What district do you live in now? Does the younger one have an IEP yet?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you'll find all of the NoVa school systems similar in both positives and negatives. The experience you have will be school, teacher and grade dependent. Those can change in any given year so one school may be fabulous/terrible one year and terrible/fabulous the next. My advice is to focus on location - what will give you the best commute, easier access to service providers and is within your budget.

OP here. Thanks. I appreciate this. We are somewhat flexible on location bc we both have flexible jobs and service provision is plentiful around falls church/mclean/Arlington. I have heard negative things about Fairfax and Arlington only due to the sheer sizes of these districts. Any insights there?

You'd like FCC better, partly because parents have a lot more input and it's easier to get to anyone in any position in the district. Also, services are high quality. Some have a tough time finding a place to live they can afford though, high prices and low inventory.

Louise Archer elementary school in Vienna is really great with SNs and IEPs. They give services freely, never have demand/ask/beg. Sometimes I wondered if kid was getting too much support with an aide that would scribe. It also is an AAP school if either of your kids needs gifted services.

Anonymous wrote:I have been having a good experience at Terraset ES. Principal was a SPED teacher and creates a very welcoming environment. Also, it has a longstanding local AAP program which could be really beneficial for a 2E child that has ASD or ADHD.

The problem is that principals can change and a bad one can quickly change things, especially since there’s a shortage of special Ed teachers, therapists, speech therapists, etc. and they will all move to another school with the wrong principal.

We live in Fairfax and loved that our two boys would be together at our neighborhood elementary. But when our autistic son started kindergarten, it turned out that he needed the support of an enhanced autism classroom, and the one at our school was full. So despite all of our plans, our boys are at two different schools. I think it’s worked out for the best for us - this second school is much smaller and a better fit for our younger son. But I share our experience just to say that things can change in ways you might not expect. Also, in Fairfax, you’ll also need to think about whether your older child might be eligible for Advanced Academic Placement - that might impact your school choice.

Anonymous wrote:I would find the best schools for each of them and not try to keep them together at a school that might not work for either.

OP here. Totally understand what you are saying but since public school is the aim (bc our autistic DC will be screened out of private) I'm not sure that's possible.

Anonymous wrote:I think you'll find all of the NoVa school systems similar in both positives and negatives. The experience you have will be school, teacher and grade dependent. Those can change in any given year so one school may be fabulous/terrible one year and terrible/fabulous the next. My advice is to focus on location - what will give you the best commute, easier access to service providers and is within your budget.

OP here. Thanks. I appreciate this. We are somewhat flexible on location bc we both have flexible jobs and service provision is plentiful around falls church/mclean/Arlington. I have heard negative things about Fairfax and Arlington only due to the sheer sizes of these districts. Any insights there?

Anonymous wrote:I would find the best schools for each of them and not try to keep them together at a school that might not work for either.

How would that work in FCPS?

I would find the best schools for each of them and not try to keep them together at a school that might not work for either.

I have been having a good experience at Terraset ES. Principal was a SPED teacher and creates a very welcoming environment. Also, it has a longstanding local AAP program which could be really beneficial for a 2E child that has ASD or ADHD.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you'll find all of the NoVa school systems similar in both positives and negatives. The experience you have will be school, teacher and grade dependent. Those can change in any given year so one school may be fabulous/terrible one year and terrible/fabulous the next. My advice is to focus on location - what will give you the best commute, easier access to service providers and is within your budget.

This is true and such good advice.

This is the best advice....In our experience, Western Loudoun ES are all pretty good in terms of an IEP support and small class sizes. We have to drive a bit to get special private services, but only 20 mins each way.

Anonymous wrote:I think you'll find all of the NoVa school systems similar in both positives and negatives. The experience you have will be school, teacher and grade dependent. Those can change in any given year so one school may be fabulous/terrible one year and terrible/fabulous the next. My advice is to focus on location - what will give you the best commute, easier access to service providers and is within your budget.

This is true and such good advice.

I think you'll find all of the NoVa school systems similar in both positives and negatives. The experience you have will be school, teacher and grade dependent. Those can change in any given year so one school may be fabulous/terrible one year and terrible/fabulous the next. My advice is to focus on location - what will give you the best commute, easier access to service providers and is within your budget.

Arlington public schools

We have one ND child (K next year) and one NT (2nd next year). We would love them to attend the same school... private not in our budget and the same school wouldn't meet their needs.

We have heard good things about Falls church public schools and Fairfax... does anyone have any input on how their ND kids are doing in these settings?

Our ND child is just lovely... sweet, talkative (in his own way). He is in speech therapy and OT. Loves being around other kids but doesn't play directly with them apart from his older sibling. I assume his speech will be an ongoing need for Edyta support.