Special Education in K

[Anonymous]

I posted this on the special needs board but did not receive a response, so I thought I'd try it here to see if there is any insight on Special Education at the K level. My DS is attending a special needs school not because his IEP warranted the school, but beause we felt it was a good "push" for him before K. We are concerned about the tuition going forward, and may need to go public, but are equally concerned with larger class sizes in the public school. If you had any experience with Special Education in K, please share. Or if you can recommend schools with smaller class sizes, that would be appreciated as well.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like you do have an IEP which is great! When you do your annual review make sure you focus on your DS's need for small group instruction and try to get that included in his IEP. If I were you, I would at least try the public option. If it doesn't work, then you can look for a private school.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on your son's disability and his needs. Some public schools have co-teachers (one regular and one special ed) in K. If your child has autism, some elementaries have an autism program within the school (last I checked, two of them were Glenn Dale and Kenilworth). I believe the autism program goes through high school, but it does involve some mainstreaming. Highbridge has a special ed program there. There is a program for emotionally disturbed kids from elementary through high school.

One of my children has special needs. He got an IEP in K. I was not impressed with what his public school had to offer, and they really didn't want to be bothered. He ended up attending non-public schools. We tried public schools twice iwth him. No go.

[Anonymous]

OP here, my son's autism is pretty high functioning and he has no cognitive impairment. His IEP did not qualify him for the autism PK program because he scored within the normal range on the evaluations that were done from the school system, and with the very specific, individualized attention he is receiving at his current school, he will likely score even higher.

Before his current school, he has always been in regular education settings with typically developing kids and has had no issues. I just don't want him to get lost in a very large class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, my son's autism is pretty high functioning and he has no cognitive impairment. His IEP did not qualify him for the autism PK program because he scored within the normal range on the evaluations that were done from the school system, and with the very specific, individualized attention he is receiving at his current school, he will likely score even higher.

Before his current school, he has always been in regular education settings with typically developing kids and has had no issues. I just don't want him to get lost in a very large class.

Will he be attending a public school? My suggestion is to tour the school he would be attending to see how the classes are set up. Look at student numbers and whether there is an assistant or co-teacher (and see if the school does that consistently). Do they break the large class into small learning groups? How would they handle your son's needs? Talk to the K teacher(s) to get a feel for them. If it is your boundary public school, I would even try requesting a specific teacher for K (based on your research and who you think would be the best fit). Maybe attend a PTA meeting at that school, and reach out to someone on the PTA board about K and their impressions of the teachers?