Montessori public school of arlington refuses to take my child because of Special need

[Anonymous]

Social development and PLAYing is far more important for a 3 year old than any perceived academics MPSA will provide. By all means continue educating your child (good for you, my child didn't learn reading or math until kindergarten) but find a play-based preschool until kindergarten. Most preschools will at least teach letters, numbers and simple math.

I started a trial for my son in a Montessori program (not MPSA) at age 3 and he hated it--too rigid and no real toys like trucks! I pulled him out after a few days and returned him to his play-based preschool where he thrived and learned very good soft/social skills like sharing, empathy, listening, self-confidence etc.

[Anonymous]

My SNs kid did horribly at a private Montessori school but had a wonderful experience in one of the community peer pre-k classrooms in Arlington. Have you asked about placement in a neighborhood school. Maybe there is a better fit.

[Anonymous]

I can not tell from your post the current status for your child.

I read "you applied and got in". If you enrolled your child in school, and the teacher has identified needs that impact your child's ability to fully access the classroom, they are OBLIGATED to initiate the process.

Under Federal Law, states have a child find responsibility. This means they are required to "find" all children with disabilities who are in need of special education and related services, are identified, located, and evaluated.

They can't look at your child and tell you to go elsewhere. They are obligated to start the process.

If I were in your shoes, I would reach out to the special education coordinator (I pulled this from the website): Loribeth Bosserman
SPED Coordinator
[e-mail]

Send an email and ask for a meeting

[Anonymous]

You should absolutely go through the ChildFind program and see what preschool programs your child qualifies for. There are Montessori programs at APS at other schools that combine their class with ChildFind/special ed kids. If that’s important to you, call ChildFind and ask about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should absolutely go through the ChildFind program and see what preschool programs your child qualifies for. There are Montessori programs at APS at other schools that combine their class with ChildFind/special ed kids. If that’s important to you, call ChildFind and ask about it.

+1 ChildFind is there to help you find the best supports for your kid. The referral to them is a good one and you should follow the advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They do not have the resources to help your child. Public schools receive resources that are paid for. Private schools do not have access to those resources.

If you want what’s best for your child, you’ll want to have your “prodigy” attend a school where they can get the necessary support.

It is a public school and have no legal right to do this.

[Anonymous]

The irony is that Montessori was MADE for special needs kids. Love nice white parents so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should absolutely go through the ChildFind program and see what preschool programs your child qualifies for. There are Montessori programs at APS at other schools that combine their class with ChildFind/special ed kids. If that’s important to you, call ChildFind and ask about it.

+1 ChildFind is there to help you find the best supports for your kid. The referral to them is a good one and you should follow the advice.

The irony is that the school should start the referral. They can not identify a kid who they believe needs support to fully access the school and tell the parent - hey go call another agency.
The child is in Public School.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They do not have the resources to help your child. Public schools receive resources that are paid for. Private schools do not have access to those resources.

If you want what’s best for your child, you’ll want to have your “prodigy” attend a school where they can get the necessary support.

This is a public school. If OP's kid has been accepted into a public school program, then the program has the obligation to support him there during the child find process. If the parent declines that process then they could probably remove him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I admit that DC needs more support in terms of shared attention more than others kids.

What does this mean? I'm trying to understand a 3 year old who can read and do math but is also special needs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard/read many negative feedbacks about MPSA and decided to ignore it. Applied for it and my 3 y.o got in but they refused to take my DC because of its special need. DC child can read and do simple arithmetic, very creative, great at problem solving. Since my child was 6 months, I have been taking Montessori approach for teaching and disciplining. Nature born gifted prodigy. I admit that DC needs more support in terms of shared attention more than others kids. But sadly rather than trying to get to know my child, they recommended me to go to Child find further more some place where my DC is more suitable for. The special need’s teacher did her best to avoid my child and so did the staff.
If my child’s special needs stops it from learning, exploring, and nurturing the amazing talent that God gave us, what is the main purpose of Montessori approach anyway? I truly wonder 🧐

Pardon my English, I’m still an English learner.

OP, who is "they"? Who at the school told you this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have heard/read many negative feedbacks about MPSA and decided to ignore it. Applied for it and my 3 y.o got in but they refused to take my DC because of its special need. DC child can read and do simple arithmetic, very creative, great at problem solving. Since my child was 6 months, I have been taking Montessori approach for teaching and disciplining. Nature born gifted prodigy. I admit that DC needs more support in terms of shared attention more than others kids. But sadly rather than trying to get to know my child, they recommended me to go to Child find further more some place where my DC is more suitable for. The special need’s teacher did her best to avoid my child and so did the staff.
If my child’s special needs stops it from learning, exploring, and nurturing the amazing talent that God gave us, what is the main purpose of Montessori approach anyway? I truly wonder 🧐

Pardon my English, I’m still an English learner.

Maybe there was something lost in translation. What you write suggests they said you would need to get an evaluation through Child Find and that based on the evaluation they would suggest appropriate placement. That doesn't mean the Montessori school would not be one of those placements. The teacher can't know and is not allowed to guess on diagnoses or make promises of support and placement. The same is true whether it is a regular classroom teacher or a special education teacher. Did they actually refuse to accept your child or did they refuse to provide special education services until the evaluation through Child Find was done?

[Anonymous]

Please don't make everything about what's legal or not when it comes to special needs children. Every circumstance is obviously different but please use a bit of common sense. In some cases it's very selfish and hypocritical since it's not just about one individual child but a whole class of kids and it often affects other kids negatively in ways they cannot manage. From what I recall about the Arlington Montessori program, there was a great deal of child-to-child learning that was expected and it would be presumptuous to think that a 4 or 5 year old would be well versed in special education training to help a special needs child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I admit that DC needs more support in terms of shared attention more than others kids.

What does this mean? I'm trying to understand a 3 year old who can read and do math but is also special needs?

Many children struggle with shared attention, and also have strengths in academics. This is a pretty common profile. I wouldn't want to diagnose a child I have never met, but the kids I have seen with this profile usually end up being found eligible for special education under the category of autism.

[Anonymous]

I understand your anger, but it sounds like this Montessori program wouldn’t be a good fit for your child. Why put them somewhere that can’t handle their learning needs? I think you should find the right fit for YOUR child, not what you think is the theoretical best.