Best mainstream privates for kids with mild learning support needs
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Anonymous
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Considering Maret, GDS, Sidwell, Beauvoir, Sheridan for a bright child with no cognitive delays but speech, motor, and fine motor delays as a result of her hypotonia. She has private therapy end had made great strides over the past couple years.
I know none of these schools are required to provide accommodations. Which schools do best with kids who may need some targeted support like mine? Any schools you’d absolutely eliminate from the list? Any others you’d suggest considering? |
Anonymous
| Not Maret. |
Anonymous
Thanks for weighing in. Can you say anything more about why? |
Anonymous
| Consider Lab School or Field. |
Anonymous
| Field, Burke, Lowell. |
Anonymous
| What grade? NPS has been wonderful in accommodating for some less commonly seen needs. |
Anonymous
I second this. Not sure what grade you’re looking at but Maret is a pressure cooker despite its outward image (yes, we are a current family) |
Anonymous
| I assume you know that there is a difference between cognitive delays and learning disabilities. Is your child old enough to know that she doesn't have any learning disabilities? I think most of the schools you mention can accommodate mild fine motor disabilities, but none can handle any but the most mild of learning disabilities. |
Anonymous
| Harbor maybe? I would look at small schools with an early elementary focus and consider the bigger schools later if they're a fit down the road. My impression is that fine motor skills weigh heavily in admissions at the early elementary level and that you might be setting her up for frustraiton. |
Anonymous
+2 |
Anonymous
Because the Maret community does not want kids who diverge too far from the mean. Such children are either not admitted in the first place or live on the edge of being counseled out rather than supported. It’s not a good environment. |
Anonymous
Honestly, I have a very bright child with ADHD and would never consider any of those schools. They are all pressure cookers who will not accommodate a child with any delays and will get more competitive as they get older. Extremely bright students with no delays or differences already struggle in those environments, I wouldn't want my child to be the one who had even more to overcome and the only one with these issues. The suggestions for Field, Burke, and Lowell are all good ones that can accommodate differences. You would find the administration at any of those schools happy to partner with you on getting the best experience for your child. |
Anonymous
| It’s impossible to say without you describing her needs in more detail. I can’t tell if you’re just a hyper-protective mom for whom being clumsy is a “delay,” or if your child actually has delays. Speech, fine, and gross motor delays all together actually sounds like they could be fairly significant needs and you’d be better off in public with an IEP. |
Anonymous
Right. Most schools can handle mild fine motor delays because they will (or should) have a stepped curriculum to teach writing that will work for them. But if your daughter is like my son and literally could not put a mark on paper at 4 years old, that’s not really “mild.” You need OT and you also probably need some push-in support for K to make sure she’s keeping up. |
Anonymous
| St. Andrew's might be a possibility |