Best mainstream privates for kids with mild learning support needs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Consider Lab School or Field.

Lab is for dyslexia. There not one monolithic category called “special need”. Showing your ignorance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What grade? NPS has been wonderful in accommodating for some less commonly seen needs.

We wanted to apply to NPS this year for our kid with mild dyslexia. Was told by admissions that they already had a couple of kids with special needs in the class and they couldn't accommodate any more. Since their class sizes are so small, it's hard to bring a new kid in with any kind of special needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider Lab School or Field.

Lab is for dyslexia. There not one monolithic category called “special need”. Showing your ignorance

Lab is for students have been diagnosed with a language-based and/or attention-based learning difference. From what I hear they are actually not the best pick for kids with dyslexia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering Maret, GDS, Sidwell, Beauvoir, Sheridan for a bright child with no cognitive delays but speech, motor, and fine motor delays as a result of her hypotonia. She has private therapy end had made great strides over the past couple years.
I know none of these schools are required to provide accommodations.
Which schools do best with kids who may need some targeted support like mine? Any schools you’d absolutely eliminate from the list? Any others you’d suggest considering?

Honestly, I have a very bright child with ADHD and would never consider any of those schools. They are all pressure cookers who will not accommodate a child with any delays and will get more competitive as they get older. Extremely bright students with no delays or differences already struggle in those environments, I wouldn't want my child to be the one who had even more to overcome and the only one with these issues.

The suggestions for Field, Burke, and Lowell are all good ones that can accommodate differences. You would find the administration at any of those schools happy to partner with you on getting the best experience for your child.

+1. Kids who are outside the norm in any way will probably struggle in these schools unless you feel like your kid has a competitive spirit and academic drive. I would agree with the suggestions of Field and Burke but Lowell doesn't offer much support in the classroom. St. Andrews has smaller class sizes, but they also don't offer any extra classroom support and don't have specialists on site that could help your child (if they need it.) McLean School might be a good option.

[Anonymous]

PP- also forgot to add that Beauvoir would not be a good fit for your child. They really do not do well with kids that are "outside the box" in any way. Sheridan is more nurturing so that could be a viable option.

[Anonymous]

Having known several people who started in schools with extra help in elementary, and then transitioned to and thrived in mainstream (top tier) private schools in upper elementary and middle school, I would advocate for this path.

[Anonymous]

OP, I would suggest McLean. Your child couple of years there and then move on to a different private— maybe one of the more rigorous ones you mentioned in your OP.

[Anonymous]

CESJDS has a great learning support specialist program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering Maret, GDS, Sidwell, Beauvoir, Sheridan for a bright child with no cognitive delays but speech, motor, and fine motor delays as a result of her hypotonia. She has private therapy end had made great strides over the past couple years.
I know none of these schools are required to provide accommodations.
Which schools do best with kids who may need some targeted support like mine? Any schools you’d absolutely eliminate from the list? Any others you’d suggest considering?

Honestly, I have a very bright child with ADHD and would never consider any of those schools. They are all pressure cookers who will not accommodate a child with any delays and will get more competitive as they get older. Extremely bright students with no delays or differences already struggle in those environments, I wouldn't want my child to be the one who had even more to overcome and the only one with these issues.

The suggestions for Field, Burke, and Lowell are all good ones that can accommodate differences. You would find the administration at any of those schools happy to partner with you on getting the best experience for your child.

We have a child that sounds very similar to yours; may I ask what school you chose?

[Anonymous]

I disagree with many of the pps. If it is just hypotonia without another underlying issue, I don’t think it would be particularly relevant to the “pressure cooker” ages. It seems like most of the mainstream schools can support handwriting in the elementary years. One of my kids had OT, etc for motor skills and the teachers were wonderful. By 6th grade written work was almost exclusively done on the computer. So if there are no academic issues, and it is purely a muscle tone thing, I think you should consider any school you like, and just confirm that your child will have the opportunity to use special seating or not be given a hard time about handwriting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with many of the pps. If it is just hypotonia without another underlying issue, I don’t think it would be particularly relevant to the “pressure cooker” ages. It seems like most of the mainstream schools can support handwriting in the elementary years. One of my kids had OT, etc for motor skills and the teachers were wonderful. By 6th grade written work was almost exclusively done on the computer. So if there are no academic issues, and it is purely a muscle tone thing, I think you should consider any school you like, and just confirm that your child will have the opportunity to use special seating or not be given a hard time about handwriting.

Which school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Consider Lab School or Field.

Lab is for dyslexia. There not one monolithic category called “special need”. Showing your ignorance

Not sure what you mean but Lab is not a dyslexia-focused school.

[Anonymous]

I think your list is very unrealistic. I don't think you will find a good fit at any of those places. It you have a very specific and not common situation I think public can often accommodate better and the staff have much more training and education in the area of special needs.
Such extreme low muscle tone to the degree that it has effected so many areas is a special need. I think for her early years as she continues to make strides you should either, go public for the reasons mentioned above or look into Lowell, Sheridan(on your list already), Norwood, NPS, Harbor and St Andrews. The others aren't likely to happen and I don't think you'll be happy there. We know a family who had to leave sidwell after 3rd grade because their child developed a health issue that sidwell simply did not know what to do about in needs of support even though the family was being very helpful and proactive in providing resources. These schools are really not for special needs kids, even if the child is cognitively fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering Maret, GDS, Sidwell, Beauvoir, Sheridan for a bright child with no cognitive delays but speech, motor, and fine motor delays as a result of her hypotonia. She has private therapy end had made great strides over the past couple years.
I know none of these schools are required to provide accommodations.
Which schools do best with kids who may need some targeted support like mine? Any schools you’d absolutely eliminate from the list? Any others you’d suggest considering?

Honestly, I have a very bright child with ADHD and would never consider any of those schools. They are all pressure cookers who will not accommodate a child with any delays and will get more competitive as they get older. Extremely bright students with no delays or differences already struggle in those environments, I wouldn't want my child to be the one who had even more to overcome and the only one with these issues.

The suggestions for Field, Burke, and Lowell are all good ones that can accommodate differences. You would find the administration at any of those schools happy to partner with you on getting the best experience for your child.

We have a child that sounds very similar to yours; may I ask what school you chose?

Did Op say the age of her child? Field and Burke would be great but they start at 6th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with many of the pps. If it is just hypotonia without another underlying issue, I don’t think it would be particularly relevant to the “pressure cooker” ages. It seems like most of the mainstream schools can support handwriting in the elementary years. One of my kids had OT, etc for motor skills and the teachers were wonderful. By 6th grade written work was almost exclusively done on the computer. So if there are no academic issues, and it is purely a muscle tone thing, I think you should consider any school you like, and just confirm that your child will have the opportunity to use special seating or not be given a hard time about handwriting.

That's why I was trying to figure out exactly the degree of delay. "Normal" bad handwriting and clumsiness is probably NBD, especially if supplemented with private OT. But if there's more to the story (attention, speech, severely bad motor skills like my DS had) then that might be an issue for mainstream privates.