The two SN children in DC's class slow down the pace of instruction every day, every class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for summing up what many SN parents suspect the other parents think of their children, but won't admit to.

In our case I wonder if the school should not have told the parents about some students needing extra help, attention ecc
We have a child with an extra handler but if my child had not told me I would never know what goes on in the class room.
I also agree parents should stay out but the school does not communicate openly and honestly about these children and their needs or how the class might be impacted. No wonder parents get upset if we have to find out through the back door. Also parents of SN in my child's class pretend they are not, so That does not help communication either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for summing up what many SN parents suspect the other parents think of their children, but won't admit to.

In our case I wonder if the school should not have told the parents about some students needing extra help, attention ecc
We have a child with an extra handler but if my child had not told me I would never know what goes on in the class room.
I also agree parents should stay out but the school does not communicate openly and honestly about these children and their needs or how the class might be impacted. No wonder parents get upset if we have to find out through the back door. Also parents of SN in my child's class pretend they are not, so That does not help communication either.

Do you really think a school should share with you confidential information about other children? FERPA may not apply in private schools, but basic ethical standards do. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for summing up what many SN parents suspect the other parents think of their children, but won't admit to.

In our case I wonder if the school should not have told the parents about some students needing extra help, attention ecc
We have a child with an extra handler but if my child had not told me I would never know what goes on in the class room.
I also agree parents should stay out but the school does not communicate openly and honestly about these children and their needs or how the class might be impacted. No wonder parents get upset if we have to find out through the back door. Also parents of SN in my child's class pretend they are not, so That does not help communication either.

Do you really think a school should share with you confidential information about other children? FERPA may not apply in private schools, but basic ethical standards do. Sheesh.

I don't mean medical information but I feel it is dishonest of the school to pretend there are no challenges to the class and teachers by bringing certain students to the mix. The school accepts the kids based on $$$ but the teachers and class have to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My eight year old son has special needs-- ADHD and a learning disability. It would be fantastic if his school would skip elementary math and move straight to algebra so that he's no longer hampered by the slower pace of his NT classmates.
As it is, he has to be taught math individually because he requires one and usually zero explanations when it comes to math concepts.
Not helpful, I know-- but these assumptions about SN really piss me off.

I'm not being snarky but I'm not a fantastic writer so it might be snarky...are you told it's good for your kid that he learns to be with others who are different than he is and asked to just Go with the flow?

[Anonymous]

My kids are much younger and not in private, so I am speaking to my own experience. I feel like they should bring back gifted tracks in public school (we don't have them in DCPS). I was pulled out beginning in 4th grade for after school gifted program, and then in 7th and 8th for special gifted classes in English and Social Studies (our school only offered gifted in these subjects). Later I went on to a very highly regarded boarding school, where all the kids were gifted, even if they had special needs -- meaning they were advanced for their age. I want this for my children, too. THey are currently in a bilingual program that is challenging to them, so I don't see this becoming an issue until middle school. I am building the case with my spouse to send them to a local private school and then boarding school, if their grades and interest justify it. Simply put, you learn more when you are in a class with kids who are smarter than you.

[Anonymous]

Just curious OP - is your child's school progressive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for summing up what many SN parents suspect the other parents think of their children, but won't admit to.

In our case I wonder if the school should not have told the parents about some students needing extra help, attention ecc
We have a child with an extra handler but if my child had not told me I would never know what goes on in the class room.
I also agree parents should stay out but the school does not communicate openly and honestly about these children and their needs or how the class might be impacted. No wonder parents get upset if we have to find out through the back door. Also parents of SN in my child's class pretend they are not, so That does not help communication either.

My son has special needs and from my point of view, it's no one else's business. I would be extremely upset if a school shared that with other parents without my permission.

I expect that if my son's needs were so great that they could not be balanced with the rest of the class, the school would tell me that it's not a good fit.

[Anonymous]

PP I hear you but I feel the schools are over promising to the SN parents possibly. Why else would anybody care about your business if not for the imbalance it creates. I blame the schools for taking on too much and I suspect it is because of $$$.

[Anonymous]

I'm dying to know what school this is. We are searching and I need to know what to avoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why are you observing the classroom. Parents should not be in the classroom!

I don't think you are educated enough on the subject to understand what you are observing.

Parents should ALWAYS be allowed to observe in the classroom, especially if they are paying $35,000 per year.

No. They shouldn't. Because OP has show how ignorant she is and she no doubt has violated the privacy kids should be afford end e classroom by talking to her "friends" about her "observations".

I pay $35k because the school can pay for trained teachers and aids and busy body moms can stay at the country club.

