Wanting to start a school for my 11 year old autistic son

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A school like this?:

http://www.rebeccaschool.org/

I have been dreaming of creating a similar school for our kiddo for ages. DS's teachers do not have the passion for unique children. I knew a school in another state in which the teachers loved and "got" the kids. AND the kids had friends!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have decided the current school options don't work for us and am working to begin our own school for him based on a mixture of ideas from FloorTime therapy, Reggio Emilia education philosophy and what is generally referred to as an holistic education. I have begun putting all the ideas on paper but it is far from figured out. Looking for anyone else that might be interested in the same ideas to be part of our "school". We are looking to start as soon as possible but, to do that, we are limited in that the beginning phase will be an "educational facility" and not a school by name. Again, in very early stages of the idea but if anyone is interested in helping create a co-op time situation where we work together to create an educational environment for similar aged children, please let me know. The school would be located someplace in Northwest DC.

I would be interested in the concept, but not in the location.

The other potential location would be the Rockville area. Not sure if that is any better for you or not.

No I was thinking more like Capitol Hill area

[Anonymous]

OP - terrific idea! nothing like the love that a mother has for her child to fuel her passion for helping him or her.

DO IT!!

I personally know 2 moms, in another state, that both had SN children -combos of ADD/ADHD/MERLD. Their current school district and general demographics would be the equivalent to MoCo or Frfx county.

Both moms felt that their children were being "left behind" and "misunderstood" so one night, while literally talking over their backyard fence with they concocted an idea to start their own school. EVERYONE told them they were crazy - except for their husbands and good friends of which I was one. At that time, one of the mom's mom was a Mechanical Engineer, the other an RN. Neither had anything close to an education on "how to educate" but they didn't let it stand in their way so they petitioned their county to help them fund and start charter school - not an SN school but a charter school that would be inclusive where they would hire a full staff of therapists and other specialists. After much hard work, the county agreed and almost one year to the day they opened their doors in an industrial park of all places - but that was all they could afford.

I was part of helping to build that school. Me and a large handful of other moms - worked tirelessly to help them get their doors open. Admission to the school was based on a lottery, no tuition as it was partially funded by the county and the other by donations, and there were uniforms. It started as K-8. By Day 1 they already had a very long wait list of kids! This was in 2005. Today that school has since moved out of their temporary space and built their own beautiful "green" campus with all the possible bells and whistles. The land was donate to them by a wealthy commercial builder in the area. They announced this year that they are building a second campus on the opposite side of the county. Both of their children have since graduated and have gone on to high school but it was seriously one of the best educational opportunities in that county.

So OP - if you really have your heart set on it, do it. I don't know what the red tape is like in our area as compared to the other county I used to live in - in the other state but its worth seriously looking in to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One thing that I do think is important is that you want to have this school not just for your son but due to a true mission to serve kids with needs like his. The founder of Newton is clearly dedicated to her school for the long haul. The founder of another of the mom founded schools left when her son did. I would be thoughtful about approaching other families if you are not in it for the long haul. Otherwise you may as well homeschool.

I completely agree. We all know there is a huge learning curve when it comes to children with special needs. My hope has always been to create something not just for my son and our family but a place for everyone. Not only do I want to share all that I have learned and continue to learn from everyone but I want to make sure there is a visible place for those to turn to for information when they are faced with such a situation. There needs to be something that is available for children aged 2 1/2 thru 21. A part of this should also have therapy services available for all. We need a place for parents to go to to listen to professionals for advice. And, in the end, there has to be a way to make this available to all not just to those that have the access or can afford it. This is all way too important. I realize I am dreaming at the moment but it is still my end goal. Dreams are always worth exploring and, honestly, as parents of children with special needs I'm not sure we have ever had a day that has not been difficult. It is who we have become and I am planning on running with it.

Again, I get it is all a dream. I get it is a tremendous amount of work. I get that I sound like I am crazy so I really don't need to hear the naysayers. I'm going to try, regardless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - terrific idea! nothing like the love that a mother has for her child to fuel her passion for helping him or her.

DO IT!!

I personally know 2 moms, in another state, that both had SN children -combos of ADD/ADHD/MERLD. Their current school district and general demographics would be the equivalent to MoCo or Frfx county.

