Private schools that support SN

[Anonymous]

We moved from overseas and started our child at McLean - it's been a good experience - small school and small classes meant that faculty could be put on notice about any transition/integration issues - new head of school is great. The facilities are not that impressive (including sports field), but for us, more than made up for by academic rigor and support. Depending what sports your kids play, there is actually a really fantastic sports program, and small school means good athletes really get to shine, and mediocre athletes get a chance to play on a team. It's a very personal situation, but for us has been pretty successful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son's main areas of support are with organization, staying on task and help with composing written work in a logical and sequential format. He does not have disruptive behaviors as such except that he can distract others if he becomes distracted. He is a caring, sensitive boy who can make friends especially with those who share his strong interests like Lego, Star Wars, Super Heroes etc. He is currently coping in a mainstream classroom with a few hours a week help from the resource teacher and being able to work in small groups for some tasks. His current class size is 30 which is not helpful for him or the teacher when he needs prompting which is why I really would like a smaller class for him to be able to concentrate and receive support in as workloads increase.

I would recommend Commonwealth Academy for this child but it is located in N. Alexandria so may not work for you. Classes are very small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who mentioned The Heights, do you have kids there, I was wondering the atmosphere is it nurturing or strict and rigid?

I do have kids there. You really have to visit for yourself. It is hard to explain. They are very religiously conservative (which is not popular in this area) but not strict and rigid.

We are not religious but are confident in our views so it is a very good fit for us.

One thing to note is they start in 3rd.

Each boy has an advisor, who is not only responsible for academics but is also responsible for personal development, which could simply mean - learning to have friends, learning to be more sensitive/less sensitive, learning how to shoot a basketball, etc.

The class size in 3-5 is 12-15, 6-8 is 15-20, and it has a high school but we are not there yet.

I don't like to post about the school because there are a few people that don't believe in their conservative religious views and strongly report negatively about it on the private school forum.

But in the SN forum, when you want to keep your sons togethers, I have to say something.

I personally like the Heights but do not think it is a good school for ADHD or exec. function problems. Most alphabet syndromes the teachers and admins think are poor parenting or poor study skills. By 6th grade, the school can be very demanding. I would not send an SN kid there but if you have a self-starter Catholic boy who is very smart, by all means.

My ADHD son went there for high school and did well. They are very forgiving as their strict Catholicism makes them believe very strongly in redemption.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP who mentioned The Heights, do you have kids there, I was wondering the atmosphere is it nurturing or strict and rigid?

I do have kids there. You really have to visit for yourself. It is hard to explain. They are very religiously conservative (which is not popular in this area) but not strict and rigid.

We are not religious but are confident in our views so it is a very good fit for us.

One thing to note is they start in 3rd.

Each boy has an advisor, who is not only responsible for academics but is also responsible for personal development, which could simply mean - learning to have friends, learning to be more sensitive/less sensitive, learning how to shoot a basketball, etc.

The class size in 3-5 is 12-15, 6-8 is 15-20, and it has a high school but we are not there yet.

I don't like to post about the school because there are a few people that don't believe in their conservative religious views and strongly report negatively about it on the private school forum.

But in the SN forum, when you want to keep your sons togethers, I have to say something.

I personally like the Heights but do not think it is a good school for ADHD or exec. function problems. Most alphabet syndromes the teachers and admins think are poor parenting or poor study skills. By 6th grade, the school can be very demanding. I would not send an SN kid there but if you have a self-starter Catholic boy who is very smart, by all means.

My ADHD son went there for high school and did well. They are very forgiving as their strict Catholicism makes them believe very strongly in redemption.

Strongly disagree. If your child can't keep up, they chalk it up to laziness or lack of organization or poor parenting. There is no school nurse. No way to administer meds, if your child is on them. Teachers post the homework in unclear fashion and leave it to kids to figure out. Most of the teachers (all male and most without Masters' degrees) don't believe in ADHD/OCD/etc. The Heights can be a crushing and punitive environment for an ADHD or SN children. At grade 3, fine. But by sixth grade, it is Lord of the Flies and I did not find the faculty at all receptive about "redemption"???? I couldn't even get them to return calls or clarify homework requirements. The Heights does nothing to help the SN kids so expect to be counseled out. Redemption? Seriously? The Heights teachers were most judgmental and ignorant (about ADHD) bunch of men I've ever met in my life. If your kid can't understand a homework assignment or math equation, forget it, they are not going to help them learn it. Parents are totally on their own to locate math or latin tutors and then I couldn't even get the teachers to return calls to tell me WHAT in Latin needed to be covered. No way. We are so glad we left, as did other parents.