River Forest Park District

Dec 30th, 2023

Our company did a Mobile Axe Throwing event at the park district and the team at River Forest Park District was extremely helpful. Karen was a pleasure to work with, very organized, and engaging with our team and the community. This is a wonderful park district to work with.
Aug 17th, 2023

Jun 29th, 2017

Apr 2nd, 2017

I'm extremely disappointed in the park district. I have an extremely high functioning autistic child. I enrolled him in the after care program at the beginning of the year. My son is in standard grade school classes, successfully goes to Oak Park summer camp, and is now successfully in a different mainstream after care program. All have worked with us and he's done well. In contrast, at the park district my son constantly came home upset and was so anxious about returning he was ill. My son was repeatedly berated, scolded and shamed in front of his peers. He cries more easily than other kids (thought at the time of all this he was only 7, turned 8 right before I pulled him out, so hardly the only one to cry). The teacher would mock him for crying. She would get annoyed by his sometimes non-standard responses (literal thinking, some rigidity in thought, and not always responding immediately when spoke to - common in autistic children). There was never any communication with me about issues or concerns. When I tried to discuss the issue with her she was incredible rude and dismissive and essentially told me he was old enough to do better and what did I expect from her. I had to pull him from the program after the director was equally unhelpful. In the two months my son was enrolled I never saw the teacher interact with kids when I picked him up unless she scolding them Most times she was behind a desk entirely ignoring them, and she obviously has not had any training on dealing with neuro diverse kids. Frankly it's a shame as my son loved this program when he was first enrolled, and also really liked the classroom aid. But the reaction of the teacher when I tried to talk to her yes she admitted several of the incidents my son relayed) made it clear this wasn't going to work. I rarely leave reviews and have waited 6 months to leave this one as I didn't want to do so in haste or anger, but my son deserved better. He is a charming, bright, fun child who can thrive in mainstream settings with a bit of compassion and simple adjustments so as letting him opt out of overstimulating games in the gym it having some quiet time in the corner of the classroom if things become a bit too much. In fairness to the teacher I don't know that she initially realized my son was Neuro diverse. Most people don't as it isn't readily apparent on first meeting him. What I'm disappointed in is the fact that any child would be treated this way. Never once was I told about problems although I picked him up daily so there were plenty of opportunities, and when I told her about my son, I basically got a shrug and a so what do you want me to do reaction. Unrelated, but this program is also managed very poorly. I ran into issues getting my son registered, couldn't get clear information on drop off/pick up times for field trip days, and on two occasions my son's father or I were late to work because he needed something for the day that we hadn't been told about in advance (for example pockets money for a bowling trip for the video arcade). Everything is still handled via paper. You select the days your child will attend on a paper calendar, and figure out the cost based on the days that way. Thus you have to have a printer at home or do this in person at the front desk. For some odd reason they don't just send home a paper copy with your kid that you could fill out at home and return when dropping them off. Additionally the building is dingy and dirty, with poor signage and the rooms not clearly marked. Of course it is an older building, but so is the YMCA and it doesn't look anywhere near this shabby, is well lit and has obvious signage.
Apr 15th, 2023