Moving in August with IEP - Understanding our PreK Options?

[Anonymous]

We’re currently based in the NY metro but due to an unforeseen work relocation will be moving to DC in August.

We have a 2 year old (turning 3 in early September) who currently receives several services via an IFSP from NY Early Intervention. We are in the process of doing our CPSE evaluations now, and have been told that they will be recommending an IEP at our meeting later next month.

I’ve already reached out to Early Stages and walked through the process of transferring an IEP from NY to DC. Our child currently attends a 2’s morning program here in NY.

In terms of locations, we’ve been looking at homes in-bounds for Hyde-Addison, SWW@FS, Eaton and Stoddart of which only the first 2 offer PK3. I’ve been trying to get a sense for what the best choice would be given our situation, the lottery, the experience of special education services in the school, etc. We are planning to move longer-term so would like to make a decision that would put us in a good place hopefully through at least Middle School. We are open to private school later on if needed but we’re hoping to start with DCPS for the lower grades.

Anyway, any information is greatly appreciated! We are slightly panicked due to the timeline and the amount of paperwork and all the options to consider (rent/buy/etc). Plus all the other non-school factors that go into choosing a new place to live. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Apologies I forgot to add - for the schools that don’t offer PK3 my understanding is that we would try to get matched with another school that can implement the IEP for prek3 and then return to our in-bounds school (if possible) to continue from prek-4. I may have misunderstood the process so was hoping to get clarity.

[Anonymous]

Someone else (on this board or the SN board) can provide more information, but it sounds like you would want to reach out to DC Early Stages. They can help you with a DCPS placement once your child turns 3 (and in general the cutoff for DC is child's age as of September 3, which means your child would be entering PK3 this coming school year).

[Anonymous]

Try SN board where you can discuss the specific needs in more detail. DCPS may not be your best bet. We have a child with significant reading learning differences and they would not have been well served in DCPS.

Welcome to DC and good luck!

[Anonymous]

I moved with a 3 year old with an IEP. He was in a self-contained classroom according to DCPS rules, so I looked for a rental inbound for the best CES (autism) classroom I could find, mostly since that meant our older kid would have the same elementary school.

If you are moving with a kid who will be eligible for a self-contained classroom, the school will assign you to the one closest to your home. The quality and stability of the teachers is key, and it doesn't necessarily correlate with the school's overall reputation. My kids' current elementary is very good, but it changed admin a few years ago and the self-contained classrooms have been a flaming dumpster fire since. Meanwhile, the single best special ed teacher my child has ever had works at Malcolm X Elementary in SE, which is not otherwise well-regarded.

It's somewhat easier if your kid's IEP calls for classroom + pull-out or push-in services. In that case, a good elementary overall will work fine for you. Having an IEP means you will have a guaranteed PK3 seat at your in-bound school. You won't need to lottery into a spot.

If your kid happens to be autistic but able to go into diploma-track school (i.e. no self-contained classroom), consider Seaton, which hosts one of DCPS's only autism inclusion programs.

Finally, if you want to be set through middle, you will need to live west of Rock Creek Park, which is very expensive. There are lots of good elementary schools east of the park (EOTP) but middle school is hit or miss.

[Anonymous]

Do an Early Stages evaluation right away once in DC. Early stages will place you in PreK3 next fall at your IB school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's somewhat easier if your kid's IEP calls for classroom + pull-out or push-in services. In that case, a good elementary overall will work fine for you. Having

If your kid happens to be autistic but able to go into diploma-track school (i.e. no self-contained classroom), consider Seaton, which hosts one of DCPS's only autism inclusion programs.

Finally, if you want to be set through middle, you will need to live west of Rock Creek Park, which is very expensive. There are lots of good elementary schools east of the park (EOTP) but middle school is hit or miss.

Thanks for your response, this is really helpful. We are getting a psych evaluation through NY CPSE which includes autism next week, per recommendation from our Dr.

It sounds like once we know the specifics of the type of instruction specified in the IEP it will help us narrow down our options further.

I suspected that the overall school ratings may not be the best indicator of the quality of special education instruction, so that’s good to know. The highest rated public school here in Westchester has a terrible reputation for IEP implementation, as they attempt to preserve test rankings by pushing students out of the classrooms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's somewhat easier if your kid's IEP calls for classroom + pull-out or push-in services. In that case, a good elementary overall will work fine for you. Having

If your kid happens to be autistic but able to go into diploma-track school (i.e. no self-contained classroom), consider Seaton, which hosts one of DCPS's only autism inclusion programs.

Finally, if you want to be set through middle, you will need to live west of Rock Creek Park, which is very expensive. There are lots of good elementary schools east of the park (EOTP) but middle school is hit or miss.

Thanks for your response, this is really helpful. We are getting a psych evaluation through NY CPSE which includes autism next week, per recommendation from our Dr.

It sounds like once we know the specifics of the type of instruction specified in the IEP it will help us narrow down our options further.

I suspected that the overall school ratings may not be the best indicator of the quality of special education instruction, so that’s good to know. The highest rated public school here in Westchester has a terrible reputation for IEP implementation, as they attempt to preserve test rankings by pushing students out of the classrooms.

Just to let you know, even with an autism diagnosis, you may not get special education services in DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's somewhat easier if your kid's IEP calls for classroom + pull-out or push-in services. In that case, a good elementary overall will work fine for you. Having

If your kid happens to be autistic but able to go into diploma-track school (i.e. no self-contained classroom), consider Seaton, which hosts one of DCPS's only autism inclusion programs.

Finally, if you want to be set through middle, you will need to live west of Rock Creek Park, which is very expensive. There are lots of good elementary schools east of the park (EOTP) but middle school is hit or miss.

Thanks for your response, this is really helpful. We are getting a psych evaluation through NY CPSE which includes autism next week, per recommendation from our Dr.

It sounds like once we know the specifics of the type of instruction specified in the IEP it will help us narrow down our options further.

I suspected that the overall school ratings may not be the best indicator of the quality of special education instruction, so that’s good to know. The highest rated public school here in Westchester has a terrible reputation for IEP implementation, as they attempt to preserve test rankings by pushing students out of the classrooms.

Just to let you know, even with an autism diagnosis, you may not get special education services in DC.

We would be coming in with an IEP relating to other assessed delays not a diagnosis. It’s just an added thing they are required to test for as part of the whole process here.

[Anonymous]

We've had a great experience with special education in DCPS preK, wishing your family all the best! Many of the preK programs are strong, so esp. if your child with be in an inclusion setting with push-in/pull-out services (Early Stages will help you figure this out) I would live where it makes sense for your family/budget/commute and they will try to place you a preK-3 program near your home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've had a great experience with special education in DCPS preK, wishing your family all the best! Many of the preK programs are strong, so esp. if your child with be in an inclusion setting with push-in/pull-out services (Early Stages will help you figure this out) I would live where it makes sense for your family/budget/commute and they will try to place you a preK-3 program near your home.

Thanks, this is very reassuring! We have finished 3 out of the 5 assessments (1 tomorrow) for NY CPSE and all have said they are recommending some form of inclusion setting. We still need to wait for the end of the month for it to be formalized, but I am already overwhelmed, given the situation in NY is a mad rush to get your child added to every waitlist for private special education programs, followed by negotiating with your school district to cover some, or all, of the fees. The DC program seems more clear cut, but we've had a lot of anxiety over whether we are doing the right thing, pulling our child out of the private system (many of the schools are far out of our budget anyway, though) in favor of the DCPS options. Our child will need a lot of support in terms of language development, but we can't pay the 40-60k/year tuition here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I moved with a 3 year old with an IEP. He was in a self-contained classroom according to DCPS rules, so I looked for a rental inbound for the best CES (autism) classroom I could find, mostly since that meant our older kid would have the same elementary school.

If you are moving with a kid who will be eligible for a self-contained classroom, the school will assign you to the one closest to your home. The quality and stability of the teachers is key, and it doesn't necessarily correlate with the school's overall reputation. My kids' current elementary is very good, but it changed admin a few years ago and the self-contained classrooms have been a flaming dumpster fire since. Meanwhile, the single best special ed teacher my child has ever had works at Malcolm X Elementary in SE, which is not otherwise well-regarded.

It's somewhat easier if your kid's IEP calls for classroom + pull-out or push-in services. In that case, a good elementary overall will work fine for you. Having an IEP means you will have a guaranteed PK3 seat at your in-bound school. You won't need to lottery into a spot.

If your kid happens to be autistic but able to go into diploma-track school (i.e. no self-contained classroom), consider Seaton, which hosts one of DCPS's only autism inclusion programs.

Finally, if you want to be set through middle, you will need to live west of Rock Creek Park, which is very expensive. There are lots of good elementary schools east of the park (EOTP) but middle school is hit or miss.

School within a school has a strategies program(inclusion) too.

[Anonymous]

In the past SWW-Francis Stevens had a good reputation. (Foggy Bottom / West End area)
They just went through a major renovation so info gets weird with school data as the school moves into a swing space that does not work for people.
A point to consider (and in my mind a +) for a child with learning differences for SWW Francis Stevens is that it is a PreK-8 model. So if your child needs a little more help transitioning, the middle school is materially smaller than other middle school options in DC.