Overall Siena has been a good fit for our DC who started in 4th grade. DC was too tired after school to engage fully in OG tutoring and also suffered from self-esteem issues because of comments from and comparisons to NT peers. We will re-evaluate at each transition point--MS and HS--on whether to stay.

Attending a small school can be really rough socially. And not always fully address remediation.

As a PP pointed out, unfortunately there is no perfect school.

I wish we had gotten a great tutor early on and stuck with our public.

DC is in 3rd year at Siena. The school has pros and cons. It seems that they have a hard time keeping kids after middle school so it ends up being small. Also, because kids come from all over there really isn't much socializing outside of school. DC misses the social network from previous school.

Seeing if I can revive this thread...OP, did you end up sending your child to Siena? The profile sounds exactly like our DC (very happy, socially doing great...just not keeping up despite lots of accommodations, tutoring, etc.) - we are considering Siena for 4th grade and would love to hear about experience. Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:Anyone start their DC at Siena in 4th? Would love to hear more about late elementary at Siena.

siena doesn’t start until 4th grade thus the only ES experience at Siena is the late elementary experience.

Anyone start their DC at Siena in 4th? Would love to hear more about late elementary at Siena.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for the thoughtful responses. I just hear such wonderful things about Siena . . . but still hard to switch, or know what's best -- for DC, and us! Thanks.

I would strongly look to Siena for a tour and a typical day "lay out". There appeared to us when we toured 2 years ago that there is a bunch of going from different classroom "module" to "module" (Homeroom/language Arts/Maker/math/Science/Typing/lunch/Language arts again/gym/etc.) each lasting 45 minutes or so. I didn't hear any school bells, so I saw lots of kids waiting in hall for one module to leave and another to begin. Maybe it was just an off day?

OP here. Thank you for the thoughtful responses. I just hear such wonderful things about Siena . . . but still hard to switch, or know what's best -- for DC, and us! Thanks.

Anonymous wrote:Hi, we are considering moving DC to Siena. DC is very happy, socially, at current school. With tutoring and a lot of support from us and the school, DC is hanging in there (dyslexia/ADHD). . . but it is a lot of work to keep DC doing just ok and I don't know that I can keep it up, or that DC can in the long term. (Familiar story, I know!). We have visited Siena and talked to many parents, and all I hear are glowing remarks. DC will visit soon. Has anyone made the switch and regretted it? Wished you stuck it out at current school and just made it work as long as you could? Found the school too small? Thanks in advance!

Wow we are totally in the same boat as you!!!!! DC just loves her small school (switched to private after 3 years of PS) and really is ingrained there socially and academically. DC knows the routine of school, and the school is intimately familiar with DC and her idiosyncrasies. DC has dyslexia/dysgraphia and moderate anxiety so any change is going to be HUGE!!!! Her current school is willing to accommodate her differences, but not sure they have the resources/training/learning style of a Siena. She is getting OG support 4x a week and seemed to be making strides. We talked about a potential school change which caused DC to cry and stress/freak out. We told DC that maybe not this year, but in the future, DC school work may become so hard (with DC and us being "maxed out") that we need to look for a different school. Sigh... We just don't know what to do. Switching from our small school to Siena will be different for how their day appears to be laid out.

DC is at Siena. As a family, it is one of the best decisions we have ever made. DC is very happy at Siena. It is a wonderful school.

Anonymous wrote:11:57

How did you get accepted into an MCPS magnet for middle school if your child wasn't in an MCPS elementary school for 4th and 5th?

You do not have to attend MCPS school to apply to a magnet, you merely have to be a county resident. At least that is how it was several years ago. FWIW, DC had attended MCPS ES in early years, but we withdrew after great difficulty with our MCPS ES which was unable/unwilling to provide special instruction. We explored Barnesly GT/LD ES program but opted for Siena instead because MCPS had been an utter failure for 4 years.

11:57

How did you get accepted into an MCPS magnet for middle school if your child wasn't in an MCPS elementary school for 4th and 5th?

Not OP, but thank you for your post. My son is likely going to go a smaller private next year. He loved both schools he visited but on the way home said he didn't want to leave his friends at his current public school. As he fell asleep last night, out of the blue, his last words were "I don't want to change schools because I have a lot of friends". Sadly, I know that of his classmates only two would consider him friends. Kids are mean, sometimes without realizing it

Being unique is hard.

We loved Siena. Moved there in 4th grade. But, then moved back to MS magnet w/ IEP. The experience in 4th/5th was transformative. YMMV on how long you want/need to stay there. DC can still maintain current school/neighborhood friendships in other ways and make new ones. One thing I recognized when we left the home school is that the friendships that DC had weren't really friendships. We knew kids from the neighborhood and the sports team, but that didn't equate to really having friends that accepted DC.

One thing I recognize, having left Siena, is that DC's reading and writing really did not develop at all in MCPS despite the IEP and supposed "special instruction". In many ways it would have been better for DC to stay thru HS at Siena. I am worried that he does not have the functional reading/writing skills for college and job. So, we have to consider how to go back and get private tutoring for that.

No school is perfect. Siena has trade offs. It is small. There is a sports team program that many kids participate in, but it doesn't offer the breadth that a public school might.

FWIW, DC himself recognized that Siena would be great for him after a visit. The relief he felt at being at a place that understood how he needed to learn and that he wasn't stupid -- well, that was palpable. Had it not been for the MS magnet offer, we probably would have stayed at least thru MS and then considered what to do about HS.

Siena at the HS level has a great writing program -- kids learn to write a 10 pp paper, which isn't even taught in public school to anyone. Kids also have time to explore internship options and learn job-readiness skills. So, there are plenty of reasons to stay there.

The choice you make now doesn't have to be a choice until college.

Hi, we are considering moving DC to Siena. DC is very happy, socially, at current school. With tutoring and a lot of support from us and the school, DC is hanging in there (dyslexia/ADHD). . . but it is a lot of work to keep DC doing just ok and I don't know that I can keep it up, or that DC can in the long term. (Familiar story, I know!). We have visited Siena and talked to many parents, and all I hear are glowing remarks. DC will visit soon. Has anyone made the switch and regretted it? Wished you stuck it out at current school and just made it work as long as you could? Found the school too small? Thanks in advance!