DC v. Bethesda Public Schools for ASD

[Anonymous]

Hello - I'm a DC resident of a 3-year-old child, who was recently diagnosed with mild ASD. I'm thinking ahead to public school options. Does anyone please have any advice for whether DC or Bethesda public schools are stronger for a child with a diagnosis of mild ASD? I would be willing to relocate for the right school, but I do not know what the right school district probably would be. Thank you for any advice.

[Anonymous]

With the knowledge that a child can change a lot between 3 and 5, can you tell us more?

What's your IB school? How is your child doing there if they are in PK3? How is your child doing in PreK if not?

What supports do you think your child will need? Is your impression that they will need a mainstream classroom + supports, or are you thinking they might need a dedicated program/classroom?

[Anonymous]

I know students with a mild ASD diagnosis who were successful in DC Public Schools - and students who were not.

It really is child's needs and school / grade at the moment specific.

I am sorry there is not an easier answer.

[Anonymous]

PP's questions are good ones.

My DC goes to an MCPS elementary school in Silver Spring. They are in 1st grade. They have very low support needs and don't have an IEP buy do have a 504 plan. I can't speak to DCPS at all. I will say I have been very impressed with the MCPS teachers DC has had so far. They seem to understand intuitively how to work with DC and we have seen them implementing the 504 accommodations very skillfully. I will say we did go through the IEP process in kindergarten, and it was an exhausting and frustrating process. I don't necessarily disagree with the outcome, but the process itself felt inefficient and confusing. The biggest issue we have had is just communicating with the school. Teachers are responsive, but other staff are less responsive. But DC is happy and learning, which is the most important thing.

One thing to know about MCPS is that the elementary schools with higher FARMS have smaller class sizes. My kid's K and 1st classes have been 16-17 kids, which I think has been very beneficial for DC. However, it does mean there are more kids with more needs at the school, which can stretch the school's resources.

[Anonymous]

Hello again - I am the original poster of the question about DC versus Bethesda public schools. It is early days for my family as we consider the recent ASD diagnosis. My child is not in Pre-K 3 yet. My impression is that my child would learn best in a mainstream school classroom with some accommodations or other supports, rather than a dedicated program or classroom. For school boundaries, we are in NW DC in the boundaries for schools that feed up to Jackson-Reed High School. I was starting to think about whether the Bethesda school districts that feed up to Whitman High School or Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School would provide better support than my DC school district. I appreciate hearing about your experiences in MCPS and the helpful points about needs changing significantly between ages 3 and 5, and the individual nature of each student's needs. Most importantly, thank you all for sharing your grace and wisdom with me. As a parent new to the issues being discussed in the posts, I am also grateful for this forum as a resource for parents. Thank you all!

[Anonymous]

I'm a longtime parent in the trenches. Use the search forum on this board to look up past discussions of these issues. I think that by and large you will find that MCPS is generally thought to be superior but that DCPS is nice for PK4. Also, get away from the idea of thinking in terms of specific schools in MCPS. If you need services beyond the home school they will bus you.

[Anonymous]

OP, our DC with an IEP and ASD diagnosis has been in DC public schools since 2nd grade and now attends Deal. We had a wonderful experience up until 5th grade when bullying started. Otherwise we had a wonderful team supporting our child. It’s too early for us to comment on Deal but the one downside of Deal is the size. 1500 students seems too much for our DC right now. It may get better later, or worse.

[Anonymous]

Bethesda-based MCPS 1st grade similar profile. From friends in DCPS, it doesn't sound like MCPS is better at all. We are in a class with 24 kids and one teacher. We had to fight for a 504 but finally got it. If your kid is on grade level and low support needs you will be gaslighted because they don't have the resources to cover everyone's needs. We have an accommodating teacher and guidance counselor but I have been unimpressed with the school's ability to actually implement the accommodations in the 504 consistently and am exploring other options.