I don't know anything about MV, but my child with an IEP attended Bridges for four years before we left and enrolled in local DCPS. I would not send a child with anything but mild special needs or few IEP hours to Bridges. They once were stellar, but staff turnover, rapid expansion (including kids with IEPs) and new leadership has, in my opinion, negatively affected the quality of the education. There were many reasons we left, but the final straw came for us after we had her tested independently and realized she was no where near the academic levels that the school reported her to be at throughout the year, and, in fact, was so far behind that we decided to repeat the year.

I know the choices are slim for kids with IEPs and there are certainly good things about the school, particularly the culture in which NT kids see and interact with kids with disabilities regularly and the friendliness/caring of the staff. My only advice if you decide on Bridges is to bail early if you find that they can't/won't deliver on their promises, because in my experience it won't get better.

Maybe Bridges.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Off-topic but interested (maybe should post in another forum): What are the public options in DC that are great on special needs?

Bridges is the best there is in terms of public. DCPS is nothing short of a disaster. Once they finally got out from under Blackman Jones they proved they had learned nothing and immediately began to try to delay and deny services.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/federal-appeals-court-upholds-ruling-against-dc-on-special-needs-students/2017/06/23/4fa7939e-5836-11e7-ba90-f5875b7d1876_story.html?utm_term=.c11c13d05606

I suggest suing for a private placement. DC isn't serious about creating schools that serve special needs students. So make them pay for private schools that will.

You won't get a private placement until DCPS fails your kid. It's up to you whether or not you want to waste 2-3 years of your kid's school life in DCPS, and then another 1-2 in litigation trying to get them to pony up. It happens, but it's a PAIN in the ass.

Anonymous wrote:Off-topic but interested (maybe should post in another forum): What are the public options in DC that are great on special needs?

Bridges is the best there is in terms of public. DCPS is nothing short of a disaster. Once they finally got out from under Blackman Jones they proved they had learned nothing and immediately began to try to delay and deny services.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/federal-appeals-court-upholds-ruling-against-dc-on-special-needs-students/2017/06/23/4fa7939e-5836-11e7-ba90-f5875b7d1876_story.html?utm_term=.c11c13d05606

I suggest suing for a private placement. DC isn't serious about creating schools that serve special needs students. So make them pay for private schools that will.

Anonymous wrote:Off-topic but interested (maybe should post in another forum): What are the public options in DC that are great on special needs?

It just depends on the kids profile and needs - as well as the teacher / principal / spec ed coordinator that you get each year. And all of those vary a lot year to year. There is no one school that would fit every SN kid.

Off-topic but interested (maybe should post in another forum): What are the public options in DC that are great on special needs?

I know several families with SN kids who have left Bridges in the last year or two. Kids with more significant difficulties are being kept in the self-contained classroom with less and less inclusion time or, when they are allowed to go into the mainstream classroom, are sent there without sufficient support. Kids with less significant disabilities are being denied services or being given inappropriate services.

I know Bridges has a reputation as a school that serves kids with SNs, but I would carefully investigate what your particular child would get there and if it's something you want.

Anonymous wrote:I would go with Bridges. Mom of ASD kid here. Wish we had gone to Bridges instead of regular, relatively high-performing (now high-performing) DCPS.

Can I ask why? I am a new poster who just had a child diagnosed with ASD and we are trying to choose between keeping our son at a HRC (where he has struggled socially but is making progress) and switching him to Bridges.