I taught special education in Baltimore County for several years before choosing to move to a different county. I can't speak about the Howard County schools specifically, but I will say that I would put my child in a HC school if my child had an IEP over Baltimore County any day! I've worked with enough administrators over the years and on statewide projects to know that HC is much more progressive in the area of special education than Baltimore County.

OP - What special needs does your DC have?

I am a Howard County Resident and have chosen to send my very bright, ADHD, Dyslexic child to Compass Academy in Halethorpe Maryalnd. Compass is a brand new school this year and we have been very happy with it. They are in the midst of redoing thier web page (had a problem with the web hosting of thier first web site) thier new web site should be up and running in the next week or so at
http://www.compassacademymd.org/
current one is at
http://www.compass-academy.org/

They are planning an open house on Sunday 11 March.

We are DC transplants in Ruxton and really like it. Our home school is Riderwood which has a great reputation. My son has special needs (dyslexia) and we opted to send him to Odyssey School instead of Riderwood. Still, after meeting with an educational consultant about his case, we feel confident that Riderwood would have been a good option and that he could have succeeded there.

I am a school psychologist in Baltimore County. I do not have extensive experience with most of the schools in the very large county. However, if I had a child with special needs, I would feel comfortable having them attend the following schools:
Hillcrest Elementary
Catonsville Elementary
Westchester Elementary
Westowne Elementary
Halethorpe Elementary
Arbutus Elementary
Relay Elementary
Cromwell Valley
Oakleigh Elementary

Anonymous wrote:In general the schools in Towson are more crowded than the ones in Howard County. Howard also has some smaller schools most people with IEP children seem to be happy with Howard Schools. However, if you do not like your school, you do not have school choice, and will have to go to the BOE to get reassigned, which does not happen very often.

18:27 here. Thanks for the info. Can you identify the smaller schools people are happy with (or seem to be happy)? TIA.

In general the schools in Towson are more crowded than the ones in Howard County. Howard also has some smaller schools most people with IEP children seem to be happy with Howard Schools. However, if you do not like your school, you do not have school choice, and will have to go to the BOE to get reassigned, which does not happen very often.

Yes, I would agree that Towson is slightly more cityish than the more suburban Timonium area. But they are still both suburbs. Are you looking for a SFH with some land? If so, it might be a better bet to look in Timonium since Towson is more densely populated and the lots tend to be smaller.

I'm not the op but I am a special needs parent. We (and other special needs parents) often hear that Howard County is good for special needs kids (i.e., better than Montgomery County). But I don't have any definitive evidence of this. Others have posted about this on the special needs forum and I don't believe the threads ever got detailed info like what schools are good, etc.

Yes, my child already has an IEP and will be going in to 4th grade. My impression was that Dumbarton/Towson was a little more "urban" type population while Ridgely/Dulaney was more "suburban" but that both were very high caliber schools - correct? Our budget is in the $500-650K range so I think we should be able to find something in any of those areas, from what I have seen from browsing?

All 3 Towson ES are excellent although I can't speak to the special ed programs at each one. The homes in Ruxton are more $$$ than those in Stoneleigh and the W. Towson area. What is your budget? I believe they all feed into Dumbarton MS and Towson HS. As far as I know, Ridgely MS and Dulaney HS outrank the Towson middle and high schools in terms of test scores. Does you child already have an IEP? What grade will your child be in?

Specifically in Towson we are looking at the Ruxton area and the Stoneleigh/Pinehurst areas, in Ellicott City we haven't gotten far enough in research for me to name specific areas. (So Riderwood, Stoneleigh or West Towson for elementary).

Thanks to both of you, we are relocating and deciding between those two areas, both have highly rated schools from elementary to high school. I have a child with a learning disability, so wondering if both baltimore county and howard county offer equally good support in that area and I guess looking for specific schools (elementary and up) with welcoming kids and teachers (this move will be a tough transition) and good academics but not a cutthroat competitive atmosphere. sorry to be so vague but hope that is helpful?

I can help with the Towson area but not Ellicott City. What info are you looking for?

Ellicott City can be area specific- I'm in Howard County and can answer any specific questions.

Can't help on Towson though.

Wondering if anyone on here has comparative knowledge about Baltimore suburbs - specifically Towson area schools vs. Ellicott City area schools. Both are rated high but wondering about relative "character" of the different areas?