Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, too, hate the "special needs child" excuse. Like that trumps everything. And the language itself. The child isn't "special needs." The child has special needs. Someone wanted to shut down the thread because she or he has a child with special needs. Don't put everyone into the same box. We had a good experience. It wasn't perfect but no one, as far as I know, had a perfect experience. What we did have were a principal and teachers who worked hard for us to give the best experience for our child that we could given the circumstances. There is no way we would have supported our child going into school bevore being vaccinated and before teachers were vaccinated. Our principal and teachers understood that and worked with us. I give them a huge amount of credit for that and for working as hard for us as they did. Of course, I also think it helped that we weren't a-holes with them, we didn't treat them like the enemy, and we treated them with the respect and dignity that all people deserve, most especially the people entrusted with teaching our child. In return, they went above and beyond the call of duty, and delivered far more than any reasonable expectation we might have had.

This is a +1 for us, too.

These comments attacking special needs parents whose children have suffered because of ACPS’s failures are shameful. Of the things I hate about ACPS, I hate parents likes these who attack parents whose children who have suffered just because they have been lucky enough to avoid ACPS’s pitfalls.

We are not engaged in victimization. We are trying to save our children from harm.

The special needs parent is the one who threw the first punch, babe. Go back and read the posts. You don't get to swing first and then cry foul when someone swings back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I, too, hate the "special needs child" excuse. Like that trumps everything. And the language itself. The child isn't "special needs." The child has special needs. Someone wanted to shut down the thread because she or he has a child with special needs. Don't put everyone into the same box. We had a good experience. It wasn't perfect but no one, as far as I know, had a perfect experience. What we did have were a principal and teachers who worked hard for us to give the best experience for our child that we could given the circumstances. There is no way we would have supported our child going into school bevore being vaccinated and before teachers were vaccinated. Our principal and teachers understood that and worked with us. I give them a huge amount of credit for that and for working as hard for us as they did. Of course, I also think it helped that we weren't a-holes with them, we didn't treat them like the enemy, and we treated them with the respect and dignity that all people deserve, most especially the people entrusted with teaching our child. In return, they went above and beyond the call of duty, and delivered far more than any reasonable expectation we might have had.

This is a +1 for us, too.

These comments attacking special needs parents whose children have suffered because of ACPS’s failures are shameful. Of the things I hate about ACPS, I hate parents likes these who attack parents whose children who have suffered just because they have been lucky enough to avoid ACPS’s pitfalls.

We are not engaged in victimization. We are trying to save our children from harm.

Anonymous wrote:I, too, hate the "special needs child" excuse. Like that trumps everything. And the language itself. The child isn't "special needs." The child has special needs. Someone wanted to shut down the thread because she or he has a child with special needs. Don't put everyone into the same box. We had a good experience. It wasn't perfect but no one, as far as I know, had a perfect experience. What we did have were a principal and teachers who worked hard for us to give the best experience for our child that we could given the circumstances. There is no way we would have supported our child going into school bevore being vaccinated and before teachers were vaccinated. Our principal and teachers understood that and worked with us. I give them a huge amount of credit for that and for working as hard for us as they did. Of course, I also think it helped that we weren't a-holes with them, we didn't treat them like the enemy, and we treated them with the respect and dignity that all people deserve, most especially the people entrusted with teaching our child. In return, they went above and beyond the call of duty, and delivered far more than any reasonable expectation we might have had.

This is a +1 for us, too.

I, too, hate the "special needs child" excuse. Like that trumps everything. And the language itself. The child isn't "special needs." The child has special needs. Someone wanted to shut down the thread because she or he has a child with special needs. Don't put everyone into the same box. We had a good experience. It wasn't perfect but no one, as far as I know, had a perfect experience. What we did have were a principal and teachers who worked hard for us to give the best experience for our child that we could given the circumstances. There is no way we would have supported our child going into school bevore being vaccinated and before teachers were vaccinated. Our principal and teachers understood that and worked with us. I give them a huge amount of credit for that and for working as hard for us as they did. Of course, I also think it helped that we weren't a-holes with them, we didn't treat them like the enemy, and we treated them with the respect and dignity that all people deserve, most especially the people entrusted with teaching our child. In return, they went above and beyond the call of duty, and delivered far more than any reasonable expectation we might have had.

<end of thread>

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:x1000 for the PP. I completely agree. There are many families who are very happy with ACPS. We are one of them. Our kids had a great experience during Distance Learning and they are thrilled to be back in school. As a PP indicated, we've had mostly great teachers. Sure there have been a few duds but nothing harmful and nothing that warranted a change in classes for our kids. Instead we focused on helping our kids roll with it and keep on learning. We've been very happy with our experiences.

