Does 3 year old have to be fully potty trained for PK3 charter school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are probably a few.

Read the ITS family handbook, page 31. http://www.inspiredteachingschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ITSFamilyHandbook-2015-16.pdf

Well we would have been kicked out in the first week. That's not very inspired

That's the rule but I have never seen it enforced. Plenty of kids have accidents for a whole host of reasons. I doubt they've gone a single day without sending home a bag of nasty clothes. But OP, if your child has delays, GET AN IEP NOW. Also, check on the SN board. They're knowledgeable and offer worthy advice, unlike some of the stanky bitches on this board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find these policies insane. They are talking about kids, many of whom are barely 3 or even 2 at the beginning of the year.

"In the United States, the average age for achieving potty training is around 2 1/2 for girls and around 3 for boys, the National Network for Child Care reports"


"Today the figure for 2-year-olds [who are toilet trained] is just 4 percent, according to a large-scale Philadelphia study. Only 60 percent of children have achieved mastery of the toilet by 36 months, the study found, and 2 percent remain untrained at the age of 4 years."

We can discuss whether or not US kids start the whole thing too late, but the idea that a US school is making rules like this is absurd.

We are not in DC and most private preschools require 3 year olds to be potty trained. Some accidents are okay, but a child who is not potty trained is not. I know of several friends who sent their 3 and 4 year olds to church nursery schools because they didn't require potty training, while all the formal preschools did.

I understand with universal preschool that some changes occur. It's not insane though, for a preschool to want the children to be potty trained. It's the usual rule, in areas where there's no universal preschool.

It is also "not insane" for a public preschool to prefer not to accept children who are in wheelchairs, or are blind. Luckily, though, there are federal laws prohibiting them from discriminating on the basis of disability and requiring them to provide all children with a free and appropriate education. That includes children who are not potty trained at age 3 due to developmental delays or disabilities.

[Anonymous]

so many parents were worried about this last year at the welcome meeting. I thought our charter did a great job of laying those concerns to rest. No pull-ups, but also no problem with accidents - just send extra clothes. I have a child with a medical condition and at 6 this child still has accidents occasionally caused by medication (once every couple of months at school, more frequent at home). It's not a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through this, but didn't know about developmental problems until school started (our child met milestones but on the late side of the range). We ended the year with an IEP but it was rough. Our HRCS was not flexible about the potty training issues and we were asked to take our child out of school for 2 weeks. They would also not help at all with #2 and I had to leave work sometimes multiple times a week. I was really frightened we would be asked to leave. My advice would be to get your child evaluated and/or start the IEP process. BTW our son was still 2 when he started PK3, finally out of diapers permanently at 4.5. I feel your pain.

Also ignore the potty training troll that lurks around here, what a miserable person. The potty training delays caused us so much stress -- anyone who thinks a parent would lazily choose this is way out of line.

i just can't understand how a charter can get away with this!

Because no one reports them. This is definitely something to document in writing to the school (e.g. I am emailing to confirm what you just told me on the phone that my child, who is going through the eligibility process for an IEP, was just suspended for his developmental delay) and then call the OSSE Ombudsperson about.

When parents are in the middle of it they are stressed and frightened and probably don't know their rights. You need to be willing to be 'that parent' and then some while also taking care of your kiddo. Not easy.

I'm the parent whose child was pulled out of school for two weeks. It was really not handled well - I had read mainly on DCUM I think that it was possible to get suspended for potty training issues and my son was having 1-2 #2 accidents a week so I knew the situation was bad, but I got the email telling us not to come to school for 2 weeks at 8pm the night before, and it had never been brought up as a possibility by the school. After panic/argument with my spouse about what to do and basically not sleeping that night, I brought my son to school the next morning and when I arrived in the class the principal was called in and we were escorted out. I essentially collapsed in tears in the principal's office and we were told to leave. My 3 year old was with me the entire time.

The school did NOT tell us at any time we would have to unenroll our child, but this is stated in the school's policy manual. At the time our son had not yet been evaluated for special needs, but we were trying to schedule everything at the same time we were in crisis mode with the potty training. By the end of the year he was on an IEP. I don't know if the school could have unenrolled us, but we were in extra danger by having undiagnosed special needs. In retrospect I think a lot of my son's issues in school were related to extreme anxiety caused in part by the potty training drama which reinforced the problem - he was witholding, and constipated, and probably felt awful most of the time. So this is why for the OP I would recommend talking to the special education coordinator at the school - if you have an IEP already you are in a good position to not in up in the situation that we did.

Once our son had his IEP the experience was completely different. The special ed team at our school has been completely wonderful and so have his teachers. I basically just avoided any further interaction with the principal, who has since left the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through this, but didn't know about developmental problems until school started (our child met milestones but on the late side of the range). We ended the year with an IEP but it was rough. Our HRCS was not flexible about the potty training issues and we were asked to take our child out of school for 2 weeks. They would also not help at all with #2 and I had to leave work sometimes multiple times a week. I was really frightened we would be asked to leave. My advice would be to get your child evaluated and/or start the IEP process. BTW our son was still 2 when he started PK3, finally out of diapers permanently at 4.5. I feel your pain.

Also ignore the potty training troll that lurks around here, what a miserable person. The potty training delays caused us so much stress -- anyone who thinks a parent would lazily choose this is way out of line.

i just can't understand how a charter can get away with this!

Because no one reports them. This is definitely something to document in writing to the school (e.g. I am emailing to confirm what you just told me on the phone that my child, who is going through the eligibility process for an IEP, was just suspended for his developmental delay) and then call the OSSE Ombudsperson about.

When parents are in the middle of it they are stressed and frightened and probably don't know their rights. You need to be willing to be 'that parent' and then some while also taking care of your kiddo. Not easy.

