Please help: enrolling 8th grader with ADHD at Silver Creek next week

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Contact Ryan Celestino (RTSE) - [e-mail]
He's the head of special ed at SCMS and couldn't be nicer.

Mr. Celestino was great, but he’s no longer at Silver Creek. This is the new head of special ed (equally great!).

Mrs. Ellen W Lingenfelter
Teacher, Spec Ed Resource
[e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have a super smart kid with no executive function skills and no motivation whatsoever. She needs to be able to access any handouts/assignments/info online (or have them emailed to her) and have a daily list of assignments. Notes would be helpful, but not essential. Frequent breaks and organizational help were in the neuropsych recommendations.

Is the ability to turn in assignments late without penalty a thing? That would also help her. And save my sanity.

You won't get those things with a 504 and they won't give you an iep if your child is smart.
Fight to stay at private. Thank me later.

What are you talking about? Those things are included in 504 plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contact Ryan Celestino (RTSE) - [e-mail]
He's the head of special ed at SCMS and couldn't be nicer.

Mr. Celestino was great, but he’s no longer at Silver Creek. This is the new head of special ed (equally great!).

Mrs. Ellen W Lingenfelter
Teacher, Spec Ed Resource
[e-mail]

I am pretty sure that Mr. Celestino is teaching math at Silver Creek now.

Regardless, I think OP can go directly to the counselor as she needs a 504, which is established through the counselor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contact Ryan Celestino (RTSE) - [e-mail]
He's the head of special ed at SCMS and couldn't be nicer.

Mr. Celestino was great, but he’s no longer at Silver Creek. This is the new head of special ed (equally great!).

Mrs. Ellen W Lingenfelter
Teacher, Spec Ed Resource
[e-mail]

I am pretty sure that Mr. Celestino is teaching math at Silver Creek now.

Regardless, I think OP can go directly to the counselor as she needs a 504, which is established through the counselor.

Possibly, but he’s no longer the right person to help with special ed needs.

[Anonymous]

OP, if it’s confusing to you I think of it like this:

504- kid can access the general curriculum with a few accommodations, often including extra time/use of a computer to type instead of hand write/use of text to speech. Things that won’t go away and the kid will never stop needing, no matter how old they are. If you think your kid has slow processing speed and will need extended time in college, that’s 504 terrority.

IEP:Kid has skills and knowledge gaps that are missing but can be built. Often includes supports like teacher notes, a resource class, social skills goals,speech, and specific reading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, if it’s confusing to you I think of it like this:

504- kid can access the general curriculum with a few accommodations, often including extra time/use of a computer to type instead of hand write/use of text to speech. Things that won’t go away and the kid will never stop needing, no matter how old they are. If you think your kid has slow processing speed and will need extended time in college, that’s 504 terrority.

IEP:Kid has skills and knowledge gaps that are missing but can be built. Often includes supports like teacher notes, a resource class, social skills goals,speech, and specific reading.

I agree with this though note that teacher notes are available in a 504.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if it’s confusing to you I think of it like this:

504- kid can access the general curriculum with a few accommodations, often including extra time/use of a computer to type instead of hand write/use of text to speech. Things that won’t go away and the kid will never stop needing, no matter how old they are. If you think your kid has slow processing speed and will need extended time in college, that’s 504 terrority.

IEP:Kid has skills and knowledge gaps that are missing but can be built. Often includes supports like teacher notes, a resource class, social skills goals,speech, and specific reading.

I agree with this though note that teacher notes are available in a 504.

I know this isn't 100% accurate, but I tend to think of a 504 as accommodations and an IEP as services, if that makes sense.

[Anonymous]

Some teachers are better than others at implementing a 504. Be prepared to do a lot of handholding with your kid. What is the plan for HS? BCC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Contact Ryan Celestino (RTSE) - [e-mail]
He's the head of special ed at SCMS and couldn't be nicer.

