Is a "top" school district really the right choice for special needs kids?
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Anonymous
| Lexington is part of the LABBB collaborative - look into that. It’s a very high pressure school system, and the high school is over 2200 kids. It’s a great school and a great district, but the Boston area adhd/neurodivergent kids parent groups on FB have plenty of parents in that town looking for alternative placements for their children. There are other great towns in Metrowest MA with excellent schools that have a better reputation for serving ASD/ADHD kids: Natick, Wayland, Concord, Sudbury (try for Noyes elementary school with that profile) and Northborough and Southborough get recommended a lot. |
Anonymous
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Op is looking for K so not sure if looking at the fact that the high schools are high pressure is very relevant. Also, it’s hard to predict what any kid including kids with ASD/ADHD will need for high school when they haven’t started K.
My kid with ASD/ADHD will be applying to GLADCHEMMS for high school since they will be a good fit. |
Anonymous
Wow, that's quite some in-person research. I'll see what I can do, since we haven't moved to (or even decided about) the target areas yet. Thanks very much |
Anonymous
This is amazing ... I have to ask: is it common for a mainstream public school to have SN teacher in the classroom? Or this is some sort of specialized program that only exist in the charter school you attended? Also, the student-teacher ratio is amazing, I have no idea how to find a public elementary with that kind of teacher student ratio ... guess I need to start calling elementary schools nationwide ;P |
. It’s not something you outgrow. His grandfather also likely had it and he lived a successful, contented life without a diagnosis or anything so I am not surprised that DS does fine with a diagnosis and aware of his issues. It’s maturity and time that helped a lot as well as “just having the awareness” - DS is very smart, self aware, very self motivated, confident and happy. I personally think happiness in school counts for a lot too. DS was never bullied, had friends and always got along with peers even when he did not always get along with adults.
Anonymous
OP was asking about top districts and the reputation, especially for Lexington, is based on the high school. There are other top districts in MA that do a better job with ASD/ADHD kids. Some are great with ASD but not great with ADHD. It can be a tricky profile to find a good fit. I’d also look at what charter schools you’d be in district for, in case you need options in the future. |
Anonymous
We happen to be moving anyway, so it makes sense to choose carefully given DS's ADHD/ASD diagnosis. |
Anonymous
Thanks so much - this is very helpful. Is there a FB group for SN/neurodivergent parents for MA or boston area as a whole? Or it's usually one group per town? |
Anonymous
Could you share a little bit what you do for your ASD/ADHD kid in K/lower-elementary years to help him/her get to be a GLADCHEMMS candidate eventually? |
Anonymous
Can I know what school districts are known to be good for ASD + ADHD? And what are good for ASD but not ADHD? Also some tips on where to find out this kind of information is much appreciated. I didn't find a forum like DCUM for Boston area ... |
Anonymous
You need as complete a picture as possible of your child's needs, done by a reputable psychologist, in order to identify what services and accommodations he might need in a school setting. Then go armed with that report to the school, request an IEP meeting and discuss all the things he will need. Schools in MCPS are very unequal regarding special needs because it very much depends on the Principal setting the tone and making a conscious effort to hire good paraeductors, resource teachers, counselors, and educating general education teachers. Our son was born premature, received intense PT, OT and speech therapies as a toddler, and was suspected of having severely low-processing speed, ADHD and possibly HFA early so, we had time to research and prepare for his entry to school. We moved to be in-bounds for Bethesda Elementary, because the Principal, assistant Principal and most of their staff had a great reputation regarding students with special needs. He had pull-put services for group speech therapy, which was not so much for speech issues as it was for kids borderline on the spectrum who needed to socialize - the since-retired SLP who ran it was the best SLP we ever had, despite years of paying for private speech therapy. He had pull-out services for writing, because he was slow/distracted/dysgraphic enough not to be able to write a word in the normal time period, and could only accomplish some work by himself with a scribe, then an aide. This was 10 years ago, we've had other kids move through that school since, and we've seen how an inexorable increase in the student population has strained the school, despite an addition (that was too small the year after it was opened!) and the best intentions of its mostly excellent administration and teachers. But while DS was there, it served him well, as much as any school could deal with a child like him. Then we changed cluster so that DS could enter the Gifted and Talented, Learning Disabled program of MCPS, which is housed only in certain schools, and is open to children with IEPs and with a