DownSyn Forum

babystpierre

Where are some really good schools for our kiddos??? Not just adequate but really thriving, motivating, and infused with good old fashioned FUN. