My Nonprofit Reviews
Anne66
Review for Friends of the William E Carter School Inc, Boston, MA, USA
The Carter School is so special, so amazing, so unique, that it will be difficult for me to be as specific as I ought in my review. But I must try, for there is no institution in Boston so deserving of every possible assist in its mission. The William E. Carter School, nestled behind its dominating--and helpful--neighbor Northeastern University in the South End of Boston is a school for the most disabled, the most challenged, the most fragile children in the Boston Public School system. As the parent of a child profoundly handicapped intellectually--yet physically more or less normal--my husband and I were at a loss as to where, and how, to educate our youngest son. After literally YEARS of research, meetings, and car trips, we, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, found that the search ended in our own back yard--Boston. This very special place, with its deeply devoted principal, Marianne Kopaczynski, and its equally committed faculty and staff, has become our son's second home. Here, he learns--among his peers--and with the help of the superbly competent staff, the simple tasks that will form his future life long after we, his aging parents, are gone. Here he learns how to hang up his coat, place his lunchbox in his cubby, sort and carry various items through the school to their proper destinations. He learns how to dress himself, how to organize his day, and how to interact with his fellow human beings, in an atmosphere that is more like an extended family than a school--and much less, like an institution.
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If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Cause the powers-that-be in the Boston Public Schools to re-direct some of the money earmarked for rehabbing other Boston schools toward our principal's long-desired dream of having an aquatic therapy wing built onto the Carter School. The Carter School is absolutely unique in the Boston system, and I believe that the aquatic therapy wing would bring its long history of quietly doing great good in Boston into the national spotlight. This is nothing less than what it deserves.
How would you describe the help you got from this organization?
A lot
How likely are you to recommend this organization to a friend?
Definitely
How do you feel you were treated by this organization?
Very Well
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2012
Review for Friends of the William E Carter School Inc, Boston, MA, USA
Our son, Charlie, was born with the somewhat unusual dual diagnosis of Down Syndrome and Autistic Spectrum Disorder or ASD, although the autism diagnosis didn't come until much later, when he was eight or nine. Charlie is sweet, affectionate, and, thank God, physically sound, but he is severely handicapped intellectually. He cannot talk, and his ability to communicate by any method is severely limited. For many years, Charlie attended "regular" Boston Public Schools, receiving special education therapies and classes, all the while being more or less "mainstreamed" with his non-disabled peers. As it became more or more apparent that he needed to be in a highly specialized setting, we began the long and difficult process of finding the right school for Charlie. We looked at many, finding schools that were large and small, schools that had unique behavior-modification methods and schools that specialized in rigorous physical education as a means of intellectual discipline. None seemed to be exactly right for Charlie. And then, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, who found that she had been traveling around the world in search of understanding that, all the time, had been right in her own back yard--we found the William E. Carter Development Center in the South End. It is a Boston Public School. It has a very small and unique student population, all of whom are severely mentally and/or physically challenged. It is tucked into a little corner of the South End in the heart of Boston, bordering the campus of Northeastern University (which, over the years, has become in many ways, more of a partner than neighbor to this one-of-a-kind school). As soon as we walked in the door (after touring some half-a-dozen schools) we knew: this was it. The Carter School is, first of all , very, very small. There are only 25 students, and so, along with the incredibly gifted, caring, and innovative faculty and staff and the parents and principal--the wonderful and deeply devoted Marianne Kopaczynski, who has been with the Carter since its beginnings in the 1970s--the school is more like a big home, rather than a small school, and really and truly feels like a large and friendly family. My husband and I felt immediately that our search was over and now, three years in, we are more certain than ever that the Carter School will be Charlie's safe and happy home-away-from-home until he is 22. I commend the staff, faculty, and administration of this unique institution for the severely disabled children of Boston and I thank them for their wonderful work.
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How would you describe the help you got from this organization?
Life-changing
How likely are you to recommend this organization to a friend?
Definitely
How do you feel you were treated by this organization?
Very Well
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2013
