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[quote=Anonymous]Janney has worked extremely well for my child who is on an IEP and who has required various levels of mild to moderate intervention to ensure his success.  I'm not sure of the components of your IEP plan, but I will share our experience generally and if you want follow up, I'm happy to talk to you off line.  The speech therapist at Janney, Toni Willis is excellent.  My child's has improved so much that we discontinued private speech and use Ms. Willis once per week. Ms. Willis visits in class and works with children in small groups outside the classroom too.  She sets measurable goals, reviews them with us and follows up to ensure success.  When my child isn't hitting the targets, she provides at home exercises and works to adjust the services to build the skills.  We also used OT services from Pre-K to second grade.  The therapists have changed over time but they have all ranged from excellent to good.  Our favorite therapist is no longer there, but the current OT is quite good and I found her to be accessible and very committed to my child's success.  Early this year, we were released from OT and I credit the Janney special needs team for helping accomplish this milestone.  We retain the flexibility in our IEP to return to OT if we see regression and I was very comfortable with that.

Regarding the focus and social issues, we worked with school nurse to administer medication at the right time of day.  She is discreet and my child never feels ostracized about interrupting the school day to take medication.  We also utilized the in school psychologist, Dr. Leventhal, who observed some social difficulties my child had and created a social skills group to empower better interaction amongst peers. At some point, almost every kid in my child's class attended the social skills group as a guest and they never knew the real deal behind the process.  It was a major boost of confidence for my child!  Dr. Leventhal visits with my child once per week, but often pops in class to observe or watches on the playground to make sure my child is not self-isolating.

I really can't say enough good things about the entire special needs team at Janney.  I am amazed at their resources, which also includes a psychologist, in addition to the full time nurse, social worker, speech therapists and 
OT.  I also appreciate the fact that the team shares information with one another to optimize the work my child is doing, rather than working in their own silos.  We looked at a number of private schools that did not rival these resources unless the school was a designated special needs school and I didn't think my child really needed a full time special needs environment.

A previous poster mentioned that Dr. Wood, the Special Needs Coordinator, is an acquired taste.  I understand how one could come to that conclusion, however, it should not deter you from seeking the best for your child.  If you are clear and persistent about what you need for your child and if you are willing to stay in communication to cooperate with the teachers and professionals at the school, Janney can absolutely meet and will likely exceed your needs.  Like any school, the professionals at Janney are busy serving lots of kids and dealing with stressed out parents who are navigating difficult and unchartered territory with kids who are not "typical".  If you are not getting what you need from Dr. Wood (and I am not saying you won't), talk to the Principal or the Assistant Principal directly.  They are both straight forward, extremely committed to the success of every child at Janney and have been a pleasure to work with as we've taken the IEP process one year at a time.   It takes a lot of work and patience to navigate this process, but if you believe in your child, Janney is one of the best places I've seen for successfully integrating children with special needs into the entire school community.  Hope this helps and best of luck to you! [/quote]

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