It used to be one of the best programs in the city. Super caring people, super involved top notch teachers, kids were treated like gold.
They hired a mom with questionable credentials to run it. Now it is really hard to get your kid evaluated, there is a strong push to get kids off IEPs and on 504s for no reason at all, and many kids have no providers because so many sped teachers have quit. Why did they quit? Insane leadership choices, lots of leadership turnover, and the promotion of white women over people with actual experience and credentials.
Personally I would not expect much. I would expect providers to leave after a year. I would expect to have long fights for services if your kid remotely does well. What does it mean for your child to “do well”? Well since there are no tests or homework, a lot of sped decisions are based on whatever the teacher thinks. And guess who is getting heavy pressure to agree with the sped program and get kids off sped? God help you if your kid is remotely doing well on the NWEA. Anything over 25% is considered average. I was flipping out when my child had a 27% but the teacher assured me this was “low average”. Um okay.
My older two had an incredible experience with lamb sped. My youngest is not getting services right now despite having an IEP because there isn’t enough providers. Everyone I know is paying for services out of pocket after school. It’s incredibly depressing. I can’t afford to do this, but I know it’s happening and most families aren’t saying anything. Lamb is real against parents complaining, so I try to be as nice as possible to avoid getting a bad reputation but there is only so long that I can watch my kid struggle.
Oh and no services are provided in spanish at all. So expect that your kid will always be in the lowest reading group with spanish. And there will be no plan at all to address your child’s needs in spanish. People usually hire a tutor but again, that’s expensive.
If your kids are in the younger grades and recently diagnosed, I would do my best to find another school for the following year. If you’re concerned, I would immediately get an outside evaluation since lamb’s will find nothing.
|