Robert W.

We chose DRA as an alternative school for our 12 year old granddaughter because she was headed in a very negative direction. She is a bright child, with an IQ of 140+, but she was consistently defiant towards her teachers and other adults. She had started a pattern of lying about her responsibilities in school, not doing her homework, failing her studies even when we supplied her with a qualified tutor.

Our child needed structure and needed to learn self-discipline, and needed to get out of her "me, me, me" attitude. She needed to learn respect for authority, needed to learn to be polite to her peers and her teachers, and her peer's parents when visiting their homes.

We researched several schools, and one of the most important feature of DRA is that their program is a 10 month or longer program, and counselors told us that therapy is most effective if it is long term, not just 30-60 or even 90 days.

We also read negative reviews on the internet, but we conducted our due diligence, and we contacted the Utah State Department that oversees all private schools in Utah. They regularly and at random show up and inspect these schools for compliance and safety. Their report to me indicated that the DRA staff is very open about allowing the inspector to talk openly with the kids and staff members. Their report, completely unbiased and truthful, indicated that DRA is exactly as advertised.

Our child has been at DRA for 6 months, and the turn around has been remarkable. She is positive, upbeat, cheerful, grateful for her family, and is learning to be self confident without being self centered. DRA teaches kids to builds strong self-esteem, maintain a positive attitude, and to develop self respect, make good choices, and feel good about themselves through hard work and realistic accomplishment in academics, sports, and in making good choices.

I highly recommend DRA, and today I can't understand the negative comments I've read, because my experience with my child and DRA has been very positive.