Relocating and looking for school district recommendations
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Anonymous
| I'm relocating from Connecticut back to the DC area and looking for recommendations on school systems for my 7 year old son who has a diagnosis of PDD-NOS. Recommendations on consultants who can help make a decision are also very welcome. He is currently doing very well in 1st grade in a public school, and receives daily special education plus weekly speech, social work and OT. |
Twinsmama
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| Hi. I am in the same circumstance. I have twins who are 8 and have an Asperger's dx. Curious what information you've found and if you are concentrating your search in a specific area? |
Anonymous
| I'm just starting the search so any recs would be very helpful. I need to be able to commute to downtown DC but probably not everyday. The reviews of consultants are a little discouraging. |
Anonymous
| I believe there is an MCPS program at Sligo Elementary School. I have heard great things about it but have no personal experience. I would call MCPS to find out what programs they have. Look on the MCPS website to find the number for what I believe is called the Office for Special Education. There are public school options available. |
Anonymous
|
As you may know, unlike Conn., our K-12 schools are organized for the most part at the county level (or DC or City of Alexandria), so you may want to focus on communities that you like for commuting/housing selection & $$, and then check our your local/cluster schools from there. Or ask on here about schools in location X. It is is determined that your local school is unable to meet your child's needs, then you and your school might look across your cluster or countywide for appropriate resources and placement.
For instance pp 10:17, there are two Mont. Cty elementary school programs for children with Asperger's. Parents don't necessarily buy a house in one of these two Gaithersburg or Silver Spring neighborhoods. Students who are placed in these programs are provided with door to door transportation. Students remaining in the Asperger's program for middle school attend Tilden MS in N. Bethesda--so you see that you can't just plan to keep moving! We are in Mont. Cty. and used Michelle Davis' firm for our IEP preparation. Friends have used Rich Weinfield and he comes well recommended from them. |
Anonymous
Not OP. But this is very helpful! |
Anonymous
| I am not the OP either but the mom with twins Aspies-this was helpful! I had no idea there were public schools that also specifically attended to Aspies. Wow. (I am from central Illinois....we love our school, but I am looking forward to see what NoVA has to offer...has to be better, right? It's illinois for goodness sakes). |
Anonymous
| Np. MoCo doesn't have whole schools devoted to Aspergers -- they have a program located within a regular school. Not sure how many kids are in the program but your neighborhood school controls your IEP and has to place you there. Look at the website for extraordinaryminds.org. There is lots of helpful info and links there. Coming into MoCo with an IEP helps a lot as it can be very difficult to get the process started. |
Anonymous
|
Thanks this is very helpful. I'm the mom with the son entering 2nd this Fall and will look into MC. We have had an IEP since he was 3 years old plus independent evaluations.
There is a chance I could delay the move for one year. Any thoughts on whether it's better to move a boy on the spectrum when he's 7 or 8 years old? |
Anonymous
|
13:57 here.
DS attended the Sligo Creek program for a period several years ago. At the time there were two mixed grade classes (2-3; 4-5 perhaps?) with about 7 kids in each, 1 teacher and 2 aides. I have no idea of its current make-up. Students at that time were in AS classrooms for much of the day and lunch, and went into standard classrooms (with an aide) as well. I don't recall the exact split. Sligo also hosts a French Immersion program. Your neighborhood school team, including a MCPS rep (or more), determine your eligibility for an IEP and if that IEP can be implemented at your home school. A MCPS placement specialist, working with a team, likely would determine a non-home school placement, either within or outside of your cluster. |
Anonymous
| Avoid the district. MoCo and NoVa have far better services and supports. |
Anonymous
| I think a consultant is the way to go because you need to live in the county before they will evaluate your child, so you can't really find anything specific about how your child might be placed until you already have a place to live in the county. |
Anonymous
| OP-I am the Twinsmama. (Having issues login in via iPhone). We are moving mid year after Christmas. It's the only time we are able to do it. I thought about staying beind the entire year with my two 8 year olds and our private LCSW advised against it. She felt it would be even more emotionally hard for them to be separated from Dad and felt a half year is a good stretch to "get their feet wet" but not have a super long time to be in school. Actually I have has several people say they prefer it this way vs transition at the beginning of a very busy school year. They are still in younger elementary grades so that's a positive. Good luck. I think we will be looking at Loudon and Fairfax. It's very nerve wracking. Already have one crying about the move- doesn't want to leave. I hope it's the right thing. Makes me sick to my stomach. |
Anonymous
| My DS in 1st grade gets similar services. We've been more than please with our school in the Springfield/Burke area. |
Anonymous
| May I ask the name of the school? Thanks! -twins mom |