Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had my child's placement meeting yesterday in MCPS. The whole process took about 6 months from the time he was identified as potentially needing an IEP to placement. During this time, the staff at the school were encouraging, patient, kind, and communicative. I felt that we were all in this together and whenever I had a question or concern, the principal and the SPED were always happy to meet with me ad hoc. When we finally got to the point of needing central office to be involved, the school called me in for a "pre IEP" meeting to make sure that we all were on the same page and together we could present a united front to Central for what we felt was best for my child. I never felt that the school was trying to push my child out and the staff made it a point to tell me that if for some reason things did not go as expected, I should appeal and they would continue to work with him in our home school.

I feel like the principal spearheaded the whole process beautifully. I would like to send a letter of appreciation to the principal and cc their boss. Does anyone know who the principals report to or who I should cc on my letter?

You may want to make sure that your letter doesn't have an unintended effect with your principal's boss. Those actions, while clearly the right thing to do for your kid, may not be viewed the same way by cluster supervisors.

I'd keep it very general -- and say how professional and supportive of all students the principal is.

I totally agree, especially the comment about the pre-meeting. MCPS is notorious for holding pre-meetings of staff to ensure they come out of meetings victorious. I would not put that in the letter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had my child's placement meeting yesterday in MCPS. The whole process took about 6 months from the time he was identified as potentially needing an IEP to placement. During this time, the staff at the school were encouraging, patient, kind, and communicative. I felt that we were all in this together and whenever I had a question or concern, the principal and the SPED were always happy to meet with me ad hoc. When we finally got to the point of needing central office to be involved, the school called me in for a "pre IEP" meeting to make sure that we all were on the same page and together we could present a united front to Central for what we felt was best for my child. I never felt that the school was trying to push my child out and the staff made it a point to tell me that if for some reason things did not go as expected, I should appeal and they would continue to work with him in our home school.

I feel like the principal spearheaded the whole process beautifully. I would like to send a letter of appreciation to the principal and cc their boss. Does anyone know who the principals report to or who I should cc on my letter?

You may want to make sure that your letter doesn't have an unintended effect with your principal's boss. Those actions, while clearly the right thing to do for your kid, may not be viewed the same way by cluster supervisors.

I'd keep it very general -- and say how professional and supportive of all students the principal is.

+1
In our area they encourage principals to keep the number of kids with IEPs down to save money. Going to central sounds like he was helping you with private placement which some in MCPS would see as a big waste of money.

Impressive! Definitely write the letter because such support and encouragement in MCPS is rare. You want to reinforce it. Every so often you meet staff that are willing to buck the system. What school?

Anonymous wrote:I had my child's placement meeting yesterday in MCPS. The whole process took about 6 months from the time he was identified as potentially needing an IEP to placement. During this time, the staff at the school were encouraging, patient, kind, and communicative. I felt that we were all in this together and whenever I had a question or concern, the principal and the SPED were always happy to meet with me ad hoc. When we finally got to the point of needing central office to be involved, the school called me in for a "pre IEP" meeting to make sure that we all were on the same page and together we could present a united front to Central for what we felt was best for my child. I never felt that the school was trying to push my child out and the staff made it a point to tell me that if for some reason things did not go as expected, I should appeal and they would continue to work with him in our home school.

I feel like the principal spearheaded the whole process beautifully. I would like to send a letter of appreciation to the principal and cc their boss. Does anyone know who the principals report to or who I should cc on my letter?

You may want to make sure that your letter doesn't have an unintended effect with your principal's boss. Those actions, while clearly the right thing to do for your kid, may not be viewed the same way by cluster supervisors.

I'd keep it very general -- and say how professional and supportive of all students the principal is.

Anonymous wrote:If you check your school's "At a Glance" report, you should see who the asst. superintendent is. That's your principal's boss

Thank you

If you check your school's "At a Glance" report, you should see who the asst. superintendent is. That's your principal's boss

I had my child's placement meeting yesterday in MCPS. The whole process took about 6 months from the time he was identified as potentially needing an IEP to placement. During this time, the staff at the school were encouraging, patient, kind, and communicative. I felt that we were all in this together and whenever I had a question or concern, the principal and the SPED were always happy to meet with me ad hoc. When we finally got to the point of needing central office to be involved, the school called me in for a "pre IEP" meeting to make sure that we all were on the same page and together we could present a united front to Central for what we felt was best for my child. I never felt that the school was trying to push my child out and the staff made it a point to tell me that if for some reason things did not go as expected, I should appeal and they would continue to work with him in our home school.

I feel like the principal spearheaded the whole process beautifully. I would like to send a letter of appreciation to the principal and cc their boss. Does anyone know who the principals report to or who I should cc on my letter?