2E kid middle school

[Anonymous]

Do you have a gifted/adhd kid in middle school? Where do they go and are you happy with the school/supports? Did you look into any private schools as well?

TIA

[Anonymous]

Yep. Westland.

Overall it's ok; I think Westland is a nice school. He's doing fine and making the honor roll but not super engaged, and we struggle a lot to get teachers to implement all the accommodations on the IEP.

We couldn't afford private, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep. Westland.

Overall it's ok; I think Westland is a nice school. He's doing fine and making the honor roll but not super engaged, and we struggle a lot to get teachers to implement all the accommodations on the IEP.

We couldn't afford private, unfortunately.

It is very expensive to raise a 2E kid - financially and emotionally. Our MCPS middle school is huge and not great with executive function support (great school, though, if mainstream kid).

If you could afford private, where would you have looked? We can't really afford private but he's such an all or nothing kid, that we are going to have to scrape the money to send him.

[Anonymous]

Well, that's hard to say. I would do more research, and I have heard good things about the Siena School and the Nora School, both in Silver Spring. I'm not 100% sure they are good for ADHD.

For us, the problem is finding the challenge. DS was waitlisted for magnets in ES and MS, and I still think they would have been a better fit for him, because he is able to focus and complete work for stuff he's interested in much more easily (and isn't everyone?!).

I would be wary of privates that aren't focused on learning disabilities. I don't think the same legal protections apply and it's my impression that regular private schools aren't as willing to work with accommodations (although I could be wrong about that).

I know he will make it through ok; I just feel sad that he's not more inspired by learning at school.

[Anonymous]

I have a friend with a middle schooler at Siena and they love it. But he has some language processing issues, not ADHD, so as the PP said, not sure where they stand on that. But it's worth looking into. They just moved into a new space this year, on Forest Glen Road in Silver Spring.

I wish you the best in finding the perfect spot for your child!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, that's hard to say. I would do more research, and I have heard good things about the Siena School and the Nora School, both in Silver Spring. I'm not 100% sure they are good for ADHD.

For us, the problem is finding the challenge. DS was waitlisted for magnets in ES and MS, and I still think they would have been a better fit for him, because he is able to focus and complete work for stuff he's interested in much more easily (and isn't everyone?!).

I would be wary of privates that aren't focused on learning disabilities. I don't think the same legal protections apply and it's my impression that regular private schools aren't as willing to work with accommodations (although I could be wrong about that).

I know he will make it through ok; I just feel sad that he's not more inspired by learning at school.

I think that's the challenge (gift?) of raising a 2E. So much potential but inspiring the kid to get there is so much more of a challenge than for an NT kid.

[Anonymous]

NORA is for HS I believe. I will be looking into it in a few years myself. Some schools that cater only to kids with special needs can have problems in terms of not having typical peer models so you have to look closely. Special schools may not be any more stimulating intellectually than MCPS. I wish there was a 2E school here.

[Anonymous]

Re privates, my sense from looking at websites and perusing DCUM is that Bullis and St. Andrews would accommodate a 2e kid if executive function is main issue. I've also heard good things about WES from a friend with an ADD child there. I would worry, from looking at exmissions, that Siena, Nora & Lab would not be intellectually challenging enough.

We have a 2e who was unable to get an IEP because grades were "too high."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re privates, my sense from looking at websites and perusing DCUM is that Bullis and St. Andrews would accommodate a 2e kid if executive function is main issue. I've also heard good things about WES from a friend with an ADD child there. I would worry, from looking at exmissions, that Siena, Nora & Lab would not be intellectually challenging enough.

We have a 2e who was unable to get an IEP because grades were "too high."

Our 2E has a 504 (couldn't get an IEP) and even that was a struggle.

[Anonymous]

PP with 504, how did you manage it? Did you have the too high grades issue too?

[Anonymous]

PP with 504 here. Yes, we had the same issue -- child doing too well for a 504 -- even though this is plainly against the law. What we finally did was outside testing including IQ testing, and used an educational consultant -- in our case Weinfeld and Associates.

It was amazing to me how fast they agreed to the 504 once we had the ed consultant on board. It was money well spent, and we have used them again on occasion, such as during the transition from ES to MS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re privates, my sense from looking at websites and perusing DCUM is that Bullis and St. Andrews would accommodate a 2e kid if executive function is main issue. I've also heard good things about WES from a friend with an ADD child there. I would worry, from looking at exmissions, that Siena, Nora & Lab would not be intellectually challenging enough.

We have a 2e who was unable to get an IEP because grades were "too high."

If you are in MoCo, that is there MO for denying IEP's for 2E kids. You might want to consider hiring an advocate.

[Anonymous]

I have a 2E middle school boy. I just want to give you my best wishes. It is a struggle, but one that will cause you to feel very lonely, since to everybody else, your kid looks like an articulate, intelligent, loving, funny kid. Which he is. He also has very severe dysgraphia/ADHD.

My kid goes to private, and not one known for working with 2E kids. It is working I think as well as anything can work. He loves his friends. He loves the rich intellectual atmosphere of the school. He is learning a great deal. He loves his school. His grades are all over the map. Some of the teachers are understanding. Some are not. I think, if spelling comes naturally to you, it is hard to imagine how you can sounds as smart as my son sounds, and not be able to spell. But the private is much much better than public was. In public, if the kid is getting acceptable grades, that's it. It doesn't matter at all to them if he can not spell his own name. It is very hard to get more support. At the private, they push my son and help him with his deficiencies.

Anyway, my best wishes to you. Since these kids vary a lot, in the end, you have to figure out what to do yourself and hope you made the right decision.

[Anonymous]

I really appreciate this post. My 2e child is doing very well at an HGC this year. In fact, it is his best school year ever. I really worry about middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP with 504 here. Yes, we had the same issue -- child doing too well for a 504 -- even though this is plainly against the law. What we finally did was outside testing including IQ testing, and used an educational consultant -- in our case Weinfeld and Associates.

It was amazing to me how fast they agreed to the 504 once we had the ed consultant on board. It was money well spent, and we have used them again on occasion, such as during the transition from ES to MS.

We had been asking for years if my son had ADHD but the gifted part masked a lot of it -- behavior showed ADHD but academically excelled. We finally paid for neuropsych at Stixrud. School was willing to give 504 once we had Stixrud report. Would not give IEP.