Lydian Academy - Menlo Park, California

Benny Gavi

Our son has been a student at Lydian and has loved the academic challenge of the 1:1 on classes. He has develop close bonds with the teachers and loves the environment. It has build his areas of strength and allowed him to excel in his subjects of interest (math and science). Most importantly, Jonathan Frecceri has been a wonderful guide and mentor to our son and our family. When our son first started Lydian, he was guarded about a new school environment. Since our first meeting with Jonathan, he quickly built a supportive and warm relationship with our son, who trusts and looks up to Jonathan for advice about his academic and career planning. We have four sons at 4 different schools, and each school and child is different. For our son at Lydian- this school has been a great fit, and the teachers at Lydian and Jonathan have been incredibly supportive and accommodating. We are very grateful to see our son thriving at Lydian, and he has never been more positive about his education and his academic future.

Francis McNee

My daughter had an absolutely excellent experience at Lydian. I will start by saying how impressed I was with Jonathan Frecceri, the principal. He was able to orchestrate an ideal educational experience for my daughter and checked in with us regularly to make sure things were proceeding as we had hoped and made appropriate changes when needed. One can easily appreciate that he loves the school and is always trying to make improvements. The faculty members are great and truly inspire learning. The self-paced schedule worked very well for us.

K Saul

My two sons attended Lydian as full-time students and benefited greatly from the 1-1 personalized instruction and the close, daily interaction with teachers. The boys were able to learn at their own pace and master each subject before moving on to the next one, which also allowed opportunities to go deeper into areas of interest when they came up. An unexpected bonus for us was the ability to travel at times of the year that made sense for our family and not worry about the boys falling behind. I was impressed by all of the efforts of Jonathan, Perla, and the Lydian team to get to know each student and create a sense of community. I can't recommend Lydian Academy enough!

Loren Gordon

I recommend Lydian Academy. Our daughter has thrived as a full time student over the past two difficult pandemic years. Prior to attending full time, our daughter took classes to supplement her learning. The teachers are wonderful, dedicated educators who make learning interesting and fun. The flexibility of scheduling is amazing. Lydian's front office staff is very responsive and helpful. Lydian's Principal Jonathan Frecceri is a solid leader. He has managed the school, students, parents, staff and teachers with such care and compassion over these very challenging Covid years. While keeping safety in mind, he always put the students first. Lydian has a bright future as a fulling WASC accredited school with two campuses, great leadership, teachers and many new programs being developed for after school activities.

A K

Lydian Academy has been a life saver for our 2e (twice-exceptional) kid for whom the educational environment at the public high school was not working at all.

He is brilliant but when faced with some mental health challenges in 9th grade, he wasn’t able to attend classes due to high anxiety and depression. He had gone from an all A student to an all F student in a matter of months.

After 10th grade, upon the recommendation from an educational consultant for highly gifted kids, we started looking for a 1-on-1 school. We checked all the small, private 1-on-1 schools in the area. When we met with Jonathan Frecceri, we knew we had found the right school.

Our son not only got the challenge he needed in his classes but also a lot of understanding and support at Lydian. Jonathan came up with the right academic plan for him. He and Perla knew exactly what would work for our son, matching him with the right teachers, and making adjustments as needed to help keep him moving forward.

The high school he previously attended did not know how to support him and even put him on non-college track. At Lydian, he excelled in his classes again and remediated the problem classes from the public school. He was also able to take classes at the local community college through the Early College High School program. We’re happy to report as a senior this year, he is already getting positive responses from colleges!!!

The teachers we had were all excellent, even exceptional. The staff were always there to help. Perla was always checking in with him, ready to offer help and suggestions, staying close to the needs of the situation. Jonathan was always enthusiastic, energetic, and ready to solve problems. His earlier training as a therapist brought a lot of understanding and empathy to the many challenges we had to face from when we first started picking up the pieces to eventually get to a very different place today.

With Jonathan at the helm following the retirement of the founder, Lydian Academy has smoothly and successfully weathered the pandemic years, added a second campus while also successfully renewing their accreditation. Jonathan’s leadership has given new energy to Lydian where we’re already seeing new programs and more community building among students. Through all of this, though, it’s been amazing to us how smoothly everyone was able to keep things moving, adapting to the changing situation, and yet scarcely miss a beat. It’s a testament to the strength and capability of the whole team at Lydian Academy.

We definitely recommend Lydian Academy. As parents of a 2e kid, we strongly recommend Lydian Academy as a place that we think can uniquely support others in a similar situation.

Beth Springer

Our child has been a high school student at Lydian Academy since her sophomore year and will graduate from Lydian in 2023. She transferred to Lydian in the pandemic because online instruction in her prior school was not meeting her expectations. She chose to stay at Lydian for the rest of high school due to the excellent faculty, rigorous and engaging classroom discussions, and flexibility. As a competitive athlete, the ability to take classes in person or online has been valuable. She is also a neurodiverse learner and finds the teachers and staff very accommodating and genuinely caring. She is applying to 4 year colleges now with confidence and enthusiasm, and we expect her to thrive academically based on the preparation she has received at Lydian. As parents, we have been particularly impressed with the quality of the advising and the personal leadership of Principal Frecceri who has recently taken on an even bigger role now that the school has two campuses. We highly recommend Lydian Academy.

Ann Protter

My son was struggling in the public school system. First we tried a private school and after that didn't work out, we tried Fusion. The local Fusion campus was new at the time, so I need to cut it some slack, but nonetheless, the format of one hour of a lesson and one hour of free time did not work for my son. Combined with lunch, he had two straight free hours. That was way too long. So my son returned to public school and over the summer made up classes at Lydian. We did that for two years before we realized that Lydian was the perfect format for our son. It's all one-on-one teaching -- and our son was in a private room. Some students at Lydian are there because they want advanced classes. Some are there for the extra attention they get -- and that was our need. Our son received all the attention he needed and he got to go at his pace. He felt encouraged, but not like the teacher was condescending. We were so happy and fortunate to have him attend 11th and 12th grades full time. And what a special moment it was when he graduated in 2020, virtually, while wearing his gown and cap. We were so thrilled with Lydian that when he started at Foothill college we hired Lydian to tutor him for his first year. I honestly can say that our son would not have graduated high school without Lydian. I will be forever grateful it was there for us. I'd like to add that we were there before the founder left and after - when Jonathan and Perla took over. Jonathan and Perla have done an amazing job - they have continued to improve the school - it's now accredited!!! and they are building community for the kids in new and exciting ways. Jonathan has always been a phone call away for me, always ready to listen and help. There is nothing quite like Lydian, or Jonathan and Perla who have made this school their dream and passion. And the kids (and their parents) have benefitted immensely. Thank you Lydian.

jennifer cravens

The educational professionals at Lydian are amazing! They are highly qualified and are leaders in the field of education. Lydian represents an educational system that fosters an individualized and inclusive education for all students.