Anonymous wrote:Hi OP,
My child was at the children's school/reed school in the special ed class last year and there were two children who age-wise should have been in K but were in the four year old class instead. (It was a great program, btw, if you wanted to check it out.) There seemed to be a wide range in terms of the SN kids.
Anyway, it seems like Arlington doesn't have a problem with it and if you think its the best fit for your son (to start late), why not?

OP again - I just checked out The Children's School, but according to the APS website, it's only for children of APS employees. Is that correct? Also to 15:01 poster - APS is telling us he has to go to K next year.

To 13:11 poster - aren't SN kids eligible to stay in school until they are 22? If so, does it matter when they get an extra year? My thought is that earlier is better, given the importance of early intervention (my son had autism). And are they only entitled to be held back once? For example, if my child can't fulfill the reqm'ts for HS graduation, can't he repeat a year then (as well as now)?

Hi OP,
My child was at the children's school/reed school in the special ed class last year and there were two children who age-wise should have been in K but were in the four year old class instead. (It was a great program, btw, if you wanted to check it out.) There seemed to be a wide range in terms of the SN kids.
Anyway, it seems like Arlington doesn't have a problem with it and if you think its the best fit for your son (to start late), why not?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you don't sign the IEP, what does that mean for the year you DO want him to start K? That is, will the IEP lapse and you'll then be forced to go through the whole process of obtaining one all over again? If so, there's no way I wouldn't sign the IEP.

We are in FCPS and yes I do know that it can work, but it is not necessarily easy or straight forward, Good luck and get an advocate if you really want the child to stay behind that year.

Lastly, it is very hard to know the future and what track your child will be on long-term. I am referring to diploma vs. modified diploma vs. academy. You may very well need this year that you will use up repeating kindergarten in middle school or high school for job training or trying to get the to pass SOLs or high school to get graduation requirements in. When I have discussed my son's situation with an advocate, she cautioned me not to use up this year on kindergareten/ preschool but to save it for when I will really need it in possibly middle school, high school, job training.

Anonymous wrote:Since your child has an Iep, you have the right to no agree to his placement. We are in fcps and another child I know in a similar situation went to private preschool for the year with the plan to go back into public for k. Essentially, parent s of kids who are not on Ieps can red shirt. Parent of kids whose kids have Ieps and really need the school services don't hav the option or at least it does non come easy. If u strongly disagree with the Iep placEment, do not sign the Iep. See what happens... I think your current Iep will be a stay put one hen and your child may be offered another year of preschool.

OP here - we would like to keep him in his pre-k class in APS for one more year. He is one of the most (if not the most) delayed children in his class, but he has made some decent progress this year, so we would really like him to be in the same class, which is ABA focused (the K-2 class is not), with the same teacher who has gotten to know him. Because he is nonverbal, it takes a long time for any teacher to really be able to work with him.

For the poster who suggested not signing the IEP - have you heard that working for anyone?

Thanks to everyone for your responses.

Since your child has an Iep, you have the right to no agree to his placement. We are in fcps and another child I know in a similar situation went to private preschool for the year with the plan to go back into public for k. Essentially, parent s of kids who are not on Ieps can red shirt. Parent of kids whose kids have Ieps and really need the school services don't hav the option or at least it does non come easy. If u strongly disagree with the Iep placEment, do not sign the Iep. See what happens... I think your current Iep will be a stay put one hen and your child may be offered another year of preschool.

Wow, this is a tough situation.

16:54 is right that Virginia cannot mandate your child go to school at age 5, and plenty of parents hold back children that are not ready.

But APS holds a lot of cards and your placement may not be exactly what you'd like in a year. There are strong policy reasons why red shirts are disfavored by public school systems, the most important being that some poor children may be withheld out of neglect rather than a parent's careful decision.

If you are asking if your child is guaranteed to get back into the K-2 classroom the next year, I don't think you are going to get it. But I'd like to think that if next year that class was the most appropriate for DC, they would place DC there regardless if DC was held out for a year.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP - It's not that I'm afraid of the older children hurting my son, it's that I can't see how a teacher can teach multiple children aged 5-8 at the same time. I assume the older kids might be reading, writing etc., while kids like my son aren't anywhere close to that. How can the teacher conduct lessons with kids of varying ages?

I doubt you'll find any 8-year olds in Kindergarten. There will be some who may be turning 7 during the school year, but even those probably wouldn't turn 7 until springtime.

This is OP - It's not that I'm afraid of the older children hurting my son, it's that I can't see how a teacher can teach multiple children aged 5-8 at the same time. I assume the older kids might be reading, writing etc., while kids like my son aren't anywhere close to that. How can the teacher conduct lessons with kids of varying ages?

Anonymous wrote:Btw, I have posted this same question on the Special Needs forum, but I'd like to hear what APS does with typically-developing kids who just make the cutoff.

Thanks again,
OP

My typically developing kid with a September birthday started on time. It is APS's stance that kindergarten is for 5 year-olds. You can't be forced to send your kid on time, but once your child is enrolled, the school makes decisions about what is age- and developmentally appropriate.

Is there a student in particular you're worried about? Maybe if you raised those concerns with the special ed teachers, they could do something to reassure you. But otherwise, you need to trust that the teacher will be able to manage the classroom.

Bear in mind that in three years (or four, if you were to hold back) there would probably be a parent who's sure that your child is a threat to her child's well-being. Does that seem fair?

I think it is similar in FCPS, when county services are involved, they do seem to say you have to send on time. I will say, though age was not an issue for my middle ds who has social/emotional delays and an IEP, I was terrified about him starting K in FCPS (he is a Dec birthday), the more mature peers have done wonders for his development.

Btw, I have posted this same question on the Special Needs forum, but I'd like to hear what APS does with typically-developing kids who just make the cutoff.

Thanks again,
OP

Thanks for your response. My son does go to an Arlington public school - he's in a special ed preschool class, but for the purpose of this question, he could be in a Montessori preschool class - the issue is that he's already in public school, which seems to give them the right to tell us that he can't do another year of preschool.

It's called redshirting to hold your kid back and there are forum topics about it all over this board and all over the internet. As for your particular school, I don't know the particulars, but it sounds like it is a private school.

My son is currently in a special-needs preschool class in an Arlington public school. He turns 5 on Sept. 13 (right before the Sept 30 cutoff) - are we allowed to hold him back in preschool one year? Not only would he be one of the youngest kids in a new class class, he'd have to be in a K-2 class because that's all they offer for his disability. I can't imagine my little guy in the same classroom as second graders.

Has anyone held their child back? We're being told we can't do it.

Thanks..