Reply to 9th grader with recent ADHD diagnosis, looking for a new school

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "9th grader with recent ADHD diagnosis, looking for a new school"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yes it's possible. Have you looked at Field or Burke? [/quote]

WHY do people always suggest these schools when ADHD is mentioned? They have the same 5 basic accommodations as any other private school and they don’t have any additional learning specialists or even training for teacher in ADHD. As the parent of an ADHD child I’m insulted that you think something about the mission of either of these schools speaks to ADHD more than any other local private school.[/quote]

It's because Field and Burke have a much higher percent of adhd kids than other privates. They'd like you to think otherwise and won't answer the question directly when you ask. They market on here fairly aggressively with the narrative that they are just like any other private but the student population isn't.  One Field teacher we looked at online had noted in their bio that they had over 50% adhd kids in their classroom. That doesn't mean they know anything about deeply supporting those kids but it does mean they could get admitted... 
Here are some questions you could ask any family at any private when considering if the environment is good for an adhd kid:

Are students provided ample study halls where real academic support is available-how often?
Are students given training in executive function, time management, note taking, email management-in which grades and how often?
Are assignments posted in consistent ways across classes?
Is material available in writing so students can study at home when they are inattentive in class  (adhd kids do much better with textbooks for this reason)
How much time does dc spend organizing worksheets and word docs and emails vs doing deep learning?
When dc needs to take a break are they silently shamed? Where can they go? For how long?
Does the school provide opportunities for positive public recognition?

While we found Field to be a kind place-- but way too chaotic for our kid on all of those fronts, another family we know well reported that Bullis was excellent on all of these with organized study halls ( Burke also--much more organized with many more study halls). Bullis also has numerous and varied awards they give to all kinds of kids, a very consistent system for tracking work, clear consequences. It wasn't my dc's cup of tea socially but I hear it's great for adhd kids for these reasons yet rarely mentioned as an option.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics