Welcome to our Referral Center for Placement Consultants and Other Professionals!
Watch our video for a quick rundown of the key facts you’re likely to need to evaluate whether Cajal Academy might be a good fit for the families you support, then read on below to get into the details and make a referral!
Cajal Academy offers a first-of-its-kind solution empowering bright, gifted and twice exceptional kids; here’s what you need to know to evaluate whether we’re the right fit for the students you serve
Opportunities for immediate, January, summer or fall 2026-27 placements.
Cajal Academy is Connecticut's innovative K-12 school for bright and gifted kids with learning, social-emotional, executive function or chronic medical differences. We provide a neuroscience-based alternative to traditional private school environments for bright and gifted students with unique profiles, and families who are concerned that current environments aren’t fully accessing or developing their strengths and/or supporting their challenges in a way that will maximize long-term independence and growth.
Book a 15 minute “Quick Fit Check” with our Head of School!
3 Easy Ways to Make a Referral
1️⃣ Email us directly
Send us a quick email at admissions@cajalacademy.org with student name, age/grade, brief profile overview
3️⃣ Schedule a call
Book a 15-minute intro call or a 30 or 45-minute deep dive to discuss student fit and learn about our program
What Happens Next:
- We respond within 24-48 hours
- Parents complete parent application and attend Information Session
- Records review for fit assessment
- Student interview day scheduled if there's a likely fit: full day screening and shadow day with staff and peers; parents meet with Neuropsychologist and Head of School
- Decision typically within 1-2 days, then team develops program and provides tuition information within 1-2 weeks
- We keep you updated throughout (with family permission)
- Students can start as soon as 1 week after interview
Cajal in a Nutshell
Our region is blessed with phenomenal educational settings and opportunities; here’s what you should know in a ‘nutshell’ to help you evaluate whether we are right for your clients’ needs:
Ground-breaking, research-backed approach reducing special education needs + academic programs tailored to gifted thinkers
More than just a school, Cajal Academy is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to developing neuroscience-based approaches that reduce educational costs while improving student outcomes. We have made a break-through for the field of education: a research-backed methodology that is proving successful at reducing or even removing learning and in some cases social-emotional and executive function difficulties in bright kids with asynchronous profiles. We do this work within the context of comprehensive academic programs tailored to the needs of intellectually-advanced students, up to and including profoundly gifted kids.
Transformational outcomes that redefine what’s possible
The seventh grader who jumped up 6 grade levels in both reading and writing in just six months time. The second grader whose letter reversals self-corrected in two. The high schooler who overcame a life-threatening medical condition while reclaiming his intellectual abilities and mastering his social anxieties—and went on to the top college in his field. The socially challenged and isolated child who went on to be named captain of a premier-league athletic team because of his social leadership skills. These are just a few of the remarkable transformations we’ve seen in our program.
Most schools don’t know where to begin with the students we serve; we see the potential and build highly individualized programs called “Student Growth Catalysts” that re-understand where they are today as a product of their current neurocognitive skills and include a neurodevelopmental roadmap taking them to where they want to be. Parents typically report seeing positive changes at home in just weeks of enrollment.
-
We are the only program that reduces or removes learning disabilities through a research-backed approach applying the well-established principal of neuroplasticity to rewire the way that the child performs foundational skills. Our interventions are proven over 6 years of transformative student outcomes. In that time our protocols haven’t changed, but now we better understand the neuroscience behind how they work, increasing our efficiency.
-
We work with students in grades K-12 who have high analytical adn creative reasoning skills, up to and including profoundly gifted, including those with learning, executive function, sensory-motor or chronic medical differences. We offer the only school in the world for students with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and other heritable connective tissue disorders.
-
We recently moved to a beautiful, 20,000 square foot facility so that we can expand our cohort (and research work) from 6 to 20 students and have immediate openings for the current school year and fall 2026-27. This includes mid-year placements for families who are concerned that their child’s current educational program is not fully developing their gifts and/or supporting their challenges; are looking to transition from a home-based to a peer-engaged environment; or are eager to begin the work of better understanding and addressing the difficulties holding them back.
-
There are two components to our tuition. Our base tuition is $47,500 for the 2025-26 school year. Students who are not yet able to unlock their gifts also have a highly-individualized Student Growth Catalyst, with tuition ranging from $10-100K depending on the student’s academic, emotional and behavioral profile. This fee is reevaluated at the end of each academic year and fees are reduced by as much as $30,000 as the student progresses to the next neurodevelopmental stage, until it is removed altogether and students are invited to reenroll at the base tuition level.
-
Students commute from as far as two hours away to access our unique program; some have even relocated from as far away as Virginia and we hear from others across Europe, Africa and the Americas who are eager to access our neuroscience-based approaches for their children. Our new building is in the heart of historic South Norwalk, opening up access to families throughout the region. We are just minutes from I-95 and the route 7 connector and within walking distance of the South Norwalk train station at the intersection of the main line from New York City through Westchester County and Greenwich up to New Haven, and along the branch line running out to Ridgefield and Danbury. Some of our parents commute with their kids and take advantage of co-working spaces, libraries and office spaces in the exciting neighborhood surrounding our school.
-
Students collaborate to solve real world problems through deep dive project-based learning, with all instruction differentiated by neuropsychological skills. Integrated diagnostic and therapeutic services include neurodevelopmental therapies reducing or removing learning disabilities; clinical neuropsychology; physical therapy; occupational therapy (including sensory, visual processing, fine motor and general OT services and expertise); counseling with a PhD-level psychologist; parent coaching; Growth Mindset and Agency Coaching.
-
The state approval framework is designed to ensure private fidelity with public school special education approaches—not the neurodevelopmental approach with which we reduce those disabilities themselves. Our unique model of reducing the complexity of student needs and then declining tuition as that occurs can save families and districts as much as $100,000 per child per year compared to publicly-available and state approved alternatives, depending on the student profile. We continue to evaluate whether these significant advances can also be implemented under the regulations governing state-approved schools without compromising the effectiveness of our innovative programming approach. Learn more about our tuition model.
Attend an Info Session to Learn More:
Student Profiles
Is Cajal Academy the right fit for the students you support?
Our specialized cohort fills the need in Connecticut, Westchester and northern New York City for intellectually-advanced students who naturally see the world in innovative ways and also have any area of learning, social-emotional, executive function/ADHD, sensory or chronic medical differences. We are also the first school anywhere in the world to provide a research-backed program empowering students with certain complex medical conditions, such as the connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
-
✓ Analytical and creative thinkers - Students who who have high intellectual abilities, creative problem-solving and/or analytical reasoning skills, and naturally "connect the dots" differently
✓ Intellectually gifted - Strong verbal comprehension, fluid reasoning, and/or visual-spatial reasoning (WISC-V scores typically 88-99.9 percentile on one or more of the GAI skills, however lower scores will be considered depending on profile); prior designation as gifted not required. Profoundly gifted and twice exceptional students welcome.
✓ College-bound with high curiosity - Students who thrive with runway to think deeply, including students whose learning profiles interfere with their ability to follow through on those interests through rigorous academic work
✓ Learning differences and asynchronous profiles - May have dyslexia, orthographic processing challenges, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, ADHD, dyspraxia, sensory processing disorder, ASD, language processing disorders, chronic medical conditions that variably impact access to learning skills and/or “cohort of one”; often have uneven scores across their neuropsychological profiles; processing speed, working memory, or full scale IQ scores may not reflect their reasoning abilities
✓ Complex social-emotional needs - May have social and/or academic anxiety, depression, social cognition difficulties (including ASD), prior school trauma, task and/or school avoidance and challenges connecting with same age peers, and the behavioral differences that these challenges drive
✓ Need help to unlock their gifts - Students whose intellectual capabilities exceed what they're currently able to demonstrate, whether due to learning differences, social or academic anxiety, task or school avoidance
✓ Social learners - Students who want to be part of a collaborative community, including those who may lack the skills to do so effectively
-
We define our cohort based on the analytical superpowers they have in common, not the challenges that stand in their way. Cajal students have a wide array of profiles and journeys; this diversity propels each student’s growth. Here are just a couple of the profiles we serve:
Mathematically talented student with ADHD seeking an environment that challenges their strengths while building executive function
Verbally gifted reader who struggles with written expression and task avoidance
Profoundly gifted student who struggles to connect socially with same-age peers
Twice-exceptional student seeking a college-prep environment that understands asynchronous development and can foster emotional resilience
Bright student with processing speed challenges ready for peers who value depth over speed
Student with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome or chronic medical conditions who needs flexibility with academic rigor
Intellectually-strong students who make insightful connections that aren't reflected in intellectual scores and/or academic performance
-
Our mixed age cohort of kids master intellectually-stimulating academics within ability-based groupings, and collaborate across ages to solve real world problems applying that knowledge. This develops older students’ leadership skills and confidence, while providing valuable mentors to their younger peers—and better aligns with the fact that twice exceptional students tend to get along more easily with students who are older or younger than themselves than they do with students who are the same age. Students who came to Cajal with significant social challenges have gone on to be recognized in community-based settings for the extraordinary abilities to foster community and nurture younger peers that they developed through our data-driven, personalized social-emotional programs and service-focused social-emotional curriculum.
Transformational Change for Complex Learners
Our educational approach is fundamentally different from that of traditional special education programs. Those programs presume that learning, executive function and social-emotional disabilities are immutable and thus seek only to make up the gap between that and the average skill level of a same age peer. Science suggests that more is possible, and our work proves that that’s true. At Cajal, we use the well-established principle of neuroplasticity to actual rewire how the child performs the challenged tasks, evening out their neuropsychological profiles so they have greater access to their strengths. Read about some of our students’ transformations here:
Tailored to Propel Growth
Gifted-level academics meet neuroscience-based intervention.
