There are also Title I schools with smaller classes. They are not in Bethesda, though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - i have a child similar to yours. We left MCPS for a private school because mainstreaming here in MCPS basically means very, very limited support. So, unless your child has severe impacts -- and cannot be mainstreamed -- you will get minimal support. Especially for K. MCPS is notorious for letting K kids sink or swim and dealing with it later.

For K, your options will be:

a) mainstream with 1 teacher to 24-28 kids per class. Bethesda is probably closer to 28 kids for mainstream.

b) Learning and Academic Disabilities (LAD) program -- this is completely mainstream but the keep the ratios down a bit 1:18-20. This will most likely not be your homeschool and your child would be entitled to bus service.

c) Learning Center - but typically Learning Centers are for kids with more academic rather than social/pragmatic delays.

OT and Speech services can be added to the mix for any of those settings.

So... get an ed consultant NOW. Do not wait if you are intent upon MCPS for your K child.

Here is a good parent organization: http://www.xminds.org

They have a really good section on the programming available for spectrum kids.

It is so disappointing. I don't even want to take the job now. At least in our current school district typical K class is 18 children. We don't earn enough for private placement.
Why do people here say that Bethesda ES is good? Do they have an assistant in class? or just 1 adult and 28 children?
I am hiring an consultant now.

Not all schools have big K classes! Rock Creek Forest does not - my kid's class has 15, down from 20 at the start of the year. (They got an additional K class.) Seriously - take a look there - they have an Autism program and it's a nice neighborhood. There are condos and townhouses for rent nearby, and it's very close to downtown Bethesda.

OP, I would urge you to double check some of the information on this thread elsewhere. There is some misinformation or at least misleading information on this thread.

We were in your shoes last fall so we did a lot of the same research you are doing. The Carderock program would not be appropriate for your child based on what you have told us. It is designed for children who are non-verbal and cannot be mainstreamed.

I would urge you to try to do at least a consultation with an advocate even if you don't end up hiring one. In particular we remember that Suzie Blattner was working on a lot of cases in Bethesda. You may also want to try to visit the schools. Most of them give tours regularly.

When you talk to parents try to get both perspectives. We found that the PTA moms who are the "face" of the schools might have better experiences than the other parents. At one school we found that a mom with a SN child and active on the PTA was raving about her child's experience but then we talked to a half dozen other parents who had consistently terrible experiences. It turned out that PTA mom's child's situation was exceptional for many reasons and not applicable to other children at the school.

Another thing to know about Bethesda is that many schools have private foundations and some parents donate thousands of dollars each year to them. It should not give them any influence over the school, but the principals know which parents are active in the foundation and it does impact how their children are treated.

Anonymous wrote:Carderock Elementary School has an amazing program for children with autism. I would highly recommend it. If you are looking for an ABA Therapist in Bethesda, there is no one better than Sonali Ratnayake. She is incredible. Good luck OP.

Thanks so much! I will definitely use ABA.
I haven't heard of Carderock. I will look into it.

Carderock Elementary School has an amazing program for children with autism. I would highly recommend it. If you are looking for an ABA Therapist in Bethesda, there is no one better than Sonali Ratnayake. She is incredible. Good luck OP.

Anonymous wrote:Do seriously consider Bethesda Elementary, if you can.

I guess I will probably rent within bound of BE. Thanks 18:16 for your description of the program.

My budget is limited and can only afford the cheaper ones, but as a working mom taking care of two kids, it would be great to live within walking distance to work. I think I should feel lucky that the closest school is probably the best for my child.

Thanks so much to everybody who replied my post. You are all amazingly nice and warmhearted.

Do seriously consider Bethesda Elementary, if you can.

OP, I hired a SN education consultant well-regarded on this board this past fall about placement for my rising first grader with HFA; plus I consulted repeatedly with my child's developmental pediatrician and also the neuropsych. They all consistently said MCPS has the best services. There are a handful of DC schools they pushed, as well, though your chances of getting in would be slim.

Bethesda Elementary is known as an inclusion school and the school community has a very welcoming attitude towards special needs. They have kids with all kinds of disabilities at the school and a number of them have aides. These aides are available to help out with other students, including other special needs students, when they are not directly overseeing their charge so that reduces the burden on the main teacher. One example is a child with a physical disability who has an aide to help get from class to class or move around the class. But most of the time they are sitting and maybe that child does not need academic support so the aide helps others. They also have a very large number of therapists on site which can help with getting services like social skills support or pragmatics for speech.

In other schools nearby there is usually only one teacher for all the kids (not uncommonly 26-28) and one special needs resource teacher who usually focuses more on academic issues to get kids on grade level and doesn't have a lot of time for other stuff.

