Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Then you are in the wrong forum. Those MCPS schools do have parents who have an interest in the school community. You need to connect with them.

Why on Earth would OP, who is a parent of a child attending a public school in MCPS, asking a question about an MCOS school, not belong in this forum?

Read the question. They are looking for community in a school not covered by this forum. If they want to connect with their community then connect where their community already exists. These aren't new schools.

OP clarified that her kid is at a County Wide PUBLC school. She is new to this and used the wrong term. That doesn't mean she's not welcome here.

As someone who has taught in special ed schools, and had a kid with a disability in MCPS, while there are absolutely parents who want community, there are also barriers that make forming community hard, particularly that many kids are coming from a distance, and that many parents are dealing with more challenges and more schools than at other schools, and that schools have concerns about confidentiality. If OP says that there isn't an obvious way to connect with other parents, then it's probably likely that there isn't, and helping her think of ways to overcome the challenges and build connections makes sense.

This is a huge factor. Parents in self-contained classrooms have shared that it is very difficult to get a class list, for example. Many points of connections that parents of typically developing kids take for granted are not available to families in these schools. If you child is non-speaking, if they can't reliably pass a note to another child, if teachers worry about sharing information with other parents, it can seem daunting to find and build community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Then you are in the wrong forum. Those MCPS schools do have parents who have an interest in the school community. You need to connect with them.

Why on Earth would OP, who is a parent of a child attending a public school in MCPS, asking a question about an MCOS school, not belong in this forum?

Read the question. They are looking for community in a school not covered by this forum. If they want to connect with their community then connect where their community already exists. These aren't new schools.

OP clarified that her kid is at a County Wide PUBLC school. She is new to this and used the wrong term. That doesn't mean she's not welcome here.

As someone who has taught in special ed schools, and had a kid with a disability in MCPS, while there are absolutely parents who want community, there are also barriers that make forming community hard, particularly that many kids are coming from a distance, and that many parents are dealing with more challenges and more schools than at other schools, and that schools have concerns about confidentiality. If OP says that there isn't an obvious way to connect with other parents, then it's probably likely that there isn't, and helping her think of ways to overcome the challenges and build connections makes sense.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Then you are in the wrong forum. Those MCPS schools do have parents who have an interest in the school community. You need to connect with them.

Why on Earth would OP, who is a parent of a child attending a public school in MCPS, asking a question about an MCOS school, not belong in this forum?

Read the question. They are looking for community in a school not covered by this forum. If they want to connect with their community then connect where their community already exists. These aren't new schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Then you are in the wrong forum. Those MCPS schools do have parents who have an interest in the school community. You need to connect with them.

They are looking at ideas on how to do it. You don't need to be nasty. Ideally, MCCPTA would have included these schools with a PTA but they didn't. In order to connect them, they need a formal organization with insurance for liability reasons.

Nothing nasty about pointing people to communities that already exist. These school already do have interested involved parents. MCCPTA doesn't create PTAs. No formal organization is required for parents to be actively involved in their community. These schools do have interested parents. There are forums where these parents connect. Wrong forum is not the place. Connect with the parents that already are involved.

If they want to fundraise and for liability reasons its best to have a PTA or PTO. MCCPTA does work with the schools to create the PTA and you need their approval/invitation to have your school join. Its sad they scream all their social justice, equity and inclusion but when it comes to some schools they are excluded.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Then you are in the wrong forum. Those MCPS schools do have parents who have an interest in the school community. You need to connect with them.

Why on Earth would OP, who is a parent of a child attending a public school in MCPS, asking a question about an MCOS school, not belong in this forum?

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea why people are being such jerks this morning. "Non public" is a common term that MCPS itself uses for special education programs that are not colocated with mainstream schools.

In terms of ideas, I like the playground meetup but it might depend on how many kids come on the school bus. A weekend park playdate is also a fun idea that I've seen done at schools where the kids were not all from the same neighborhood. Usually, the parents organized 3 or 4 over the course of the year, rotating between parks in different parts of the county.

Non-public schools:
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/dtecps/title1/schools-private.aspx

Public special schools:
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/special-education/special-schools/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Then you are in the wrong forum. Those MCPS schools do have parents who have an interest in the school community. You need to connect with them.

They are looking at ideas on how to do it. You don't need to be nasty. Ideally, MCCPTA would have included these schools with a PTA but they didn't. In order to connect them, they need a formal organization with insurance for liability reasons.

Nothing nasty about pointing people to communities that already exist. These school already do have interested involved parents. MCCPTA doesn't create PTAs. No formal organization is required for parents to be actively involved in their community. These schools do have interested parents. There are forums where these parents connect. Wrong forum is not the place. Connect with the parents that already are involved.

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea why people are being such jerks this morning. "Non public" is a common term that MCPS itself uses for special education programs that are not colocated with mainstream schools.

In terms of ideas, I like the playground meetup but it might depend on how many kids come on the school bus. A weekend park playdate is also a fun idea that I've seen done at schools where the kids were not all from the same neighborhood. Usually, the parents organized 3 or 4 over the course of the year, rotating between parks in different parts of the county.

Non public is never used for MCPS schools. Never. Non public refers to private schools where MCPS pays tuition to send students. Your definition is wrong.

My kid is at a similar school in Fairfax and I sympathize. Without the school staff planning things, there is no way to do it. We couldnt even get contact info for a birthday party evite.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Then you are in the wrong forum. Those MCPS schools do have parents who have an interest in the school community. You need to connect with them.

They are looking at ideas on how to do it. You don't need to be nasty. Ideally, MCCPTA would have included these schools with a PTA but they didn't. In order to connect them, they need a formal organization with insurance for liability reasons.

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Start a PTO or PTA and help create one. No reason these schools should not have one. If MCCPTA is not welcoming, just do a PTO.

I have no idea why people are being such jerks this morning. "Non public" is a common term that MCPS itself uses for special education programs that are not colocated with mainstream schools.

In terms of ideas, I like the playground meetup but it might depend on how many kids come on the school bus. A weekend park playdate is also a fun idea that I've seen done at schools where the kids were not all from the same neighborhood. Usually, the parents organized 3 or 4 over the course of the year, rotating between parks in different parts of the county.

Anonymous wrote:OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Then you are in the wrong forum. Those MCPS schools do have parents who have an interest in the school community. You need to connect with them.

OP here— I should have titled the thread No Sense of Community in County Wide Special Education School.

I’m really just looking for ideas.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this for a private school? If so, it’s in the wrong forum.

It is not. The school is MCPS non public.

Is it a non public school which is a private school specifically for students with disabilities some of whom have their tuition paid by MCPS, or some place like RICA or Stephen Knolls which is a county wide public school?

County wide public school