Reply to Osse blessing of DCPS private placement

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am a new poster on this thread, trying to figure out how to navigate the non-public school placement process. Our son's DC charter school has agreed he should have a private placement, so we won't have to fight them. We have been hesitant about putting him a special ed school b/c we value inclusion and he's generally been happy in school and with peers. But as he gets older and is several grade levels behind we're thinking a non-public school might be better--BUT, it's very hard to say without actually visiting those schools. We applied to KTS privately but were rejected b/c he is behind grade level.

We haven't applied to other schools yet, b/c many of them say you can't apply or visit until they have a referral from the school system. But, as a prior PP noted, we don't really want to agree to start the referral process without a better idea of which schools we'd like to send our son to, & whether they'd accept him and have space. So, how do people do this?

FWIW, my son is in 5th grade and has several diagnoses, including ASD with moderate intellectual disability, CP, and speech apraxia. [/quote]

Kennedy Krieger. They're one of the few schools in the area that can take kids who require academic, social, AND medical support. 
Before our final hearing on placement, I reached out to all the admissions directors for the schools we wanted and provided a one page "executive summary" of my son's needs and behaviors. I asked if he sounded like a fit based on the information provided and if they said yes, I told them to watch their email and I'd make sure they got an application package from OSSE. I went to every open house, virtual or otherwise, that I could. Doing that legwork to make yourself familiar to the admissions directors will help a lot. We were told by OSSE that the school we wanted was full and wouldn't consider my son. They even tried to discourage us from applying, saying that none of the "good fit" schools were available. And plenty of people on this board said we didn't have a shot, but they made room for us. We got into all the schools we wanted, including the "full" ones. If your kid and family are a good fit and they want you there badly enough, they will at least try to make room for you. Don't let OSSE or your district's equivalent tell you what's available. They want you to stay at your public so they don't have to pay.    [/quote]

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