504 advice for MS

[Anonymous]

DD has a 504 now at MCPS 5th grade for both ADHD and a medical issue. Moving into 6th grade, any tips on what is a must to include? Was thinking extended test time and ability to take short breaks/Flash pass, as DD doesn't have these now. The teacher agrees.
Do you recommend meeting with the MS counselors over the summer?
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

I have a kid with an 504 in MS for ADHD. In addition to the ones you have, I would add:

- Backpack pass so that kid can use backpack throughout day (at our school they are kept in locker unless there is an accommodation). This has been essential for my kid's organization.
- Teacher notes/slides
- Assignments and due dates posted electronically. (Lets you reach out to teachers who aren't posting due dates on Canvas to do so to met the accommodation.)

We met in the spring with counselor at ES and the new MS counselor to determine updated 504 plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid with an 504 in MS for ADHD. In addition to the ones you have, I would add:

- Backpack pass so that kid can use backpack throughout day (at our school they are kept in locker unless there is an accommodation). This has been essential for my kid's organization.
- Teacher notes/slides
- Assignments and due dates posted electronically. (Lets you reach out to teachers who aren't posting due dates on Canvas to do so to met the accommodation.)

We met in the spring with counselor at ES and the new MS counselor to determine updated 504 plan.

Thank you PP - super helpful advice!

[Anonymous]

Good luck. Our elem AP is a former MS counselor and I spent 2 years in an MCPS Ms. She said that MS teachers don’t follow 504s and parents need to be advocating for their kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good luck. Our elem AP is a former MS counselor and I spent 2 years in an MCPS Ms. She said that MS teachers don’t follow 504s and parents need to be advocating for their kid.

I am sure this is true. That not one single middle school in the entire county follows 504 plans. Not one.

I will never understand why people make such baseless derogatory comments.

OP, I am sure you will find that the MS has a ton of ideas to support your child. The ones suggested are good. And once your child gets to MS and you see how they actually are doing, you will have a better idea what’s needed.

A couple of things that I found important were to ensure my kid left ES with good backpack management - that is something kids really need to be independent with before MS. It was important for my kid to develop their own strategies for organization and things like turning in homework, which also became a focus in ES during the last semester of fifth grade. What they did was tape a checklist to my kid’s desk every morning with required activities like turn in homework. A checklist in his binder became one of the compensatory strategies he developed for himself in MS.

If your kid goes to a MS that has homework, I’d suggest always taking a photo of every single completed assignment so that if it gets lost or not turned in, it doesn’t have to be redone. Also if there are problems getting it turned in you will have it to send to the teacher. It’s a good idea as a parent to stay on top of things so you don’t have crises.

Shortly before the start of the school year most MSs have introductory events. Go to them. Be sure your kid can open their locker and find their homeroom. Make sure you know what they must wear for PE. Meet the principal and the counselor. Go to BTSN and every other parent event so everyone gets to know you. It makes it easier to advocate when they see you being an involved parent.

As for trying to meet with the counselor over the summer, good luck with that. But if you are going to try, just know that the new school year starts July 1 and they have no responsibility for your child before that date. Personally I felt that about two weeks into the school year was a really productive time to meet. By then the counselors have their caseloads under control and you will be seeing what your child’s needs and difficulties are.

[Anonymous]

Know that accommodations can be stepped up if your dc has trouble adjusting to middle school. You can request a meeting to review accommodations at any time.

Our dc was really struggling with keeping track of assignments and turning them in on time. We were able to drop the arts rotation and have dc put into a resource class instead. That gave dc some time at school to work on assignments, but more importantly, a teacher who maintained a spreadsheet of all of dc’s assignments, their due dates and whether dc had turn them in, which was updated and shared with dc and us weekly. It was so helpful. The resource teacher would also help dc with cleaning out folders and organizing papers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid with an 504 in MS for ADHD. In addition to the ones you have, I would add:

- Backpack pass so that kid can use backpack throughout day (at our school they are kept in locker unless there is an accommodation). This has been essential for my kid's organization.
- Teacher notes/slides
- Assignments and due dates posted electronically. (Lets you reach out to teachers who aren't posting due dates on Canvas to do so to met the accommodation.)

We met in the spring with counselor at ES and the new MS counselor to determine updated 504 plan.

Get this one. Doesn't matter that they don't follow it. When they haven't followed it and the kid gets zeros, you have reason to reopen the grade book.
The assignment system is the worst part of mcps. There's no one ensuring consistency in assignment tracking.

[Anonymous]

There are some excellent lists of example accommodations online.

My 4th grade kid’s accommodations is a signal for correction (rather than calling her out and embarrassing her when she is off task),

Movement breaks.

Seating accommodations away from chatty friends.

Testing in a quiet place.

Allowance for doodling, etc

& Mostly the 504 gives a way to open up a conversation and partner with teachers.
We start a conversation early in the year about what the kid need to not end up being a distraction in the classroom. This usually opens up a conversation about guarding against boredom and letting her go with the flow and go deep on special interests she has. Like allowing her to read or work on extra credit projects as long as it doesn’t distract the class. She gets straight As so it doesn’t affect her learning to multitask.

But homework time is really unpleasant at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good luck. Our elem AP is a former MS counselor and I spent 2 years in an MCPS Ms. She said that MS teachers don’t follow 504s and parents need to be advocating for their kid.

I am sure this is true. That not one single middle school in the entire county follows 504 plans. Not one.

I will never understand why people make such baseless derogatory comments.

OP, I am sure you will find that the MS has a ton of ideas to support your child. The ones suggested are good. And once your child gets to MS and you see how they actually are doing, you will have a better idea what’s needed.

A couple of things that I found important were to ensure my kid left ES with good backpack management - that is something kids really need to be independent with before MS. It was important for my kid to develop their own strategies for organization and things like turning in homework, which also became a focus in ES during the last semester of fifth grade. What they did was tape a checklist to my kid’s desk every morning with required activities like turn in homework. A checklist in his binder became one of the compensatory strategies he developed for himself in MS.

If your kid goes to a MS that has homework, I’d suggest always taking a photo of every single completed assignment so that if it gets lost or not turned in, it doesn’t have to be redone. Also if there are problems getting it turned in you will have it to send to the teacher. It’s a good idea as a parent to stay on top of things so you don’t have crises.

Shortly before the start of the school year most MSs have introductory events. Go to them. Be sure your kid can open their locker and find their homeroom. Make sure you know what they must wear for PE. Meet the principal and the counselor. Go to BTSN and every other parent event so everyone gets to know you. It makes it easier to advocate when they see you being an involved parent.

As for trying to meet with the counselor over the summer, good luck with that. But if you are going to try, just know that the new school year starts July 1 and they have no responsibility for your child before that date. Personally I felt that about two weeks into the school year was a really productive time to meet. By then the counselors have their caseloads under control and you will be seeing what your child’s needs and difficulties are.

Taking photos of completed assignments is a great idea!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid with an 504 in MS for ADHD. In addition to the ones you have, I would add:

- Backpack pass so that kid can use backpack throughout day (at our school they are kept in locker unless there is an accommodation). This has been essential for my kid's organization.
- Teacher notes/slides
- Assignments and due dates posted electronically. (Lets you reach out to teachers who aren't posting due dates on Canvas to do so to met the accommodation.)

Canvas won’t let you post an assignment without a due date. It won’t even allow you to save without a due date, let alone publish.

[Anonymous]

Remember 504 is civil rights law. Accommodations are requirements for your kid to be able to participate in school. They’re not lists of things that the teacher is going to do that might help. There is not a menu of things you can “pick” or “get.” The only accommodations that should be on a 504 are the ones your child legally requires in order to participate in school. Not get straight A’s and not just to “help a little” or give a little advantage. A dx is not a golden ticket thar forces the teacher to bend over backwards to get your kid into an Ivy. All students struggle a little and this is okay and even good. You don’t need a 504 document to snowplow every possible problem at school. Let kids be kids. If they’re failing, meet with the school. If they’re not, don’t create problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Remember 504 is civil rights law. Accommodations are requirements for your kid to be able to participate in school. They’re not lists of things that the teacher is going to do that might help. There is not a menu of things you can “pick” or “get.” The only accommodations that should be on a 504 are the ones your child legally requires in order to participate in school. Not get straight A’s and not just to “help a little” or give a little advantage. A dx is not a golden ticket thar forces the teacher to bend over backwards to get your kid into an Ivy. All students struggle a little and this is okay and even good. You don’t need a 504 document to snowplow every possible problem at school. Let kids be kids. If they’re failing, meet with the school. If they’re not, don’t create problems.

You've clearly not participated in the update of a.504 over time. Having a rubber wiggle seat in kindergarten does not automatically evolve into permission to take a lap around the hallway in grade 7 without a lot of monitoring and collaboration between home and school. Thoughtful involvement from parents helps calibrate accommodations as a child ages and school expectations change. A good counselor will help.parents translate diagnoses into appropriate actions without setting anyone's expectations too high or too low.