Has anyone successfully achieved Private Placement from FCPS?

[Anonymous]

ADHD + multiple learning disabilities heading into middle school. No behavior issues. Elementary has been an epic disaster on the part of the school. Considering asking our advocate and attorney(s) to pursue FCPS private placement.

If we go that route, what should we expect? Do we have to find the schools? What is the process like? Has anyone been successful in securing private placement from FCPS?

[Anonymous]

Not familiar w/ FCPS. But "no behavior issues" is a huge problem for getting private placement usually.

[Anonymous]

Yes. My child has been in and out of fcps placements for a decade.

And I will tell you that there is no school where they place kids that you will like for your kid.

[Anonymous]

Where do they try to place? I assume by previous messages that they are not looking at schools like Oakwood, Lab, Sienna, Commonwealth, etc. Where do they try to place kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do they try to place? I assume by previous messages that they are not looking at schools like Oakwood, Lab, Sienna, Commonwealth, etc. Where do they try to place kids?

I think DC places in Lab. Not VA. In MD, KTS, Ivymount.

[Anonymous]

We did, and pulled the kid out to homeschool after a week. The kids were violent and the work she was given was not grade level. We figured if we left her there that was the end of her chances at college, and there was not enough therapy on earth to deal with the toxic environment.

[Anonymous]

Where was your child placed??? I definitely don't want to go to a toxic environment. His current school is bad but not toxic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where was your child placed??? I definitely don't want to go to a toxic environment. His current school is bad but not toxic.

This was almost ten years ago now, so I'm not sure it would help much since everything will have changed in that time (she's a sophomore in college now). But it was one of the fairfax county-based privates that fcps sends kids with autism and ED to pretty frequently-- she was supposed to be placed in the autism classroom, but they decided she was too high functioning and put her in with the ED kids instead.

A School that focuses on learning disabilities might be a better environment. Just be careful and ask lots of questions. We were mislead about several things and didn't realize until she was already there. To answer your earlier question, you don't pick the school. Fcps gave us three, and only one of them would take her (they suggested lab, which we would have taken, but lab doesn't take kids with asd). Most of the privates will not work with fcps so the list of potential placements is short.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do they try to place? I assume by previous messages that they are not looking at schools like Oakwood, Lab, Sienna, Commonwealth, etc. Where do they try to place kids?

I think DC places in Lab. Not VA. In MD, KTS, Ivymount.

DC hasnt' easily placed kids at Lab for over 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where do they try to place? I assume by previous messages that they are not looking at schools like Oakwood, Lab, Sienna, Commonwealth, etc. Where do they try to place kids?

FCPS will rarely place kids at Lab. Very rarely. A school board member had a kid placed at Ivymount but that's the only kid I have ever heard of getting a spot there from FCPS.

They do not have contracts with Oakwood, Sienna, Commonwealth, Newton.
Almost all of the private placement schools are for kids with severe behavioral issues and emotional disabilities.

They have contracts with schools like these, however they will not place kids at schools that do seclusion (so Phillips Annandale no longer takes FCPS kids, but the other Phillips campuses do apparently)
https://www.vaisef.org/slide-1-2/facilities/

Outside of Virginia, they will send kids to Frost in Md (might be a different name now) and KTS and High Road.

[Anonymous]

The special ed day "schools" are grim, OP. Tour a few before you go down this route. They look nothing like real schools.

If there are no behavioral problems, your kid is almost always better off in private-pay private school or public school with a tutor.

[Anonymous]

FCPS special education teacher here. They will not pay for a school you would want your kid in. You are going to be better off moving to a better school catchment area and getting a really good tutor. I’m very sorry this is happening. Some middle schools are better academically because the kid has a dedicated 90 minute class every other day in reading, while in elementary school they try so much push in to gen ed classes and behavior can be bad so instruction doesn’t happen. Best of luck to you.

[Anonymous]

I have advocated informally for kids and your best bet is to email the head of special education with a concise summary of what is wrong at your school and what you want. You can email by putting first name dot last name @fcps.edu. You can often get results by contacting your school board rep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The special ed day "schools" are grim, OP. Tour a few before you go down this route. They look nothing like real schools.

If there are no behavioral problems, your kid is almost always better off in private-pay private school or public school with a tutor.

Pp here, with the child I pulled out after a week. I wish our advocate had been more straightforward about this before we started down this road. Our original hope was a spot at Auburn(which no longer exists), but fcps wouldn't cover it. We should have walked away at that point. I felt like we were forced into the school we ended up at because the other two listed options were never going to accept my child.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for all of the information. We are now trying to prepare for the cost of a private that we want who might actually be able to take him. This whole situation is so infuriating.