We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jill Lerner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jill, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Learn with the Best started off as a tutoring company for students with and without disabilities. Many years ago, I was working with a student with disabilities who was attending a specialized school and the school refused to give him math instruction since his level was far below his peers. The mother drove three hours a day, 1.5 hours each way, to come to me for individualized math instruction. This became very burdensome for this family in many ways: time, gas expenses, car maintenance, etc. One day the mother looked at me and said, “I wish you would just start a private school,” I thought about it for a short time, reviewed the parameters and expectations and started a private school for her son. In 2010, Learn with the Best School was born.

Our one room schoolhouse turned into three children with more to follow. I was teaching our transitional kindergarten for students with and without disabilities ages 4-6. The need in the community was growing exponentially for families who had children with a wide variety of disabilities who weren’t being served appropriately in other schools for a many different reasons. Our main goal was to assess each child and provide them with individualized education within a small group setting based on their instructional needs. The mission was magic and the exploding lightbulb moments from students who finally had the opportunities to learn on their own levels or at their own paces were blinding. We embraced the community needs and in 2013, pioneering an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Clinic collaboration with Learn with the Best School for student K-12 with disabilities.

Fast forward to 2024 and we proudly serve between 40 and 50 students per year with a staff of highly qualified educators in a low student/teacher ratio environment. We have our strong collaboration between our school and clinic staff to ensure that all students have their needs met through our programs. I am beyond proud of all that the staff and students/clients achieve on a daily basis.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When I was 16 I had a free period during my high school day. As a result, I had the unique opportunity to volunteer in a special education classroom for high school students with severe and profound disabilities which included many students with Autism. As a result of this amazing experience, I started volunteering for Special Olympics in the evenings at my high school as a gymnastics and swimming coach. I was assigned as a swim coach for a woman named Terry who was 22 years old and had pretty significant cerebral palsy. I was her third coach and she had not given up so I wouldn’t either. The day she was able to maneuver herself through the water independently with one straight arm, one severely bent arm, one strong leg and one weak one was a pivotal moment that gave me an incredible sense of personal pride. Those experiences were the foundation for my subsequent career working with children with disabilities.

Fast forward to 1996, I was now a college graduate with an advanced bachelor’s degree in psychology and minors in exercise science and sociology. What to do with all of this?? I called my mom, a constant source of support in times of crisis, and cried about what path I should choose- speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, child psychology. Her response to me was so rational, “you always loved working with people with disabilities, how about that?” I immediately got a job at an elementary school as an assistant in a mild-moderate special education classroom and registered at NC State University in a dual bachelor’s and master’s degree program in teaching special education and the rest is history!!

I went on to teach for about 5 years as a self-contained special education teacher in Wake County working predominantly with children with Autism, moving into a Montessori setting for 2 years after that. I really craved the autonomy to work with kids the way I saw fit so I called my dad, my other voice of reason and guidance. He advised me to follow my dream start tutoring and working with kids on my terms. As a family we came up with the name “Learn with the Best” sitting around the dinner table one night.

My goals and desires over time turned towards creating programs that catered to students with ALL types of disabilities including many students with Autism. Learn with the Best includes an ABA Clinic and summer camps and Learn with the Best School offers K-12 educational programs for students with disabilities at any level. We are proud to serve the students and families in our community giving them the highest-level educational services possible. I could not be prouder of what I have created over the years and for surrounding myself with like-minded educators and therapists who are so passionate about child-first programming for our families.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

We are grateful to have many years of experience successfully working with children with disabilities and their families in our local area. I believe that honesty, hard work and dedication to these children and their well-being set us apart and supports our strong, positive reputation.

While we do have a website, the bulk of our families come from referrals from other schools, teachers, areas physicians who specialize in working with families who have children with disabilities as well as word of mouth. Our goal is for the child and family to find a place that is accepting and willing to modify our curriculum and education to fit their needs. If a child is not making progress, we need to re-evaluate our plan to see what we can do to help that child be successful. Open communication with our families is key to the success of our programs.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Managing staff is definitely a learned skill that is ever evolving. Both of my businesses have very different types of staff. Learn with the Best School has both general and special educators as well as instructional assistants for group style classrooms. Learn with the Best’s ABA staff is based on one-on-one, highly individualized support for children and young adults with disabilities, primarily Autism. Both sets of staff are highly qualified and skilled but do need varying levels of management to exceed in their positions.

Over time, my management style has become more and more hands on and personalized to make sure each staff member, regardless of program, knows they are valued and a special part of our school/clinic community. I work very hard to provide
an honest, supportive leadership model so staff can speak freely about positives and areas of need in their day-to-day work. I also feel that it is important to be in the trenches and lead by example such as offering my assistance with covering classrooms or clients, setting up learning areas and even plunging toilets. I feel that nothing should be beneath a good leader.

As far as morale, we have a variety of perks such as staff meals, outings, special self-care and fun gifts, etc. to further show our staff that they are appreciated. Being mindful of the Languages of Appreciation in the workplace has been a helpful tool to support a varied staff members and has led to greater retention and job satisfaction over time. We are fortunate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.learnwiththebestschool.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LearnwiththeBestSchool
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/learn-with-the-best-raleigh