Reply to Best Middle School Options for GT/LD student

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OK - you asked.  I'm sorry it's so long.

There are 3 GT/LD MS in MoCo - North Bethesda, Lee, and Clemente.  I won't name our school, b/c things are tough enough for our kid right now.  And I'm going to make the wild assumption that the system is similarly dysfunctional at all three schools.  We have a 6th grader who did brilliantly in the ES GT/LD program.  Robust and thoughtful IEP, spot-on accommodations, a clear understanding of DSs strengths and areas of weakness.  For three years I put him on the bus and never worried about how his day was going.  We went on field trips, he had access to adaptive technology, participated in a county-wide robotics contest (and his team won!).  Very enriched curriculum and a wonderful group of kids.

Middle school.  We are now what, less than 2 months into the year?  His IEP is being roundly ignored by each teacher, the GTLD team is new and seems overwhelmed (his case manager has never taught GTLD kids before), he is not getting his accommodations, NOT A SINGLE ONE.  There is a school-wide ban on bringing your own electronics to school, which means he can't use his adaptive technologies during the school day.  Because he's in GT/LD, he has no electives, and there are no extracurriculars or clubs available to him.  There is no art, music, or sports.  There are no textbooks to bring home and work with.  There are only reams and reams of disorganized, random, papers with no explanation, course name, due date, etc.  There seems to be very little homework, and the only info I can glean is off Edline.

We have spent hours and hours emailing and having phone conferences trying to get his needs met, figuring out his binder and what he supposed to be working on , and ensuring that the school is following his IEP, as required by law.  The stock answer seems to be that we should bear with them, they are doing their best.  That there are a lot of glitches that need to be worked out this year.  We have new staff, etc etc.

This is an established GT/LD center, and we just don't have time to fight  every week to make sure the teachers and staff are on board.  Our next step is to bring in an advocate or lawyer to force the school to give him his accommodations, or pull him out entirely.

So that's why I say stay clear of the MoCo GT/LD MS program.  Your options are to get an IEP and try your home school with accommodations, or try one of the GT programs.  I hear they are good.  Hard to get into and lots of work, but if you have a GTLD kid he/she will probably love it.[/quote]

Too bad there is nothing similar to CPS you could call to report this to.  This sounds like flat out neglect to me.  All of the teachers who are failing your son should be subject to consequences for their failures.  There is absolutely no excuse for this.  NONE!  Write to the superintendent.  Put everything in writing that the school is failing to do.[/quote]

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