certain level of IQ. Not far, though, at North Bethesda middle school then Walter Johnson high school (both in the same cluster, next to our home cluster). At the middle school level, every teacher had a co-teacher to look after GTLD students, and those students had a dedicated resource class just for them with excellent support. High school is with regular teachers in regular classes. This is when DS developed more independence and self-advocacy, and at times it's been fraught, since the stakes are much higher and the hand-holding is purposefully minimal. The only accommodation he's had at the secondary level is double time, which has proved absolutely life-saving, due to his abysmal processing speed. Whatever college he goes to will also have to give him extra time. We've been advised to have him re-evaluated soon so that colleges accept the report. I'll tell you what I tell other parents on this forum. Plenty complain that their children are not given enough attention, services and accommodations. But volunteering for years at Bethesda Elementary and North Bethesda MS has allowed me to observe that resources go to the most impacted children, those who cannot function at all without individualized help. Public schools which are legally required to offer services and accommodations only have so much resources. General education private schools have no obligation to offer these things, and special needs privates cost the earth and don't necessarily provides help that is "worth" the tuition, depending on your child's needs. |
Anonymous
What is W district ... if you don't mind me asking? |
Anonymous
Thank you so much for the detailed response. Regarding the report, we have an evaluation report from a reputable developmental pediatrician. But I guess that's different from a report from a neuropsychologist, right? I assume it's good to get the latter? Or do you think the developmental pd report is sufficient for now? In the developmental pd report, she detailed about she thinks is needed for school: if we go public, the IEP needs to address a) social communication and social thinking, b) flexibility, c) attention and self-/emotion-regulation; if we stay in mainstream private, we should add 1:1 ABA aide (for social & communication skills and self-regulation skills) and Speech therapy and OT in classroom; or we could go a "SN lite" private which supposedly address all the above. I heard Bethesda ES used to be good but resources are very limited these days. Honestly, being the third year into the pandemic, the demands for all sort of SN resources are at historical high yet the supply can't change in one night. It's long long waiting lists for any SN resources. Therefore, it's even more important to choose a state where SN resources are relatively ample ... And I feel that DC metro is not one of these areas (I could be wrong; other places could be even worse). Please let me know if you have any thoughts ... school selection, or state / area selection. |
Anonymous
I don’t either to be honest. Our charter was relatively new and they really emphasize using “best practices” and having a SN teacher as part of an inclusive classroom was “best practice” I was told. Normally the K classes were 18 kids with 2 teachers. Also, it was a dual language charter where kids entered by lottery when they are 3/4 yrs old. Most parents don’t send their kids to a dual language charter if they are aware that their child has issues. Every parent at the school whose child was diagnosed with a SN found out once they were already at the school so the school tried their best to provide supports and accommodations. My DS with ASD/ADHD qualified for the most supports and services when he was there and he was part of a huge bubble class so the school provided many supports like the SN teacher (who had just graduated from NYU with a masters in Sp Ed and was wonderful!) that wasn’t there previously. I am not sure if our charter continues this practice. Anyway, look for schools that does inclusion well by following “best practice”: small class size with a SN teacher in the classroom should be a given especially in early elementary. |
Anonymous
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Reality check.
You are not going to get a 1:1 aide in public school in this area. I don't know about other areas but I imagine it's the same. They won't allow you to pay for your own aide either. The only kids I have known to get one is when they might have feeding or mobility challenges. Sometimes kids in the emotional support programs get a few hours of help during the day to manage big emotions especially if your child is in one of the specialized programs and is mainstreamed for part of the day. You need a private school that will allow you to pay for your own aide. A number of privates do allow this. It's not widely advertised and they are usually the ones that are PK-3 or PK-1st or for the lower age groups. |
Anonymous
| Your post seems to be implying that FCPS and MCPS are not among the top school districts in the country. You'd be wrong about that. They are very diverse but the schools you seem to be looking at in places like Potomac or Great Falls/McLean are some of the top in the country and highly competitive with those in Lexington and other places. The average scores for FCPS and MCPS may be lower because there are many lower performing areas but these districts are huge unlike the districts in places like the Mass. burbs. |