There are a few situations where MCPS is considered good and one is if your child has severe autism. Their autism unit is considered to be top notch and they have a self-contained programs for these children who are usually non-verbal with very dedicated teachers. They also have a respected Asperger's program that goes from elementary to high school but that's very limited and difficult to access.

They are notoriously terrible with giving supports to kids with HFA, ADHD and especially with those who are 2e in general education. The problem is worse in wealthier areas as they try to save on costs by advising those parents to get private services they pay for themselves. But it does vary by school. I know people who have children with similar needs and one child will not even get a 504 and the other will have 10 hours in their IEP.

Anonymous wrote:OP - i have a child similar to yours. We left MCPS for a private school because mainstreaming here in MCPS basically means very, very limited support. So, unless your child has severe impacts -- and cannot be mainstreamed -- you will get minimal support. Especially for K. MCPS is notorious for letting K kids sink or swim and dealing with it later.

For K, your options will be:

a) mainstream with 1 teacher to 24-28 kids per class. Bethesda is probably closer to 28 kids for mainstream.

b) Learning and Academic Disabilities (LAD) program -- this is completely mainstream but the keep the ratios down a bit 1:18-20. This will most likely not be your homeschool and your child would be entitled to bus service.

c) Learning Center - but typically Learning Centers are for kids with more academic rather than social/pragmatic delays.

OT and Speech services can be added to the mix for any of those settings.

So... get an ed consultant NOW. Do not wait if you are intent upon MCPS for your K child.

Here is a good parent organization: http://www.xminds.org

They have a really good section on the programming available for spectrum kids.

Thanks so much! This really helps to understand how it works.

Anonymous wrote:OP - i have a child similar to yours. We left MCPS for a private school because mainstreaming here in MCPS basically means very, very limited support. So, unless your child has severe impacts -- and cannot be mainstreamed -- you will get minimal support. Especially for K. MCPS is notorious for letting K kids sink or swim and dealing with it later.

For K, your options will be:

a) mainstream with 1 teacher to 24-28 kids per class. Bethesda is probably closer to 28 kids for mainstream.

b) Learning and Academic Disabilities (LAD) program -- this is completely mainstream but the keep the ratios down a bit 1:18-20. This will most likely not be your homeschool and your child would be entitled to bus service.

c) Learning Center - but typically Learning Centers are for kids with more academic rather than social/pragmatic delays.

OT and Speech services can be added to the mix for any of those settings.

So... get an ed consultant NOW. Do not wait if you are intent upon MCPS for your K child.

Here is a good parent organization: http://www.xminds.org

They have a really good section on the programming available for spectrum kids.

It is so disappointing. I don't even want to take the job now. At least in our current school district typical K class is 18 children. We don't earn enough for private placement.
Why do people here say that Bethesda ES is good? Do they have an assistant in class? or just 1 adult and 28 children?
I am hiring an consultant now.

OP - i have a child similar to yours. We left MCPS for a private school because mainstreaming here in MCPS basically means very, very limited support. So, unless your child has severe impacts -- and cannot be mainstreamed -- you will get minimal support. Especially for K. MCPS is notorious for letting K kids sink or swim and dealing with it later.

For K, your options will be:

a) mainstream with 1 teacher to 24-28 kids per class. Bethesda is probably closer to 28 kids for mainstream.

b) Learning and Academic Disabilities (LAD) program -- this is completely mainstream but the keep the ratios down a bit 1:18-20. This will most likely not be your homeschool and your child would be entitled to bus service.

c) Learning Center - but typically Learning Centers are for kids with more academic rather than social/pragmatic delays.

OT and Speech services can be added to the mix for any of those settings.

So... get an ed consultant NOW. Do not wait if you are intent upon MCPS for your K child.

Here is a good parent organization: http://www.xminds.org

They have a really good section on the programming available for spectrum kids.

Who told you MCPS special ed is good? Was it a parent whose child has issues?

The school district as a whole has a good reputation but many parents -- especially on this forum -- report it being very difficult and advise hiring experts (advocates) to get services in place.

Anonymous wrote:What do those social delays look like?

If she's okay following directions and doesn't have any behaviors like running away MCPS will probably recommend placement in general education. MCPS is very stingy with OT and ST by the way so they may try to take those services away especially if speech is only for pragmatics. Can you move before the new school year so that your IEP can transfer to Child Find or whatever the early intervention services is called in MCPS? They can be good advocates for getting the IEP transferred to elementary. The few people I know who transferred into K from out of state had their IEPs gutted.

OP here. That does not sound good. Why are some people say that MCPS special ed is good? I am not happy with current IEP, do u mean it is going to be even less?
She is most of the time doing parallel play. She does not properly initiate peer interaction nor respond properly to peers.