what is the best school system in the DC metro area for very HFA - elementary?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can afford it at all, I'd look for an apartment in the Bethesda Elementary district. (Actually Bethesda Elementary, not just any elementary in Bethesda), that particular school puts more resources into inclusion than any other.

And the other Bethesda schools have an extremely poor reputation for inclusion. There may be exceptions, but in general they tend to give no supports and hope you go private.

[Anonymous]

If we were in your position we would either try to go to a D.C. charter like Creative Minds or go try to be in-bounds for one of the schools that host MCPS Asperger's programs (Diamond and Sligo Creek).

It's hard to get in to those programs, and if you can't get in I would push to try to be included in their social skills classes which are supposed to be very good. Those children are mainstreamed for the majority of the day so the gen ed teachers have more knowledge and training about HFA than at many other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The riskiest but possibly the one with the greatest returns: lottery into a charter in DC. Then you will be able to attmpt an OSSE placement at a private- MAP Ivymount is wonderful! But you need to tender this with your child's disposition. It might take 3-5 months to go through the process.

The research clearly supports high quality inclusion over high quality self contained instruction. Ivymount is great of your child can't function in Gen ed, but it shouldn't be your first choice.

PP, this is a big sticking point. "High quality inclusion" is hard to come by.

Ivymount isn't just for kids who "can't function in Gen ed." There's actually a wide variety of kids and a wider variety of needs. (It's also vastly different from the self-contained classrooms I've seen.)

Actually, it is and Ivymount will tell you that. It is the MOST restrictive environment and the tuition is 60K a year+ and most of the students receive public funding to attend. If they could learn in a Gen Ed environment, they would not be at Ivymount.

No they won't; there are 3 different programs. (The "restrictiveness" of some of the classrooms is comparable to a restricted program at a public school.) There are many kids that could be in a Gen Ed classroom, but parents chose Ivymount (MAP or MLN) over a Gen Ed classroom.

(True, many kids receive public funding, but many do not. It's the first non-public school to have kids funded from multi-jurisdictions which is why the percentage seems high.)

[Anonymous]

Most kids in the MAP program receive public funding. We were told this when we visited and took the tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The riskiest but possibly the one with the greatest returns: lottery into a charter in DC. Then you will be able to attmpt an OSSE placement at a private- MAP Ivymount is wonderful! But you need to tender this with your child's disposition. It might take 3-5 months to go through the process.

The research clearly supports high quality inclusion over high quality self contained instruction. Ivymount is great of your child can't function in Gen ed, but it shouldn't be your first choice.

PP, this is a big sticking point. "High quality inclusion" is hard to come by.

Ivymount isn't just for kids who "can't function in Gen ed." There's actually a wide variety of kids and a wider variety of needs. (It's also vastly different from the self-contained classrooms I've seen.)

Actually, it is and Ivymount will tell you that. It is the MOST restrictive environment and the tuition is 60K a year+ and most of the students receive public funding to attend. If they could learn in a Gen Ed environment, they would not be at Ivymount.

No they won't; there are 3 different programs. (The "restrictiveness" of some of the classrooms is comparable to a restricted program at a public school.) There are many kids that could be in a Gen Ed classroom, but parents chose Ivymount (MAP or MLN) over a Gen Ed classroom.

(True, many kids receive public funding, but many do not. It's the first non-public school to have kids funded from multi-jurisdictions which is why the percentage seems high.)

Doubtful. When we toured the MAP program, they showed us the combined English class for grades 3, 4, and 5. The adults outnumbered the kids in the classroom: ~12 kid maybe 15 adults in the room, teacher, one-on-one aides, SLP, etc.

Not many kids in the lower grades either. Last fall they had one kid in 1st grade.

The curriculum follows the common core. There is no acceleration in Math and they do not offer a foreign language at least in elementary or middle school. Don't know about hs.

Ivymount is a SN school and yes, the most restricted environment as far as placement. They do a great job for their students - not sure why you are trying to make it sound like something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long story short is that we are at DCPS in K. We are in the Early Stages IEP process and are pretty sure our DS is headed for a diagnosis of HFA. We are just renting but our lease is up in June. We both work out of the home and travel some, so commute to work is not an issue. We want to move next to the school district with the best services. If you could live in any of the districts, where would you live to get the best education and services?

Thank you

I have the same exact question, though my DCPS K-grade kiddo already has the diagnosis and IEP. In fact, we've just forked over a ton of money to hire an educational consultant to help us figure out our best options.

I'll be curious to see how the consultant's suggestions match up with what's posted here.

I was actually going to suggest to OP that she get a consultant. Did you find it worthMwhile, PP?

OP, even if you're looking for public, you may want to go by the Exceptional Schools Fair:
http://www.exceptionalschoolsfair.com

I don't know if the consultant will be worthwhile. We just filled out the paperwork last week. It's expensive, but will hopefully give me peace of mind that I'm doing the right thing for my child.

And if the consultant helps me make the right real estate/school decision, I'd be happy to pay in gold.

[Anonymous]

I think PPs are right that Ivymount MAP is unlikely to be a good fit for OP's kid right now. But the Maddux school, which is also an Ivymount program, could be great. It's expensive but much less than MAP, and a population that does not need such intensive support.