How do people afford the Lab School?

[Anonymous]

I wish my child could go to this school but we cannot afford it. How do people afford this school? We live in Arlington and pay 700/mo in property taxes, but when I tried to research private school vouchers for VA, I got a dead end- basically there are no vouchers, just tax credits for companies who contribute to funds for groups that have scholarships for private schools- it was really unclear how I could apply for a scholarship from such a group. We are willing to move to DC. What are the financial options to pay for this school?

[Anonymous]

They take out a HELOC; enlist extended family help (grandparent, siblings); cutting expenses way, way back (one car; no vacations/eating out; moving to a cheaper home such as a condo or apartment). Lab does offer some financial aid; if they accept your child you can apply.

Sometimes 2-3 years at a specialized school is all that is needed to get your child on track and ready to transition back to a regular school. But no guarantees.

Many families instead invest a lot in private tutors and continue to attend public schools. It is a cheaper way to go, but has drawbacks as well.

I would see no benefit to moving to DC, unless it would lower your overall housing cost -- there is a slim chance you could attend a DCPS school for a year or so, and if they fail to provide adequate (not perfect or best) services to your child with an IEP, then you could sue and perhaps secure a place at Lab or another private with public dollars. it's not an easy process.

There is a low-income private school voucher program in DC, but you can only make like 2x the poverty rate to qualify and even then the maximum amount available is about $10K. Not sure if Lab even participates in this program.

[Anonymous]

I thought most kids at the Lab were there with public funds via an IEP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought most kids at the Lab were there with public funds via an IEP

DC funds about 20% of all Lab School students.

Not sure if any of the suburban districts pay for students to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought most kids at the Lab were there with public funds via an IEP

DC funds about 20% of all Lab School students.

Not sure if any of the suburban districts pay for students to attend.

I know students there who are funded by MoCo.

The standard for getting funded is the same in Arlington as in DC. It's an uphill battle everywhere, but not so much easier in DC that it would be worth moving.

[Anonymous]

To get Lab School paid for by DC is a multi year process.

If you think now that your child is a good candidate for the school - you will have lost at least 3 years by the time you get around to having DC pay for it.

Question - what is your child's educational profile - what do you hope Lab will provide?

[Anonymous]

I know one VA family who self-paid, but they were a very wealthy, dual-earner family, with only this one child. And both parents were in medical professions that paid an uber amount of $$.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you looked at Oakwood? It is still very expensive, yes, but it is not quite as expensive as Lab.

[Anonymous]

Virginia does not do school vouchers, and good luck getting them to pupil-place in private (and, even if APS would, I doubt Lab is on their list). If you're looking for the local government to send your kid to special-needs private, you'd have better luck in MD or DC.

Our kid does not go to Lab but goes to a $40K+/year private, special needs school. We pay for it on a HHI of about $300K gross and receive no financial aid. (Our property taxes are similar, but I'm not sure how that's relevant here.) We've done it by living well below our means and scrimping a lot. We have two cars, but one is 13 years old and the other seven (both paid for and neither fancy) and won't buy a new one until the kid is out of special needs private or one dies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To get Lab School paid for by DC is a multi year process.

If you think now that your child is a good candidate for the school - you will have lost at least 3 years by the time you get around to having DC pay for it.

Question - what is your child's educational profile - what do you hope Lab will provide?

He has a receptive language disorder. He’s currently in a private SN preschool setting and it meets his needs perfectly. He’s improved leaps and bounds since having a special educator to help build his language skills. But he learns slowly. He starts K in 2020. I can’t imagine him being able to keep pace in a regular ed setting without substantial assistance.

[Anonymous]

We're actually leaving the area in part because we can't afford the Lab School. Sure, Oakwood is cheaper but still out of reach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get Lab School paid for by DC is a multi year process.

If you think now that your child is a good candidate for the school - you will have lost at least 3 years by the time you get around to having DC pay for it.

Question - what is your child's educational profile - what do you hope Lab will provide?

He has a receptive language disorder. He’s currently in a private SN preschool setting and it meets his needs perfectly. He’s improved leaps and bounds since having a special educator to help build his language skills. But he learns slowly. He starts K in 2020. I can’t imagine him being able to keep pace in a regular ed setting without substantial assistance.

If he doesn't have a formal diagnosis, get one. File for whatever the APS equivalent of the Local Screening Committee meeting is part of the way through the 19-20 school year. The process takes months, start no later than January. Figure out what kind of services and accommodations they are able to offer before you throw public school out as an option. Not all schools are terrible. Ours is, but I have a friend with a kid with nearly the same issues at another public school, and the accomodations for her son are night and day from what we received. Some public schools do it right. My friend's kid qualified for FCPS AAP without any parent intervention (they declined to keep him at base school where they were happy with services versus unknown), but he's got an IEP and BIP and is doing great with local Level III services.

[Anonymous]

For us it involved a serious change in our finances. We used to save and do all the smart things everyone on DCUM’s money board tells you to do. Now we barely meet all of our expenses and don’t save much. That said, it bought us peace of mind after several years battling with public schools to acknowledge and remediate our child’s learning issues. Good luck. There are very few people who do it easily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us it involved a serious change in our finances. We used to save and do all the smart things everyone on DCUM’s money board tells you to do. Now we barely meet all of our expenses and don’t save much. That said, it bought us peace of mind after several years battling with public schools to acknowledge and remediate our child’s learning issues. Good luck. There are very few people who do it easily.

+1

Could not say it better. It's worth not fighting with the school, our kid not being lost in a class of 30 with an overwhelmed teacher and not shuffling between different case managers every year, and, biggest plus, the kid generally being much happier and learning more because they're understood and accommodated better. The cost makes me want to cry, but the benefits do to (but in a positive way).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get Lab School paid for by DC is a multi year process.

If you think now that your child is a good candidate for the school - you will have lost at least 3 years by the time you get around to having DC pay for it.

Question - what is your child's educational profile - what do you hope Lab will provide?

He has a receptive language disorder. He’s currently in a private SN preschool setting and it meets his needs perfectly. He’s improved leaps and bounds since having a special educator to help build his language skills. But he learns slowly. He starts K in 2020. I can’t imagine him being able to keep pace in a regular ed setting without substantial assistance.

Go to U of MD leap and if he can just a small private school. We have a child with receptive and expressive language disorder and never needed an expensive private school and always made it work instead with cheaper school and heavy private services. At 4, your child can continue to progress and may start to catch up around 5-6-7.