Do you have an ADHD child at [Potomac, Burke, Field, Madeira, SSSAS]? How's it going?

[Anonymous]

Our DD, who has inattentive ADHD and some mild dyslexia, will be applying for HS next year. We are interested in all these schools, and wonder if anyone has experience with how they handle mild ADHD and learning issues in bright, motivated, week-behaved kids.

Our DD's MS grades are decent-- mix of As and Bs. Her IQ is (depending on which of several test scores you believe) somewhere between 82nd percentile and 94th. She has no behavioral issues at all and in many areas her ADHD seems to have no impact: she's pretty together when it comes to friends, home life, etc. her main school issue is that she fades in and out and things just take her longer. Basically trying to get a sense of whether a kid like her would get into and thrive at any/all of the above schools. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I would put Field and Burke at the top of your list.

Madeira for someone who is as you described might have a hard time with the work load there.

With her grades, I think you will have a hard time getting into Potomac.

Not sure about st stephen's.

What about St. Andrew's? That seems to be a good school for a child like you describe.

[Anonymous]

Field school all the way. The most flexible school in the area with different learning styles and a good place for girls

[Anonymous]

I am a Madeira alum and I fear the pace and workload would be overwhelming. I'd encourage you to drop it from your list.

I hear good things about Burke and Field.

[Anonymous]

Does Madeira have a very heavy workload? Their college placement stats seem somewhat less impressive than Field or Burke's (not that workload is necessarily correlated with this). I think someone mentioned that Madeira has a lotof support for ADHD kids-- is that wrong?

[Anonymous]

Stay far, far, far, far from SSSAS. We pulled DS from there before he was diagnosed with ADHD. Strangely, he didn't have problems in the classroom but had problems with fitting in to the very traditional and conforming environment. He is advanced in math and science and they asked us help him stay at the level of his peers -- that pretty much did it for us.

He is a well rounded kid with lots of friends, plays sports, etc, but the school is steeped in tradition with the "type" of kid they can teach and if you're outside that box, it's not a very good fit. We know lots of people who have pulled their kids out for the same reason.

[Anonymous]

PP, where did you end up?

[Anonymous]

Another vote here for St. Andrew's. With the profile you describe, I can't imagine why it would not be on the list unless it's just unmanageably far away.

[Anonymous]

Not Madeira! Too rigorous.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't totally rule out Madeira if you love the school or it is top on your DD's list. The previous comments have been correct about the workload...you can expect 3 hours of homework every night BUT Madeira does provide support for ADHD girls. There is a skills center staffed by a learning specialist where they can make appts for extra tutoring or just getting organized. They even have a peer tutoring program where upper class (or the super smarties) can tutor any girl who gets "stuck." There is a free "conference" period every day where girls can go meet with a teacher to ask questions, go over homework. Many girls use the "free" period to get a head start on homework. YOu know your daughter best, but Madeira DOES provide accommodations and the Skills Center...but it's up to the girl to take the initiative to get the extra support. The extra help is there; she will just need to be pro-active in seeking it out. If she is a hard worker and OK with that much homework, she may love it.
I wish you the best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't totally rule out Madeira if you love the school or it is top on your DD's list. The previous comments have been correct about the workload...you can expect 3 hours of homework every night BUT Madeira does provide support for ADHD girls. There is a skills center staffed by a learning specialist where they can make appts for extra tutoring or just getting organized. They even have a peer tutoring program where upper class (or the super smarties) can tutor any girl who gets "stuck." There is a free "conference" period every day where girls can go meet with a teacher to ask questions, go over homework. Many girls use the "free" period to get a head start on homework. YOu know your daughter best, but Madeira DOES provide accommodations and the Skills Center...but it's up to the girl to take the initiative to get the extra support. The extra help is there; she will just need to be pro-active in seeking it out. If she is a hard worker and OK with that much homework, she may love it.
I wish you the best of luck!

I generally agree with this, although 3 hours of homework is maybe true in 9th grade. Op you need to have a sense of how slowly your DD works. It took mine 4-5 hours to do 3 hours of homework, when homework ramped up later it was more like 6 hours. But she was able to use weekends and Tuesday/Wednesday nights (because there are no classes on Wednesday) to catch up or read ahead.

The school was VERY supportive but it is rigorous and there isn't much that can or should be done about that. There were a few girls in my DDs class who transferred to other schools because of academics.

Despite the intensity my DD loved the school.

[Anonymous]

Find anything yet?

[Anonymous]

I'd rally like to hear more about Field. Anyone have kids there? Is there a ton of homework?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP, where did you end up?

PP here. We found the perfect FCPS for DS, but will likely at some point go back to private. At that point, we will consider GDS, Field, and maybe one other school.

I will say this about having and ADHD child at a public school v. a private school -- the school is much better able to handle him and all his issues. The teachers and staff seem to be better prepared and with stronger leadership skills than his previous teachers. Not everything is perfect, but overall, he's just another kid with ADHD and not "problem" that they have to deal with because he is slightly different from the rest of the pack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP, where did you end up?

PP here. We found the perfect FCPS for DS, but will likely at some point go back to private. At that point, we will consider GDS, Field, and maybe one other school.

I will say this about having and ADHD child at a public school v. a private school -- the school is much better able to handle him and all his issues. The teachers and staff seem to be better prepared and with stronger leadership skills than his previous teachers. Not everything is perfect, but overall, he's just another kid with ADHD and not "problem" that they have to deal with because he is slightly different from the rest of the pack.

PP here again. Let me clarify that I meant the public school seems better prepared to work with ADHD students. My child isn't a trouble maker by any stretch, but there are definitely other kids in his class that I would say are ADHD but not medicated. The teachers stay in control and the kids get their work done. I've seen this several times when I've volunteered or been on a field trip.