Does having an IEP or 504 hurt a child's chance for private school admissions?

[Anonymous]

our youngest has just been diagnosed (we had the full battery of neuropsych testing done late this summer) with High Functioning Autism Level 1. On cognitive functions, DC is solidly in the average range - with areas at the high or low end of the average range. Executive funcitoning is a bit weak and the glaring area of weakness is the social/emotional. We are in the middle of having several meetings with the school to figure out what combination of services and/or accommodations can be provided this year. And outside of school, we also have lined up a series of other services/interventions to help strengthen clear areas of weakness.

Before the diagnosis, we had planned to pull our DC out of public school after 5th grade (as we did with our middle child) and place DC into a private school. But do you know if having an IEP or 504 would prevent a child from being seen as competitive candidate or would a private school reject a child simply b/c they have an IEP or 504 (even if that wasn't the official reason)? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

It depends on the school. If it is a school known for providing accommodations and it is explicit on the application (i.e., Do you have a 504 Plan or IEP? Will you require accommodations?), then no it should not affect your child's admissions application. Some school specialize in accommodating children with ADHD or autism. You will need to do research by going to the websites to find out what schools offer particular accommodations for learning differences and the range of differences (i.e., mild to moderate).

[Anonymous]

Generally, yes.

[Anonymous]

Why would you even want to put a child with these issues in a private school? Most private schools do not have teachers with special-ed training, or even teaching licenses.

[Anonymous]

They will be cautious. Depends on a lot of other factors and what schools you are targetting.

My very bright kid with an IEP for speech articulation and expressive language support was rejected at every private school we applied to for middle school except Lowell (McLean, Burke, Field, St. Andrews). Lowell accepted him only on the condition we would hire an outside tutor to support his writing. This was 3 years ago.

Maybe we aimed for the wrong schools or maybe they just didn't know whether they could support him. Or maybe they all had tons of applicants that year and it was a long shot regardless.

In retrospect I believed we disclosed too much, probably. Upon learning of the IEP they asked for a copy of his full neuropsychological testing, which shows some areas of amazing strength and also weaknesses in processing speed and working memory.

In the end, we stuck with public and he's doing great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They will be cautious. Depends on a lot of other factors and what schools you are targetting.

My very bright kid with an IEP for speech articulation and expressive language support was rejected at every private school we applied to for middle school except Lowell (McLean, Burke, Field, St. Andrews). Lowell accepted him only on the condition we would hire an outside tutor to support his writing. This was 3 years ago.

Maybe we aimed for the wrong schools or maybe they just didn't know whether they could support him. Or maybe they all had tons of applicants that year and it was a long shot regardless.

In retrospect I believed we disclosed too much, probably. Upon learning of the IEP they asked for a copy of his full neuropsychological testing, which shows some areas of amazing strength and also weaknesses in processing speed and working memory.

In the end, we stuck with public and he's doing great.

Wow, this is disappointing to read. These are the schools frequently mentioned on DCUM as being open to bright kids who need some kind of supports. What kind of supports, specifically, does your child receive through his/her IEP? I am asking only because we have a child with a similar diagnosis and those schools were among those we planned to target.

It is great to hear that your child is thriving in public! Which school system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They will be cautious. Depends on a lot of other factors and what schools you are targetting.

My very bright kid with an IEP for speech articulation and expressive language support was rejected at every private school we applied to for middle school except Lowell (McLean, Burke, Field, St. Andrews). Lowell accepted him only on the condition we would hire an outside tutor to support his writing. This was 3 years ago.

Maybe we aimed for the wrong schools or maybe they just didn't know whether they could support him. Or maybe they all had tons of applicants that year and it was a long shot regardless.

In retrospect I believed we disclosed too much, probably. Upon learning of the IEP they asked for a copy of his full neuropsychological testing, which shows some areas of amazing strength and also weaknesses in processing speed and working memory.

In the end, we stuck with public and he's doing great.

Wow, this is disappointing to read. These are the schools frequently mentioned on DCUM as being open to bright kids who need some kind of supports. What kind of supports, specifically, does your child receive through his/her IEP? I am asking only because we have a child with a similar diagnosis and those schools were among those we planned to target.

It is great to hear that your child is thriving in public! Which school system?

Maybe someday these schools will get dinged for ADA violations ... one can always hope!

[Anonymous]

Most private schools are not equipped to deal with special needs unless they explicitly say so. I would think seriously about if the schools you are looking for are right for your child.

[Anonymous]

We are right there with you and plan to send DS to private school starting in 6th grade. DS has ASD/ADHD and has an IEP mostly for social communication issues. Gets great grades fully mainstreamed at a dual language school and is very talented in chess and math. (The current world champion in chess, Magnus Carlson, is suspected of having Asperger's too).

