Nearing the breaking point of a long and difficult struggle with her daughter’s brick-and-mortar school, Shannon picked up the phone one October night and called a friend for help. That friend was Lauren Wilson, Agora’s Assistant Director of Teaching and Learning. Before 10:00 the following morning, Shannon’s daughter, Abigail (Abby), was accepted as a high school senior at Agora. By her literally and figuratively “answering the call,” Lauren opened a door that would change the lives of Abby, her mother, and her stepfather—and, we are sure, many other lives that will be touched by Abby, who is destined to do be a wonderful contributor to her communities!
Abby, who is on the autism spectrum and considered high functioning, had positive school experiences during the early years of her education in Virginia. However, when the family moved to Allegheny County, challenges presented themselves at the public brick-and-mortar school. Abby started out okay, even making friends despite some of the socialization barriers of being on the spectrum. But after COVID upended schoolmate connections, Abby’s return as a 9th grader was a totally different story.
“She was completely shunned—she felt like a ghost, like she wasn’t even there,” said Shannon. “Teachers were no better than the kids. One made fun of her for raising her hand and even faked a heart attack ‘in shock’ when Abby answered a question correctly. We discovered the school was lying about her Biology Keystone exam, to the point they tried to make her re-take it with five-minutes notice, unnecessarily. I don’t need to tell how horrible this was for a child with test anxiety.”
As one of the star members of the school’s tennis team, Abby helped lead them to their best season in school history. She’ll even be playing at college next year. However, the season was miserable thanks to a jealous teammate who even purposefully left her off the senior shout out and celebration video. Shannon went on to share that the negative impact of all of this on her child was undeniable.
“Through all her time in that brick-and-mortar school she made zero progress on her IEP. I am so grateful I made the call to Lauren, for my dear friend always looking out for me. I am so grateful to Agora for giving me my life back—for giving us a household now where I can literally hear my daughter throughout the house, laughing during class.”
Within just a month at Agora, Shannon and her husband saw a remarkable transformation in Abby. She was enjoying school again, interacted with her peers and was more outgoing. She also returned to being a proud student achieving all A’s.
One of many positive Agora experiences, Abby enrolled in a U.S. Government class and is thriving. “She is doing so well that her teacher, who has only taught her for a little, said ‘you would have thought she has been here forever. She is an important part of the class.’ This is a kid who wouldn’t raise her hand in class for 5 years and now at Agora she’s in the middle of chats. Her interactions with students are amazing,” continued Shannon.
At Agora, Abby had the opportunity to interact with children on par with her own maturity level, something that didn’t exist at her prior school. She and her parents also found positivity in the fact that Abby, while respected for the individual she is—for her strengths and her challenges—wasn’t treated any more or less special than the other students. At Agora Abby’s experiences were normalized, she was Abby, not someone different.
“Abby has a beautiful singing voice and a quiet way about her that makes you forget you are talking to a teenager,” said Lauren Wilson. “It’s disheartening to think her prior school experience caused her to completely shut down. When she came to Agora, we made sure she got a guidance counselor that could give her that little extra TLC she needed. This is what we do when students enroll. We make sure they are taken care of.”
Before the start of the second semester of her senior year, Abby and her parents had already made plans to spend a few days in Hershey for her Agora graduation, and even had her cap and gown ordered for the celebration. But until then, she looks forward to continuing to enjoy school, her classmates, and teachers, learning all she can and hopefully picking up her tennis racket on occasion to keep up her athletic pursuits.
“As a parent, you can’t always make the right decisions. Moving from Virginia was one of my biggest regrets. But the decision to become an Agora family—I feel like I fixed my mistake. I have my kid back. It has changed Abby, and it has changed me for the better. It has made our homelife and our family so much better. Agora is amazing and has truly changed our lives.”
