Thinking of switching from private to Churchill for high school

[Anonymous]

Just wondering if there were parents here that could tell me about their experience switching their kid from private (since 1st grade) to Churchill for 9th and beyond. My current 8th grader is very sensitive, has ADHD and anxiety. He's medicated for ADHD and anxiety but it is still an issue. How large, generally, are the classes? He has an IEP at his private school but I know we won't be able to start public with one in place.

For us, we're not seeing private as being anything fantastic (except the smaller class sizes, which could be really important. Just don't have a comparison) and wanted to see if others have had a similar situation and how the switch went.

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

If your child has ADHD and anxiety, and you acknowledge he won't get his IEP in place and publics tend to struggle with special needs students, why do you think Churchill will be better than his private?

How does your DS feel about his private school currently?

[Anonymous]

Ok. Sounds good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child has ADHD and anxiety, and you acknowledge he won't get his IEP in place and publics tend to struggle with special needs students, why do you think Churchill will be better than his private?

How does your DS feel about his private school currently?

Yes, especially at UMC schools like Churchill where over 50% of the population has an IEP. They just don't have the staff or bandwidth to handle the increase these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering if there were parents here that could tell me about their experience switching their kid from private (since 1st grade) to Churchill for 9th and beyond. My current 8th grader is very sensitive, has ADHD and anxiety. He's medicated for ADHD and anxiety but it is still an issue. How large, generally, are the classes? He has an IEP at his private school but I know we won't be able to start public with one in place.

For us, we're not seeing private as being anything fantastic (except the smaller class sizes, which could be really important. Just don't have a comparison) and wanted to see if others have had a similar situation and how the switch went.

Thank you!

I would not assume that at all. For the money you are paying at private, I would invest in an educational advocate who knows MCPS well and you can work on getting an IEP in place by the time your child starts. We did this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child has ADHD and anxiety, and you acknowledge he won't get his IEP in place and publics tend to struggle with special needs students, why do you think Churchill will be better than his private?

How does your DS feel about his private school currently?

Yes, especially at UMC schools like Churchill where over 50% of the population has an IEP. They just don't have the staff or bandwidth to handle the increase these days.

This is absolutely inaccurate. 50% of the school does not have IEPs. You might be referring to 504 Plans, but 50% of the kids don't have those either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child has ADHD and anxiety, and you acknowledge he won't get his IEP in place and publics tend to struggle with special needs students, why do you think Churchill will be better than his private?

How does your DS feel about his private school currently?

Yes, especially at UMC schools like Churchill where over 50% of the population has an IEP. They just don't have the staff or bandwidth to handle the increase these days.

This is absolutely inaccurate. 50% of the school does not have IEPs. You might be referring to 504 Plans, but 50% of the kids don't have those either.

A recent NYT article stated that there had been a 300% increase in IEPs over the past decade in upper-middle-class schools so guessing it's more like 70% these days.

[Anonymous]

I did this your kid will be fine.

Private is no where near as good your kid will struggle get them tutoring asap. Still cheaper and will be a better outcome for college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child has ADHD and anxiety, and you acknowledge he won't get his IEP in place and publics tend to struggle with special needs students, why do you think Churchill will be better than his private?

How does your DS feel about his private school currently?

OP here. I don't necessarily think Churchill will be better than his private. He likes his school but I'm finding that our friends with kids in the same grade and who attend public middle schools (not in our consortium but still) seem to be a bit farther along. I'm not very concerned about that but honestly, we don't have the kind of money that many in this area seem to have so the ROI concerns me.

Just wanted to get some info/advice and hear others experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering if there were parents here that could tell me about their experience switching their kid from private (since 1st grade) to Churchill for 9th and beyond. My current 8th grader is very sensitive, has ADHD and anxiety. He's medicated for ADHD and anxiety but it is still an issue. How large, generally, are the classes? He has an IEP at his private school but I know we won't be able to start public with one in place.

For us, we're not seeing private as being anything fantastic (except the smaller class sizes, which could be really important. Just don't have a comparison) and wanted to see if others have had a similar situation and how the switch went.

Thank you!

I would not assume that at all. For the money you are paying at private, I would invest in an educational advocate who knows MCPS well and you can work on getting an IEP in place by the time your child starts. We did this.

OP here. Thank you for the suggestion. I didn't know you could possibly arrange getting an IEP in place by the time school starts. Can you share with whom you worked? Thank you so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child has ADHD and anxiety, and you acknowledge he won't get his IEP in place and publics tend to struggle with special needs students, why do you think Churchill will be better than his private?

How does your DS feel about his private school currently?

OP here. I don't necessarily think Churchill will be better than his private. He likes his school but I'm finding that our friends with kids in the same grade and who attend public middle schools (not in our consortium but still) seem to be a bit farther along. I'm not very concerned about that but honestly, we don't have the kind of money that many in this area seem to have so the ROI concerns me.

Just wanted to get some info/advice and hear others experiences.

Got it. Then if it really is a financial-based decision and you're not seeing the ROI, then I do think you're not going to be TERRIBLY worse switching to Churchill.

I don't know the exact private school your son goes to but in terms of MCPS, Churchill is among the best academically so at worst, I think he'll maintain a similar level of education to what he's getting now. It might be better depending on additional specifics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child has ADHD and anxiety, and you acknowledge he won't get his IEP in place and publics tend to struggle with special needs students, why do you think Churchill will be better than his private?

How does your DS feel about his private school currently?

OP here. I don't necessarily think Churchill will be better than his private. He likes his school but I'm finding that our friends with kids in the same grade and who attend public middle schools (not in our consortium but still) seem to be a bit farther along. I'm not very concerned about that but honestly, we don't have the kind of money that many in this area seem to have so the ROI concerns me.

Just wanted to get some info/advice and hear others experiences.

Got it. Then if it really is a financial-based decision and you're not seeing the ROI, then I do think you're not going to be TERRIBLY worse switching to Churchill.

I don't know the exact private school your son goes to but in terms of MCPS, Churchill is among the best academically so at worst, I think he'll maintain a similar level of education to what he's getting now. It might be better depending on additional specifics.

MCPS has plenty of comparable academic opportunities, but it's completely on you to take advantage and keep up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your child has ADHD and anxiety, and you acknowledge he won't get his IEP in place and publics tend to struggle with special needs students, why do you think Churchill will be better than his private?

How does your DS feel about his private school currently?

Yes, especially at UMC schools like Churchill where over 50% of the population has an IEP. They just don't have the staff or bandwidth to handle the increase these days.

10%

https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04602.pdf

[Anonymous]

OP

Many people do this

In some parts of the county it’s super popular to do private then move to public for high school

People move to MCPS for this reason do not give it another thought

Get started on knowing what you need for the IEP being advocate fir your kid and it will turn out fine more than fine

I did this I regret not doing it sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did this your kid will be fine.

Private is no where near as good your kid will struggle get them tutoring asap. Still cheaper and will be a better outcome for college

You're right... private school kids only get into college because of their rich parents' connections. You are delusional, or have extremely limited knowledge of both private and public schools.