I'm the parent whose child was pulled out of school for two weeks. It was really not handled well - I had read mainly on DCUM I think that it was possible to get suspended for potty training issues and my son was having 1-2 #2 accidents a week so I knew the situation was bad, but I got the email telling us not to come to school for 2 weeks at 8pm the night before, and it had never been brought up as a possibility by the school. After panic/argument with my spouse about what to do and basically not sleeping that night, I brought my son to school the next morning and when I arrived in the class the principal was called in and we were escorted out. I essentially collapsed in tears in the principal's office and we were told to leave. My 3 year old was with me the entire time.

The school did NOT tell us at any time we would have to unenroll our child, but this is stated in the school's policy manual. At the time our son had not yet been evaluated for special needs, but we were trying to schedule everything at the same time we were in crisis mode with the potty training. By the end of the year he was on an IEP. I don't know if the school could have unenrolled us, but we were in extra danger by having undiagnosed special needs. In retrospect I think a lot of my son's issues in school were related to extreme anxiety caused in part by the potty training drama which reinforced the problem - he was witholding, and constipated, and probably felt awful most of the time. So this is why for the OP I would recommend talking to the special education coordinator at the school - if you have an IEP already you are in a good position to not in up in the situation that we did.

Once our son had his IEP the experience was completely different. The special ed team at our school has been completely wonderful and so have his teachers. I basically just avoided any further interaction with the principal, who has since left the school.

So sorry this happened to you and your son. It's great that things have improved now though. Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We went through this, but didn't know about developmental problems until school started (our child met milestones but on the late side of the range). We ended the year with an IEP but it was rough. Our HRCS was not flexible about the potty training issues and we were asked to take our child out of school for 2 weeks. They would also not help at all with #2 and I had to leave work sometimes multiple times a week. I was really frightened we would be asked to leave. My advice would be to get your child evaluated and/or start the IEP process. BTW our son was still 2 when he started PK3, finally out of diapers permanently at 4.5. I feel your pain.

Also ignore the potty training troll that lurks around here, what a miserable person. The potty training delays caused us so much stress -- anyone who thinks a parent would lazily choose this is way out of line.

i just can't understand how a charter can get away with this!

Because no one reports them. This is definitely something to document in writing to the school (e.g. I am emailing to confirm what you just told me on the phone that my child, who is going through the eligibility process for an IEP, was just suspended for his developmental delay) and then call the OSSE Ombudsperson about.

When parents are in the middle of it they are stressed and frightened and probably don't know their rights. You need to be willing to be 'that parent' and then some while also taking care of your kiddo. Not easy.

I'm the parent whose child was pulled out of school for two weeks. It was really not handled well - I had read mainly on DCUM I think that it was possible to get suspended for potty training issues and my son was having 1-2 #2 accidents a week so I knew the situation was bad, but I got the email telling us not to come to school for 2 weeks at 8pm the night before, and it had never been brought up as a possibility by the school. After panic/argument with my spouse about what to do and basically not sleeping that night, I brought my son to school the next morning and when I arrived in the class the principal was called in and we were escorted out. I essentially collapsed in tears in the principal's office and we were told to leave. My 3 year old was with me the entire time.

The school did NOT tell us at any time we would have to unenroll our child, but this is stated in the school's policy manual. At the time our son had not yet been evaluated for special needs, but we were trying to schedule everything at the same time we were in crisis mode with the potty training. By the end of the year he was on an IEP. I don't know if the school could have unenrolled us, but we were in extra danger by having undiagnosed special needs. In retrospect I think a lot of my son's issues in school were related to extreme anxiety caused in part by the potty training drama which reinforced the problem - he was witholding, and constipated, and probably felt awful most of the time. So this is why for the OP I would recommend talking to the special education coordinator at the school - if you have an IEP already you are in a good position to not in up in the situation that we did.

Once our son had his IEP the experience was completely different. The special ed team at our school has been completely wonderful and so have his teachers. I basically just avoided any further interaction with the principal, who has since left the school.

This is extremely horrific! It sounds like with that principal gone the problem is gone. Still, I would report your story to the Charter board, especially if that language about "disenrolling" is still in the school handbook. They were in violation of IDEA last year -- and this year, they are also violating the new DC law that forbids suspending or expelling PK students in most cases. But anyway, so glad your experience is better now.

[Anonymous]

any school that can't compassionately address accidents for 3 years would raise a lot of red flags about whether or not I want them caring for my child at all. Schools that make it a big deal can cause emotional harm to young children. Yes, 3 years olds in school should be potty trained, but there will be wide variance in practice and an age/developmental gap (10-12 months is a big difference at this age). And plenty of "potty trained" children (ok - boys) are not exactly fastidious about wiping at 3.

[Anonymous]

In general everyone should read the student handbook for every school on their lottery lists. They tell you just as much, maybe more, than a 45-minute open house/tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stokes: http://www.dcpcsb.org/sites/default/files/2015-2016%20Student%20Handbook(HU99)(ElsieWhitloStokesCommunFreedoPCS).pdf

Toileting
Children must be out of diapers by the time they start our program. We realize that
potty training does not always follow adult schedules and will work with each family to
help provide a plan to prevent accidents. Two changes of clothes are especially
important at the beginning of the school year.
Our expectation is that toilet training must include a scholar independently undressing
and dressing, wiping and flushing. Teachers are always on hand to assist with
emergencies, but this is among the most important independent tasks for our young
scholars.

"Scholars" - LMAO. Maybe that attitude is part of the problem. They are THREE.

[Anonymous]

I just emailed the charter where my PK3er will go. They don't mention it in the handbook, but said they work with the children to foster independence. They don't expect all kids to be potty trained. They ask for a change of clothes and offered to put me in touch with the head of curriculum to get tips at home.