We serve bright, intellectually gifted students with learning differences like dyslexia or dysgraphia, executive function challenges, sensory processing differences, or chronic medical conditions.
These students inherently see the world in innovative ways—so they will need ‘super-sized’ executive function, communication and self-care skills to turn these visions into reality in college and as the adults they’ll become. Our unique Vision-to-Voice Curriculum fosters these skills through deep dive project-based learning units that requires them to master and integrate curriculum aligned with Connecticut state standards.
For students who have learning, social-emotional, sensory-motor, behavioral or chronic medical conditions standing in their way, our highly-individualized Student Growth Catalysts and exclusive neuroplasticity-based interventions address the underlying neurocognitive factors, reducing or removing the challenges themselves.
Social-emotional growth through addressing root causes.
Where other schools approach challenges through psychology alone, we've integrated neurophysiology, neuropsychology, and psychology. This whole-child understanding lets us identify and address the root neurocognitive causes behind difficulties—whether learning barriers, anxiety, task avoidance, or behavioral challenges. Families often report positive changes in emotional regulation, social connections and behaviors within weeks.
Our students learn the neuroscience between brain-body connections and how to use them to maintain and optimize self-regulation, together with personalized strategies to self-monitor, self-manage and self-advocate for unique social, learning and/or physio needs. This powerful toolbox improves emotional resilience by reducing instances of dysregulation itself.
Here are some of the ways our unique program and small cohort combine to transform social-emotional learners into leaders.
- Cutting-edge therapies within research-driven program: Families are part of documented research proving transformational outcomes not yet available outside Cajal Academy that reduce special education needs and bring cross-setting social-emotional progress that improves quality of life and opens up future educational and professional opportunities
- Integrated diagnostic expertise: Our on-site, multi-disciplinary team of clinicians are experienced diagnosticians and independent expert evaluators and provide both normed assessments and informal observations tracking student progress as they evolve in the program
- Parent coaching: Direct access to teachers and clinicians through private family portals and parent coaching sessions with our Head of School and psychologist help parents break difficult cycles that undermine student emotional and academic growth and carry our unique ways of understanding and moving children forward to the home setting
- Exceptional outcomes: Families often report changes in their child’s outlook and interactions at home within weeks of starting the program, and academic growth follows a ‘hockey stick’ growth curve not seen in traditional special education environments
State of the Science Interventions Transforming Special Education Profiles
We’ve made a break-through for the field of education: a research-backed methodology that reduces or even removes learning and in some cases executive function and social-emotional disabilities, by rewiring foundational skills required to perform the affected tasks. Find out more about our exclusive Student Growth Catalysts.
Strengths-based Education
Students collaborate to solve real-world problems while mastering standards-based curriculum and developing the super-sized academic, leadership & self-care skills that college-bound innovative thinkers need to support their gifts.
Social-Emotional Learning
We help our students apply their analytical reasoning gifts to their social and emotional experiences, giving them not only a sense of agency but the science-backed strategies required to actually optimize those experiences.
Sized to Accelerate Growth
Our Intimate Learning Community + Innovative Techniques Propels Social and Academic Growth
Our small cohort (currently expanding from 6 to 20 students) isn't a limitation—it's our strength. This intimate setting allows us to implement our intensive, individualized neuroplasticity interventions with the level of precision and expert attention they require. Here are some of the benefits:
Small cohort with skills-based focus drives social growth - We leverage our small size to help students understand how their unique profiles of strengths and challenges drive patterns in their social interactions that may be holding them back, learn how to those patterns and develop new social approaches that better align to their social goals
Personalized attention - Every student receives individualized instruction and therapeutic support matched to the data in their neuropsychological profiles
Small class sizes and deep relationships - Our small class sizes and data-driven model for working with even the most complex students foster authentic, deep connections that help students overcome academic and social fears to access their strengths and understand school as a safe place for taking the academic risks required to grow
Mixed-age mentoring - Having a single community spanning K-12 matches provides the conditions for gifted students to thrive, while developing leadership skills for older students and providing role models for younger ones
Safe community - Intellectually curious students find peers who think like they do, with a culture based in helping peers understand how neurodiversity impacts both their own and their peers’ social communications
Downloadable materials to help your clients learn more
Other than our extensive website, the most helpful was for parents to learn about our program is to attend an Information Session and hear from our Head of School about our program and the neuroscience behind it. This is an essential for parents to make an informed decision about whether our unique program is the right fit for their family. In the meantime, here are some materials you can download to pass on to your clients.
Family Look-book
Parent Flyer
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome Parent Flyer
Workshop Wednesdays Enrichment Series