Being an involved parents means having an idea what goes on when our children are in the care of professionals. It's nice that you are wiling to hand the care and education of your children over to professionals without any involvement or supervision, but some of us prefer to actually raise our own kids.

The pp here is the definition of helicopter in my book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher with a special ed background.
My son also has some special needs. (He needs reminders, a lot, but is quick in other ways).

As a parent, I pay for private assistance outside of school to help him keep up.

When our school had some kids that needed more assistance (1:1 reteaching, etc.) more staff was hired.
The expectation was that the parent would pay for the assistant.

Some schools charge more for children who need additional staffing, and have programs for it.

You may want to speak to the director about this.
I agree, though, that sometimes what is good for the children with labels benefit others who don't have labels.

Look up Universal Design for Learning, and the Center for Applied Special Technologies for some ideas on how differentiation works.

We use a rotation model at that age level (look up blended learning) so kids can work independently, in small groups and with some direction from the teacher, as needed.

What makes me crazy is when parents who have kids with special issues don't face it and "hide" their kids in schools where they can't have IEPs and expect the issues to go away, because on the surface, they seem typical/average. This happens and the teachers hands are tied, especially when THEY are also clients spending over $30K.

If a child needs a really fast pace (IQs from 125/130-140+) they should have a teacher who is gifted certified or at least aware how to differentiate up in graceful way. It is something to research when you are looking into programs for your kids.

(Sorry to be so abrupt when I say, "look up". I mean it in a "you might be curious about" way, not a "check yourself before you wreck yourself" way, and I'm sleepy.)

PP, as a teacher with a special Ed background, you might have pointed out that some kids are highly gifted from an IQ perspective yet need extra prompts and different learning strategies. It used to be called "absent minded professor" - now it's called GT/LD or 2e, and it's quite common. It's not either they're gifted or they need help, sometimes it's both. Frankly, all kids need some degree of customized learning - isn't that what teaching is all about, and isn't that why we're paying for smaller class sizes?

[Anonymous]

This is why private school is BS. They promise a lot for the tuition they demand, they HAVE to, otherwise no one would ever spend that amount of money. but no school is ever going to be perfect. There is no way you can promise to meet all the needs of every kid in the class room perfectly. The class size would have to be one. You do the best you can with the class and the teacher you have and supplement at home. Of course OP is pissed her child isn't getting the education promised to her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for summing up what many SN parents suspect the other parents think of their children, but won't admit to.

In our case I wonder if the school should not have told the parents about some students needing extra help, attention ecc
We have a child with an extra handler but if my child had not told me I would never know what goes on in the class room.
I also agree parents should stay out but the school does not communicate openly and honestly about these children and their needs or how the class might be impacted. No wonder parents get upset if we have to find out through the back door. Also parents of SN in my child's class pretend they are not, so That does not help communication either.

Do you really think a school should share with you confidential information about other children? FERPA may not apply in private schools, but basic ethical standards do. Sheesh.

I don't mean medical information but I feel it is dishonest of the school to pretend there are no challenges to the class and teachers by bringing certain students to the mix. The school accepts the kids based on $$$ but the teachers and class have to make it work.

A school absolutely cannot disclose this kind of information about another student. It isn't a "back door" its basic ethics and possibly the law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for summing up what many SN parents suspect the other parents think of their children, but won't admit to.

In our case I wonder if the school should not have told the parents about some students needing extra help, attention ecc
We have a child with an extra handler but if my child had not told me I would never know what goes on in the class room.
I also agree parents should stay out but the school does not communicate openly and honestly about these children and their needs or how the class might be impacted. No wonder parents get upset if we have to find out through the back door. Also parents of SN in my child's class pretend they are not, so That does not help communication either.

Do you really think a school should share with you confidential information about other children? FERPA may not apply in private schools, but basic ethical standards do. Sheesh.

I don't mean medical information but I feel it is dishonest of the school to pretend there are no challenges to the class and teachers by bringing certain students to the mix. The school accepts the kids based on $$$ but the teachers and class have to make it work.

A school absolutely cannot disclose this kind of information about another student. It isn't a "back door" its basic ethics and possibly the law.

???

What is unethical is to shortchange all students but two, in the benefit of two (assuming OP is right), and to actively hide that very relevant information.

[Anonymous]

OP:
I understand your frustration, but the reality is that many private/independent schools have children in the class that suck the teacher's attn and time.
At our independent, it's been the same kid since Pre-K 4.
The school is deaf to parents' complaints.
So I'd rather have a child with special needs in the class--that would help to teach compassion, rather than an over active child who the school just can't handle and refuses to boot.