Mr. Celestino was great, but he’s no longer at Silver Creek. This is the new head of special ed (equally great!).

Mrs. Ellen W Lingenfelter
Teacher, Spec Ed Resource
[e-mail]

I am pretty sure that Mr. Celestino is teaching math at Silver Creek now.

Regardless, I think OP can go directly to the counselor as she needs a 504, which is established through the counselor.

Possibly, but he’s no longer the right person to help with special ed needs.

OP’s kid needs a 504, not an IEP — that was clarified earlier. The counselor is the appropriate point of contact, not the SPED content specialist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I have a super smart kid with no executive function skills and no motivation whatsoever. She needs to be able to access any handouts/assignments/info online (or have them emailed to her) and have a daily list of assignments. Notes would be helpful, but not essential. Frequent breaks and organizational help were in the neuropsych recommendations.

Is the ability to turn in assignments late without penalty a thing? That would also help her. And save my sanity.

That's not going to happen. It can take months to a half a school year to get an IEP. When you enroll, ask for an IEP.

[Anonymous]

But if you don't actually _need_ the IEP, the 504 could be faster. My DC on a 504 had lots of in-class support (mainly teacher check-ins) in ES. In MS most of the teachers grade in windows, meaning that no matter the stated due date for an assignment, as long as it is in by the end of the window it is fine. Some teachers practice standards grading, where assignments (typically math) can and should be repeated in order to work towards the highest possible grade. Both of those methods have worked well for DC, who really does want to get things done properly and on time. We know that HS will be a big shift, but right now we are working on independence and organization and will get there gradually.

What has helped me is setting up Canvas to ping me every time it auto-grades something. If it shows up as 50% or 0%, it means DC never turned it in, and I ask that they check and submit. If teachers need to be asked to re-open an assignment, I make DC take care of that themselves so that they learn to take responsibility, write polite emails, etc.

[Anonymous]

OP, I have an 8th grader with ADHD at Silver Creek. Call Ellen Lingenfelter (contact info is upthread). As someone said, Mr. Celestino is now a math teacher at SCMS. Ms. Lingenfelter is great and very knowledgeable. This is a good time to get things moving because they are now doing the transitional planning for 8th graders so that they are ready when high school begins. Ms. Lingenfelter can explain the various resources available to your child.

I assume you're planning on BCC for high school, right? because otherwise, this is going to be a lot of work for a short period of time.

[Anonymous]

One other thing - basically everything is online at SCMS. So that's really not something you need to advocate for. You will get that automatically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But if you don't actually _need_ the IEP, the 504 could be faster. My DC on a 504 had lots of in-class support (mainly teacher check-ins) in ES. In MS most of the teachers grade in windows, meaning that no matter the stated due date for an assignment, as long as it is in by the end of the window it is fine. Some teachers practice standards grading, where assignments (typically math) can and should be repeated in order to work towards the highest possible grade. Both of those methods have worked well for DC, who really does want to get things done properly and on time. We know that HS will be a big shift, but right now we are working on independence and organization and will get there gradually.

What has helped me is setting up Canvas to ping me every time it auto-grades something. If it shows up as 50% or 0%, it means DC never turned it in, and I ask that they check and submit. If teachers need to be asked to re-open an assignment, I make DC take care of that themselves so that they learn to take responsibility, write polite emails, etc.

Agree that 504 will be faster, and from what OP is saying, MCPS will likely determine that OP's daughter does not qualify for an IEP becuase she needs support and not services, and it sounds like she is at or above grade level. Better to go the 504 route to get supports in place quickly to help the student succeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One other thing - basically everything is online at SCMS. So that's really not something you need to advocate for. You will get that automatically.

You definitely should get it added to the 504 plan. We have at least one teacher each year that does not post notes, upcoming assessments, etc. -- they are supposed to, but not all do. If it's in the 504 plan, then you can work with the school to make sure it happens.