Both moms felt that their children were being "left behind" and "misunderstood" so one night, while literally talking over their backyard fence with they concocted an idea to start their own school. EVERYONE told them they were crazy - except for their husbands and good friends of which I was one. At that time, one of the mom's mom was a Mechanical Engineer, the other an RN. Neither had anything close to an education on "how to educate" but they didn't let it stand in their way so they petitioned their county to help them fund and start charter school - not an SN school but a charter school that would be inclusive where they would hire a full staff of therapists and other specialists. After much hard work, the county agreed and almost one year to the day they opened their doors in an industrial park of all places - but that was all they could afford.

I was part of helping to build that school. Me and a large handful of other moms - worked tirelessly to help them get their doors open. Admission to the school was based on a lottery, no tuition as it was partially funded by the county and the other by donations, and there were uniforms. It started as K-8. By Day 1 they already had a very long wait list of kids! This was in 2005. Today that school has since moved out of their temporary space and built their own beautiful "green" campus with all the possible bells and whistles. The land was donate to them by a wealthy commercial builder in the area. They announced this year that they are building a second campus on the opposite side of the county. Both of their children have since graduated and have gone on to high school but it was seriously one of the best educational opportunities in that county.

So OP - if you really have your heart set on it, do it. I don't know what the red tape is like in our area as compared to the other county I used to live in - in the other state but its worth seriously looking in to.

Love this!!! Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Cap Hill and I would totally help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have decided the current school options don't work for us and am working to begin our own school for him based on a mixture of ideas from FloorTime therapy, Reggio Emilia education philosophy and what is generally referred to as an holistic education. I have begun putting all the ideas on paper but it is far from figured out. Looking for anyone else that might be interested in the same ideas to be part of our "school". We are looking to start as soon as possible but, to do that, we are limited in that the beginning phase will be an "educational facility" and not a school by name. Again, in very early stages of the idea but if anyone is interested in helping create a co-op time situation where we work together to create an educational environment for similar aged children, please let me know. The school would be located someplace in Northwest DC.

I would be interested in the concept, but not in the location.

The other potential location would be the Rockville area. Not sure if that is any better for you or not.

No I was thinking more like Capitol Hill area

Me too! Rockville and northern Montgomery County already have a number of schools that serve ASD kids. We are in a serious black hole in EOTP DC, in particular Capitol Hill, which has a number of ASD kids.

[Anonymous]

So, when we talk Capitol Hill. Does it need to be Capitol Hill proper or could that be expanded just a bit? Obviously the issue revolves around actually finding the space to utilize. If anyone is interested in discussing further, feel free to email me at [e-mail]. We are still very much in the creating/planning stages so location moves all over the place, depending on what we see and hear along the way.

[Anonymous]

I would say just reasonable to the Hill. Trinidad, Eckington, Bloomindale, Edgewood, Brookland NoMA -- all areas that are convenient from Hill and EOTP plus reasonable to Silver Spring College Park other PG County farther out NE. EVERYTHING seems to be in Rockville or far out VA.

[Anonymous]

^^^
Yes, definitely EOTP and toward NE and College Park and other parts of PG County. The only semi-close school is Auburn in Silver Spring, but that isn't convenient to the Hill or further east. The Hill has the advantage of having some great private resources for therapies - Capitol Kids Therapy - for SLP, Skills on the Hill for OT, and National Speech for SLP and ABA.

On a further tangent - have you explored doing a hybrid of home-schooling model and group therapies? I've been mulling this for a while because we have a hybrid home-school operation on the Hill to - Capitol Hill Learning Group, that may suit some ASD kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^
Yes, definitely EOTP and toward NE and College Park and other parts of PG County. The only semi-close school is Auburn in Silver Spring, but that isn't convenient to the Hill or further east. The Hill has the advantage of having some great private resources for therapies - Capitol Kids Therapy - for SLP, Skills on the Hill for OT, and National Speech for SLP and ABA.

On a further tangent - have you explored doing a hybrid of home-schooling model and group therapies? I've been mulling this for a while because we have a hybrid home-school operation on the Hill to - Capitol Hill Learning Group, that may suit some ASD kids.

Your tangent is pretty much what we have been doing for the past couple of years. Works well but I spend quite a bit of time traveling back and forth.