Does your son at Swanson have dyslexia?

My son attends Swanson and has had a great experience - he has a Section 504 plan and the teachers have been great with his accommodations. The counselor will stay with him all 3 years which is nice transition. We've been quite pleased!

I have a 9th grader who attended Williamsburg. It definitely used to be the case that some (not all) people at that school were untrained or uncaring about special ed issues. I had to sit in more than one meeting and teach them how to do their jobs. But the management of the school changed over the past year (the principal left a year ago after conflict with the superintendant in a well-publicized huff and the head of counseling retired over the summer), so who knows now? It used to be that Swanson had a rep for being warmer and more caring for special ed kids, but that school also got a new principal this summer ... so who knows? The new Williamsburg principal had been the principal at the middle school in Falls Church City ... so I guess whatever you used to hear about that school may now be true about Williamsburg? Anyway, just to say that you shouldn't rely on received wisdom about Swanson vs. Williamsburg... good luck.

That is great to heat you are getting such good services and such an early age. There are so many bad stories out there!

My second grader (in Arlington) is dyslexic and is receiving SpEd services. I know this doesn't help you, as you're looking for middle schools, but FWIW we receive phenomenal services. That said, I think a lot of the things that make me most happy are directly related to the lead SpEd teacher at our school (Nottingham) so I don't know how well that would transfer to other places or if what she does is just "her" and not the system.

That said, good luck, and I'll be watching this thread with interest to see if anyone has anything, positive or negative, to say about our future middle school (Williamsburg).

Thanks. I already did post there. Someone there suggested I post here!

You might want to cross post on the special needs forum.

We have a 13 year old child with dyslexia who is currently in the 6th grade. We are new to the area and are trying to figure out what middle school would provide the best special ed services for dyslexia to include both tutoring and accommodations. Has anyone had any experience with the special ed departments in the Arlington or Falls Church middle schools? I have heard the rumor that maybe Swanson and Mary Ellen Henderson have good special ed departments