Middle class African American DCUMers, where are you living?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you live in DC proper you may be able to get the city to pay for your son to go to a specialized school for kids with LDs like Lab. I know this used to be the case as DC did not have any facilities equipped to deal with these kids and they lost a lawsuit and had to pay to send these kids to private schools were they could be accommodated.

This is a long expensive process, with no guarantee of success.

OP, there is no way I'd intentionally move into DC with a child with autism, unless, perhaps, I had already secured a spot at one of a very few charter schools, all of which take 1 in 100 kids. Even then, I'd probably still choose MoCo special ed.

-- Teacher who has worked in both public and private special ed schools on both the MD and DC sides of the line.

[Anonymous]

OP here.
Thanks everyone for all of your help, I'm writing all of this down and researching each area. I will head over to the SN forum and see what kind of help I can get there also. I have a brand new IEP for my kid that I've shared with some of the school districts, and MCPS actually still remembers him (we left in 2007!) and has assured us that they can meet all of his needs, which is very reassuring. Frederick schools and Howard have also been very helpful .... I never heard back from DCPS after multiple attempts to contact them, which is very telling.

Coincidentally, I spoke to one of my current neighbors today, and he urged me to check out Gaithersburg. I am not sure how that particular area is anymore, but we lived in Germantown about ten years ago, and it was starting to go downhill then, so I'm not sure.

[Anonymous]

OP - take a look at the Maple Lawn development in Fulton, Md., just south of Columbia in Howard County. I can't speak to the quality of the schools for kids with special needs, but the Howard County school system is generally very good. Columbia and Maple Lawn are fairly diverse and Maple Lawn, a very new development with a "new urbanist" layout, is very walkable. (It's a little bit movie set-ish, though.) There are some town homes within your budget and since they are all pretty new you shouldn't need to do much fixing up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are an AA family in DC, Ward 4. How long of a commute are you willing to tolerate to Bethesda? I'd imagine somewhere in Silver Spring might fit your budget and get you some diversity, although walkability won't be as easy to come by. Someone else will have to chime in about exact neighborhoods.

I would not recommend the District to a person with a SN child.

Not so. My son has in IEP in DC and his program has been WONDERFUL!! He's at Deal Middle School and we live Colonial Village. You could afford Shepherd Park and still be in the same great school district.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - take a look at the Maple Lawn development in Fulton, Md., just south of Columbia in Howard County. I can't speak to the quality of the schools for kids with special needs, but the Howard County school system is generally very good. Columbia and Maple Lawn are fairly diverse and Maple Lawn, a very new development with a "new urbanist" layout, is very walkable. (It's a little bit movie set-ish, though.) There are some town homes within your budget and since they are all pretty new you shouldn't need to do much fixing up.

FYI - Maple Lawn is VERY EXPENSIVE. Howard County schools are the best in the state. Unfortunately, it is a very long commute to Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
OP here.
Thanks everyone for all of your help, I'm writing all of this down and researching each area. I will head over to the SN forum and see what kind of help I can get there also. I have a brand new IEP for my kid that I've shared with some of the school districts, and MCPS actually still remembers him (we left in 2007!) and has assured us that they can meet all of his needs, which is very reassuring. Frederick schools and Howard have also been very helpful .... I never heard back from DCPS after multiple attempts to contact them, which is very telling.

Coincidentally, I spoke to one of my current neighbors today, and he urged me to check out Gaithersburg. I am not sure how that particular area is anymore, but we lived in Germantown about ten years ago, and it was starting to go downhill then, so I'm not sure.

Look carefully because Gaithersburg schools are not very good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I live in PG and absolutely love it (NT kid is in a public magnet), but have to advise against it if your child has an IEP and and autism diagnosis.

I do have a couple of dear friends in Howard County who have great things to say about the schools there.

Grew up in PG and would absolutely not recommend it. Terrible schools for one. Secondly, it's not very diverse unless you consider mostly AA with a sprinkling of low income whites and a small filipino enclave as diverse.

And lets not forget the South American contingent, do they even speak English in Langley Park anymore?

Langley Park es totalmente espanol!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP here.
Thanks everyone for all of your help, I'm writing all of this down and researching each area. I will head over to the SN forum and see what kind of help I can get there also. I have a brand new IEP for my kid that I've shared with some of the school districts, and MCPS actually still remembers him (we left in 2007!) and has assured us that they can meet all of his needs, which is very reassuring. Frederick schools and Howard have also been very helpful .... I never heard back from DCPS after multiple attempts to contact them, which is very telling.

Coincidentally, I spoke to one of my current neighbors today, and he urged me to check out Gaithersburg. I am not sure how that particular area is anymore, but we lived in Germantown about ten years ago, and it was starting to go downhill then, so I'm not sure.

Look carefully because Gaithersburg schools are not very good.

That may be the case, but according to MCPS my son will be bussed to one of three schools in the county that have dedicated autism classrooms, so schools in the immediate area won't be a concern for us. He's moderate/severe on the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Nice to see you here, OP. We are a mixed race family (I am black, husband is white) with a toddler and we live in the 4 corners area of Silver Spring. Not terribly walkable but it's close to great restaurants, shopping, transit, etc. We moved here from Brooklyn and lived in Alexandria before buying here. Neighbors are very diverse, educated, and friendly. Good luck!

+1 Same demo and spouse also works at WR. It's a pretty easy commute both by car and bus. Don't even need 495

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rockville, near town center. There are plenty of middle class black families around here. If you ever go to Town Center in the summer, you'll see families there of all different colors. It's as diverse as you can get. My DC also has some friends whose parents are gay.

+1 yup. We live in Rockville (king farm) and it meets all your criteria.

[Anonymous]

Silver Spring 20901

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are an AA family in DC, Ward 4. How long of a commute are you willing to tolerate to Bethesda? I'd imagine somewhere in Silver Spring might fit your budget and get you some diversity, although walkability won't be as easy to come by. Someone else will have to chime in about exact neighborhoods.

I would not recommend the District to a person with a SN child.

Not so. My son has in IEP in DC and his program has been WONDERFUL!! He's at Deal Middle School and we live Colonial Village. You could afford Shepherd Park and still be in the same great school district.

Does your son have autism?

[Anonymous]

The Rockville area meets your criteria. Here is a Townhouse for 312k.


http://m.cbmove.com/property/details/1495808/MLS-MC8560057/546-Azalea-Drive-Rockville-MD-20850

[Anonymous]

Maryland has the best programs for autism

[Anonymous]

Shady Grove Metro area! Derwood Station, Rosemont, Washington Grove, Walnut Hill, Oakmont, King Farm, Falls Grove as well as tons of new development. The area is safe, diverse and very close to the metro, tons of shopping, parks and other amenities and a quick 15-20 min drive to Bethesda. Very affordable as well. Well worth checking out.