. I do not intend to knock other autism programs and give praise to some of the great county school teachers doing far more to help in the current upsetting situation. Manatee county officails that will not even comment to parents but make newspaper comments on the up coming Harllee school ESE/disabled children dump site. Pinnacle is open year around and if families take vacations they are expected to pay to keep their childs seat from opening just like any year around program and her wait list is extensive. The employees are far more educated and put through a very detailed type of training even after they have degrees with Dr. Ordetx and her specialized training. Im happy for my son to eat in the privacy of his five other peers and two teachers because of his sensory issues. If this is not what a parent wants they should communicate any and all questions to the director of any school! Dr. Ordetx is completely aware of every single need of every single child at her school! The problem is not what she charges to run her school with the best educaters and environment; the county school boards and state money given to parents through the John McKay Scholarship is unrealistly short changed. The John McKay does not pay for summer school, for unniforms, for bus transportation, or 1-1 therapy services! I know my autistic child needs summer school and I wish he had 1-1 therapy for him! Dr. Ordetx will tell you the truth about your child and even if it is not what you want or hope to hear! It can be gut wrentching because I know.....My son is very severe and I would not except this and fought all agencies but in the end my son is exactly what she diagnosed and projected! Blaming Pinnacle school or the expenses McKay does not cover does not constitute the real reason a parent walks away pissed off.....its because we want her to fix our kids so they can be an active part of our home lives and society. For a few it can be done but for most children the safetly and structure becomes the parents best comfort.Thank you for reading this....Candy SoehnelParent/Advocate of Jack age 15 yrs.

Dont send your children here.