Educational consultant for school placement

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: what's your IB school?

Our IB school is not a good option for a variety of reasons.

We are considering moving, though, to either the Oyster-Adams or Murch school districts (renting an apartment in bounds). DC is bilingual English/Spanish with Spanish as the 'first' language. I am also trying to find out whether those schools would be good at providing accommodations for a child with this profile. I have heard good things about Murch's SN programs. I'm not sure about Oyster's approach and need to find out more but am considering it because I believe that it would be helpful for DC to learn to read in Spanish due to it being the first language learned at home and also because Spanish is easier to read.

I'm becoming repetitive...but I have concerns about leaving the current school because I believe DC will be the 'problem child' in a traditional public school. But we are considering it since everyone is saying that kids with attention issues needs more structure....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks very much for all of the useful the information that has been shared here.

07/05/2017 21:11. It's great that you have personal experience with a public Montessori school in DC. If you are still monitoring this thread, can I ask which public Montessori your child attended? If it is LAMB, I would love to talk with you further (offline). I can be reached at the following email address: [e-mail].

I am aware that it is hard to navigate the system in DC and that the choices are not always great. However, one thing we are considering is moving to the inbounds district of a highly regarded traditional public school that offers SN servcies. You all are convincing me more about the need for structure for this child which Montessori usually doesn't provide; however, I also have big doubts about whether a traditional public school will be able to handle this child without really hurting his self-esteem. Our public Montessori school is able to address kids with IEPs and they do have children with dyslexia and ADHD within the school. But I have my doubts, which you all have confirmed, about Montessori overall for this type of child.....

I'm 21:11. My child did attend LAMB but graduated 5th grade several years ago -- all of the staff DC worked with (special ed coordinator, learning specialists, OTs, psychologists, classroom teachers) are no longer there. Compared to some of the other Montessori charters it has a longer track record, which is good and they are not doctrinaire Montessorians -- they allow learning specialists in the classroom and did bring in certified reading specialists for kids who needed that. But it's also a dual language, so you definitely need think about whether achieving bi-literacy by 5th grade is an appropriate goal for a child with dyslexia.

For us it was a year to year decision; every December we'd re-evaluate whether we should stay or leave. If your only other option is to move, then take it year by year. But I would get an outside tutor and do outside testing on a regular basis to see what progress is, or isn't being made.

Thanks very much - this is very useful advice. Glad to hear that your child made it through LAMB and was able to succeed there. We will re-evaluate on a year by year basis. And I agree that it makes sense to do outside testing - and tutoring - on a regular basis to see what progress is being made. Where did you get your outside tutor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here: thanks very much for all of the useful the information that has been shared here.

07/05/2017 21:11. It's great that you have personal experience with a public Montessori school in DC. If you are still monitoring this thread, can I ask which public Montessori your child attended? If it is LAMB, I would love to talk with you further (offline). I can be reached at the following email address: [e-mail].

I am aware that it is hard to navigate the system in DC and that the choices are not always great. However, one thing we are considering is moving to the inbounds district of a highly regarded traditional public school that offers SN servcies. You all are convincing me more about the need for structure for this child which Montessori usually doesn't provide; however, I also have big doubts about whether a traditional public school will be able to handle this child without really hurting his self-esteem. Our public Montessori school is able to address kids with IEPs and they do have children with dyslexia and ADHD within the school. But I have my doubts, which you all have confirmed, about Montessori overall for this type of child.....

I'm 21:11. My child did attend LAMB but graduated 5th grade several years ago -- all of the staff DC worked with (special ed coordinator, learning specialists, OTs, psychologists, classroom teachers) are no longer there. Compared to some of the other Montessori charters it has a longer track record, which is good and they are not doctrinaire Montessorians -- they allow learning specialists in the classroom and did bring in certified reading specialists for kids who needed that. But it's also a dual language, so you definitely need think about whether achieving bi-literacy by 5th grade is an appropriate goal for a child with dyslexia.

For us it was a year to year decision; every December we'd re-evaluate whether we should stay or leave. If your only other option is to move, then take it year by year. But I would get an outside tutor and do outside testing on a regular basis to see what progress is, or isn't being made.

Thanks very much - this is very useful advice. Glad to hear that your child made it through LAMB and was able to succeed there. We will re-evaluate on a year by year basis. And I agree that it makes sense to do outside testing - and tutoring - on a regular basis to see what progress is being made. Where did you get your outside tutor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: what's your IB school?

Our IB school is not a good option for a variety of reasons.

We are considering moving, though, to either the Oyster-Adams or Murch school districts (renting an apartment in bounds). DC is bilingual English/Spanish with Spanish as the 'first' language. I am also trying to find out whether those schools would be good at providing accommodations for a child with this profile. I have heard good things about Murch's SN programs. I'm not sure about Oyster's approach and need to find out more but am considering it because I believe that it would be helpful for DC to learn to read in Spanish due to it being the first language learned at home and also because Spanish is easier to read.

I'm becoming repetitive...but I have concerns about leaving the current school because I believe DC will be the 'problem child' in a traditional public school. But we are considering it since everyone is saying that kids with attention issues needs more structure....

Oyster-Adams and Murch are going to be similar in that they are both DCPS schools. What they do for children with dyslexia is going to be similar at both schools. I would not assume that DCPS is going to offer your child any reading supports or specialized instruction in spanish at all (assuming that would be needed), so make sure you are comfortable with SWW @FS, because you may be sent there eventually if Oyster doesn't work out because of language challenges in upper elementary or middle school. https://dcps.dc.gov/publication/division-specialized-instruction-resource-guide

The personnel at each school will obviously, be different and they change all the time. One should never move because of a great reading specialist or IEP coordinator or principal -- but rather be educated and prepared and ready to fight for the kind of instruction and IEP your child needs wherever they go -- be it a traditional DCPS, a dual-language DCPS or a charter school.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We hired an educational consultant to explore public school options in the greater DMV area for our HFA child. Of all the money we've spent over the years on SN services, this was our greatest waste of time and money.

NP. Where has your child attended and have you been happy there?
We will need to begin to explore options in MD (or perhaps NW DC).