We did a small school that ended in 2nd and it was no big deal to transition after that. Child transitioned easily as they were well prepared thanks to the first school. Focus on what your child needs now. We found a small private with no IEP better than public with an IEP. Public doesn't follow their own IEP and it is pretty worthless.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at Harbor. Small class sizes and great teachers.

Doesn't this end in 3rd grade? If a child is shy, that's a lot of transitions.

Agree with PP that OP needs more information than "small class size." What kinds of academics? sports? Extracurriculars? Emotional supports or intervention?

Touring will help. So could reading more about different schools.

It ends in 2nd. Yes, we hated to have to look for a new school after it ended, but the warm Harbor experience was worth it. We treasured those days.

Anonymous wrote:Look at Harbor. Small class sizes and great teachers.

Doesn't this end in 3rd grade? If a child is shy, that's a lot of transitions.

Agree with PP that OP needs more information than "small class size." What kinds of academics? sports? Extracurriculars? Emotional supports or intervention?

Touring will help. So could reading more about different schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He has an IEP but his artic problems are resolving quickly and he will likely test out within a year or two. But the residual social effects /shyness after not being understood as a toddler still linger. He is otherwise a typically developing kid but just some shyness/anxiety. His latest evaluation was this year.

Op, please see a developmental pediatrician. Your interpretation of lingering shyness sounds completely made up on your part. Childfind doesn't diagnose.

OP said he just had an evaluation! I have a child with resolved CAS who struggled a bit in preschool with social interactions for the same reason. A few years later he has lots of friends and is doing great so I don’t think she’s making that up. I think the OP is on the right track. Most of the schools she is looking at are well prepared to handle kids with mild articulation issues (which is where her child is these days) and shyness.

His evaluation isounds like it was conducted by childfind. They scratch the surface—basically to see if you qualify for services. “Articulation problems” isn’t a diagnosis: it’s a childfind buzzword.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He has an IEP but his artic problems are resolving quickly and he will likely test out within a year or two. But the residual social effects /shyness after not being understood as a toddler still linger. He is otherwise a typically developing kid but just some shyness/anxiety. His latest evaluation was this year.

Op, please see a developmental pediatrician. Your interpretation of lingering shyness sounds completely made up on your part. Childfind doesn't diagnose.

OP said he just had an evaluation! I have a child with resolved CAS who struggled a bit in preschool with social interactions for the same reason. A few years later he has lots of friends and is doing great so I don’t think she’s making that up. I think the OP is on the right track. Most of the schools she is looking at are well prepared to handle kids with mild articulation issues (which is where her child is these days) and shyness.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He has an IEP but his artic problems are resolving quickly and he will likely test out within a year or two. But the residual social effects /shyness after not being understood as a toddler still linger. He is otherwise a typically developing kid but just some shyness/anxiety. His latest evaluation was this year.

Op, please see a developmental pediatrician. Your interpretation of lingering shyness sounds completely made up on your part. Childfind doesn't diagnose.

Christ Episcopal has small class sizes. The Kindergarten teacher is amazing and good at helping the students navigate social aspects in the classroom.

We love Grace. It must be in your neighborhood based on your home school. Very accepting. We are not Christian and feel very welcome. Religion seems to focus from my perspective on children being kind and accepting and making the world a better place.

OP, go look at schools and see what is the best fit. We didn't look at the schools you stated because of cost but went to a different one (they had staffing changes so I wouldn't recommend it anymore) but we did a small private for a few years and it was very much worth it for the speech issues and 1-1 attention. The speech services/IEP at public have been a huge waste of time and they have not provided much support and the support they provide has to do with other kids language needs, but not mine (they provide group speech therapy with kids with unrelated needs). The best thing we did was send our child to private for a few years. We ruled out Maddox as they take kids with a variety of needs and our child just didn't need that level of help.

Anonymous wrote:OP here I’ve visited all of these (including Maddox , which is not the right fit for him). Lowell is too far.
Harbor looked great but I’d rather have a school he can stay until at least middle school.
Norwood, green acres seem to be the top contenders. They are very different but I liked both and unsure which style would be the best fit.

Remember he actually has to get into these schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He has an IEP but his artic problems are resolving quickly and he will likely test out within a year or two. But the residual social effects /shyness after not being understood as a toddler still linger. He is otherwise a typically developing kid but just some shyness/anxiety. His latest evaluation was this year.

No, I would not send a child with an IEP to a mainstream public.

Please don’t listen to this. Lots of kids have IEPs. It’s not some sort of black mark against him.

I would encourage you to do private testing when he’s 6 or 7 and not rely on the school telling something is “resolved.” They will do the bare minimum b/c they really don’t want to provide services.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He has an IEP but his artic problems are resolving quickly and he will likely test out within a year or two. But the residual social effects /shyness after not being understood as a toddler still linger. He is otherwise a typically developing kid but just some shyness/anxiety. His latest evaluation was this year.

No, I would not send a child with an IEP to a mainstream public.

OP here. He has an IEP but his artic problems are resolving quickly and he will likely test out within a year or two. But the residual social effects /shyness after not being understood as a toddler still linger. He is otherwise a typically developing kid but just some shyness/anxiety. His latest evaluation was this year.

Oh, sorry I saw you said “about 90%.” I would ask his slp. Have you done an eval recently?

Anonymous wrote:OP here I’ve visited all of these (including Maddox , which is not the right fit for him). Lowell is too far.
Harbor looked great but I’d rather have a school he can stay until at least middle school.
Norwood, green acres seem to be the top contenders. They are very different but I liked both and unsure which style would be the best fit.

I wouldn’t send a kid with delays - social and spend - to either of those schools. Certainly not Norwood. Maybe GA I guess? I’d wait and see how this year goes. 80% is an almost 25% delay and he could qualify for an iep.