I am happy for you. If my special needs child had had a great experience during distance learning I probably wouldn’t have needed to quit my job so I could homeschool.

We, too, have a child with an IEP who was enrolled in ACPS during Distance Learning. Notice that I didn't lead with this because ... it doesn't define us. The fact that your situation was different from ours doesn't in any way mean that our family couldn't or didn't have a good experience. I realize you are seeing validation for your supposed victimization but it sounds like you found a solution that worked. Good for you. In our case, the school system served our family well, "special needs child" and all (ugh, I mean, what kind of parent says that!?!), and I am happy to say that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:x1000 for the PP. I completely agree. There are many families who are very happy with ACPS. We are one of them. Our kids had a great experience during Distance Learning and they are thrilled to be back in school. As a PP indicated, we've had mostly great teachers. Sure there have been a few duds but nothing harmful and nothing that warranted a change in classes for our kids. Instead we focused on helping our kids roll with it and keep on learning. We've been very happy with our experiences.

I am happy for you. If my special needs child had had a great experience during distance learning I probably wouldn’t have needed to quit my job so I could homeschool.

I am so sorry. ACPS “distance learning” was horrible for my special needs child as well.

Anonymous wrote:x1000 for the PP. I completely agree. There are many families who are very happy with ACPS. We are one of them. Our kids had a great experience during Distance Learning and they are thrilled to be back in school. As a PP indicated, we've had mostly great teachers. Sure there have been a few duds but nothing harmful and nothing that warranted a change in classes for our kids. Instead we focused on helping our kids roll with it and keep on learning. We've been very happy with our experiences.

I am happy for you. If my special needs child had had a great experience during distance learning I probably wouldn’t have needed to quit my job so I could homeschool.

We like the teachers at our elementary school and many of the parents (though plenty of them are snobby it's easy enough to ignore them.) I definitely have my complaints about the school but the community is great.

My oldest is in middle school now and I have been surprised at how great things are going. I was very nervous about the size of the school, but my kid is happy, the teachers she has are great, and the work is challenging her.

x1000 for the PP. I completely agree. There are many families who are very happy with ACPS. We are one of them. Our kids had a great experience during Distance Learning and they are thrilled to be back in school. As a PP indicated, we've had mostly great teachers. Sure there have been a few duds but nothing harmful and nothing that warranted a change in classes for our kids. Instead we focused on helping our kids roll with it and keep on learning. We've been very happy with our experiences.

I also like the walkable neighborhood aspect, the diversity of culture and languages of the student. IN the Dual Language program, there are actually many kids that speak spanish and still even speak Spanish to each other which is very rare and great for Spanish levels. I agree with the tech (one to one) aspect and the resources including in the arts.

I'm a PP, and while I believe there is some cliques among PTAC and some of the elementary schools, I was never part of it. It's a reality that people with a complaint are far more likely to post than people who are satisfied (the relationship forum isn't filled with people in happy marriages). So while I acknowledge your have your perspective and your right to express it, recognize that there are plenty of satisfied ACPS families who are just living their lives, and not seeking a forum to vent their frustrations.

My kids are recent graduates, now in their first choice colleges.
We were in ACPS K-12
We loved:
The academics. Yes. My kids had a very rigorous education. They are thriving in college and ACPS prepared them well.
The wider perspective that came with the high diversity.
It's highly resourced. Tech, musical instruments, etc.
The teachers. Sure there were a couple of duds, but overall my kids had great teachers, many of whom they still remember fondly and are even in contact with. The teachers truly care and are passionate.
Huge range of courses and extracurricular at high school level. I know some people hate how big the high school.is, but it's able to support an amazing range of courses and clubs.
As another PP mentioned... lots of school pride. My kids are genuinely proud to be ACPS graduates, and were proud to represent their school.

In the sum, the answer is nothing. The actual question is what do I not despise about ACPS.

My child had some good teachers and staff members. In the end, those staff members were hamstring by administration that does not have academic performance (or accommodating special needs) as a priority.

I'm so sick of the people bashing ACPS. I'm very critical, but there is a lot of good too.

I'll go:
School spirit. I love the school pride.

Small, walkable neighborhood schools.

Teachers and building principals who seem to care.

A small, close knit community for my children.

My children are in elementary but already through ASA and library and rec programs they've met kids from all different backgrounds. Diversity is key, though at our school, economic diversity is challenging. We invite kids and families to our home and party and they do not attend. But I really do value the diverse friendships my kids have made and the different cultures they have been exposed to and are friends with for the past few years.