Elementary Schools with Robust Student Support Programs

[Anonymous]

My child currently attends a private school and is having some challenges academically (approaching expectations in reading and struggling in math). The school has been clear that their focus is not teaching "all children", will do what they can to support, but are not really structured to do so. So we're trying to figure out what to do next. Our child happy, loves their friends and the school - but making learning a positive experience is important at this stage.

Would be interested in positive experiences at public elementary schools or any experience others have had shifting from private to public and whether it was helpful? We're considering moving to a school district to get into the right school.

[Anonymous]

None, save the money and pay for tutoring.

[Anonymous]

How many kids in your class? Unless you're in title 1 school you'll have 25 kids in ES classes. Even less attention to middling students. I like our public but my K kid had 28 kids in her class.

[Anonymous]

I'm considering switching to private in MS specifically for class size. My older kid is fine as she's social and outgoing. The younger is having a harder time with a larger and more chaotic class.

[Anonymous]

This is kind of the wrong question, because sometimes the schools with robust support only offer that support to kids who are placed in a special program co-located in the school.

Some schools do have a reputation for being "good for special needs," like Bethesda ES but generally the experience of a kid who is mainstreamed will not be different just because a program exists at that school with more supports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child currently attends a private school and is having some challenges academically (approaching expectations in reading and struggling in math). The school has been clear that their focus is not teaching "all children", will do what they can to support, but are not really structured to do so. So we're trying to figure out what to do next. Our child happy, loves their friends and the school - but making learning a positive experience is important at this stage.

Would be interested in positive experiences at public elementary schools or any experience others have had shifting from private to public and whether it was helpful? We're considering moving to a school district to get into the right school.

In my experience, look for the smallest elementary school.
But a few other questions - have you considered a different private?
Have you asked MoCo to do testing for learning disability. There is a childfind requirement and they need to do it even if the child is not enrolled in a MoCo school. You can also do private testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is kind of the wrong question, because sometimes the schools with robust support only offer that support to kids who are placed in a special program co-located in the school.

Some schools do have a reputation for being "good for special needs," like Bethesda ES but generally the experience of a kid who is mainstreamed will not be different just because a program exists at that school with more supports.

Since when is BE known for helping kids with special kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school has been clear that their focus is not teaching "all children", will do what they can to support, but are not really structured to do so.

Admittedly our kids had some support needs that some kids don't have, but this was our MCPS ES experience. But compared with most private schools, there was a larger student-teacher ratio and the school wasn't up front with us.

[Anonymous]

How old is your child? Have you had any testing done? I think this is a different answer for a kindergartener or 1st grader with no testing than a 4th or 5th grader for example.

[Anonymous]

Actually there are plenty of MCPS schools that are exactly what you’re looking for. Excellent teachers used to kids needing more scaffolding, accommodations, and many 504 plans. They also have high standards and can push kids. Maybe try the best high schools and look for their feeders but you could find this all over the county. What grade?

[Anonymous]

OP here . . . appreciate all the responses. Answers to some of the questions: class size is 17. Child is in 2nd grade. We have done private testing in 1st which indicated dyslexia and said other things could be at play but too hard to tell because reading challenges could cause some of the other observations. Paid a lot of money to confirm that reading was an issue but no other real insight. With intervention our child has made incredible strides in reading - math is now a challenge.

We are considering other privates, but honestly worried about going that route given the challenges at this private. We are in DC so would be moving to MD if we decided to go this route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here . . . appreciate all the responses. Answers to some of the questions: class size is 17. Child is in 2nd grade. We have done private testing in 1st which indicated dyslexia and said other things could be at play but too hard to tell because reading challenges could cause some of the other observations. Paid a lot of money to confirm that reading was an issue but no other real insight. With intervention our child has made incredible strides in reading - math is now a challenge.

We are considering other privates, but honestly worried about going that route given the challenges at this private. We are in DC so would be moving to MD if we decided to go this route.

My kid is in 1st grade at an MCPS focus elementary (higher FARMS rate so smaller class sizes). I can tell you kid loves going to school, has friends, is learning. They do interventions for reading as needed and those that don't get "intervention" get "WIN" ("what I need") time.in small groups,.delivered by the classroom teacher. For my kid it is twice a week for 30 minutes. We did choose to hire a tutor for reading because we wanted to be proactive as DC is not reading independently, and currently they get WIN time but not pullout intervention. For math, I haven't heard of interventions there, I know this is something the school district is concerned about but I don't have a good sense of what they are doing about it. The other thing to share is that my kid's K and 1st teachers have both been really, really good. Decades of experience, kids love them, classroom runs very smoothly, and lots of individualized attention (our kid has a 504 plan that includes extra prompting, and we have seen this in action. Class size is 17.

So while I can't offer direct advice about what to do, I can say that MCPS can offer fantastic teachers and a good experience for many kids. That being said, I would expect that if you did move to MCPS, you would still need to supplement at home/with tutors..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here . . . appreciate all the responses. Answers to some of the questions: class size is 17. Child is in 2nd grade. We have done private testing in 1st which indicated dyslexia and said other things could be at play but too hard to tell because reading challenges could cause some of the other observations. Paid a lot of money to confirm that reading was an issue but no other real insight. With intervention our child has made incredible strides in reading - math is now a challenge.

We are considering other privates, but honestly worried about going that route given the challenges at this private. We are in DC so would be moving to MD if we decided to go this route.

Is math a challenge because of the increased literacy required, being behind because of more focus on reading, or is there a specific math challenge?

[Anonymous]

Happy to supplement at home/with tutors - we're doing that now and paying an insane amount of money.

Seems like there is a specific math challenge.

[Anonymous]

Now that the reading is better can you go back to child find and have the math assessed?