His psychiatrist and neuropsych think DS will do fine at a top tier private school and the schools also recruit for chess (and he has legacy status at one) so we'll see how it works out. We plan on submitting a current neuropsych eval along with everything else. If private school does not work out there are also public magnets.

[Anonymous]

I would assume with "average" (to cite you) cognitive functions, you would probably have a hard time getting into most regular privates in the DC area because most are looking for kids with pretty high testing scores, no? Our son is gifted but severe adhd and we struck out with the two privates we applied to in PK. I think schools may be open to accepting a kid with SN to the extent they otherwise fit the profile of what they're looking for (like, speech and gross motor issues but otherwise a solid student) but would likely not be interested in a kid who at core doesn't have the test scores they need. That is, unless the school has a particular mandate to fill some SN slots.

[Anonymous]

We have the same diagnosis. How old is your child? My child is now in 4th grade and we are seeing academic difficulties, especially around reading comprehension and writing, that were not apparent in testing when he was younger (that testing found that he was well above average cognitively). This profile -- above average cognitively but struggle with tasks that involve perspective taking and organization -- is pretty common for kids with ASD level 1.

We have an IEP because he would certainly be worse off without the necessary supports. I worry a lot about what we will do for middle school and had planned to target many of the schools that pp above was rejected from. If we don't get in, it won't because of the IEP itself -- it will be because of DC's academic needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They will be cautious. Depends on a lot of other factors and what schools you are targetting.

My very bright kid with an IEP for speech articulation and expressive language support was rejected at every private school we applied to for middle school except Lowell (McLean, Burke, Field, St. Andrews). Lowell accepted him only on the condition we would hire an outside tutor to support his writing. This was 3 years ago.

Maybe we aimed for the wrong schools or maybe they just didn't know whether they could support him. Or maybe they all had tons of applicants that year and it was a long shot regardless.

In retrospect I believed we disclosed too much, probably. Upon learning of the IEP they asked for a copy of his full neuropsychological testing, which shows some areas of amazing strength and also weaknesses in processing speed and working memory.

In the end, we stuck with public and he's doing great.

Wow, this is disappointing to read. These are the schools frequently mentioned on DCUM as being open to bright kids who need some kind of supports. What kind of supports, specifically, does your child receive through his/her IEP? I am asking only because we have a child with a similar diagnosis and those schools were among those we planned to target.

It is great to hear that your child is thriving in public! Which school system?

Son is now in a DC charter school and he'd been in a charter school before.

It was a few years ago - and things always vary year to year.

His school IEP called back then was for 2 hrs per week with an SLP, 1 hr per week with an OT and 1 hour a week with a learning specialist to work on writing. It wasn't a lot.

But his neuropsych is unusual - eg he is in the top 99% for memory but just 5% for processing speech. If we were to graph all of his subtests it would look like a very erratic EKG.

I will tell you that one of my son's elementary school classmates, who has ADHD, dyslexia and dysgraphia, was accepted at 2 of the mainstream private schools that rejected my son. So it could have as simple as they weren't going to take 2 'quirky kids from same city school that admissions cycle). That child's parents were required to provide LOTS of supports (tutors) outside of school. Despite a 3.7 GPA hat student was counselled out after 8th (the school felt he needed too many accommodations and they 'weren't a SN school."
A friend send her daughter with a math disability and ADHD to Green Acres for middle school and it was a great experience. So there are options but in my experience it was all pretty random.

[Anonymous]

Maybe someday these schools will get dinged for ADA violations ... one can always hope!

Yeah, so this won't happen because the children have a right to a Free And Appropriate PUBLIC Education. Private schools do not have to offer a Free, Appropriate Private Education. Because they're private.

[Anonymous]

Wrong law, PP. The ADA is different and they could be liable if they get any public money or tax breaks or anything like that. This could include support from the police for traffic control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They will be cautious. Depends on a lot of other factors and what schools you are targetting.

My very bright kid with an IEP for speech articulation and expressive language support was rejected at every private school we applied to for middle school except Lowell (McLean, Burke, Field, St. Andrews). Lowell accepted him only on the condition we would hire an outside tutor to support his writing. This was 3 years ago.

Maybe we aimed for the wrong schools or maybe they just didn't know whether they could support him. Or maybe they all had tons of applicants that year and it was a long shot regardless.

In retrospect I believed we disclosed too much, probably. Upon learning of the IEP they asked for a copy of his full neuropsychological testing, which shows some areas of amazing strength and also weaknesses in processing speed and working memory.

In the end, we stuck with public and he's doing great.

NP. Thank you for sharing this. We were also considering those schools.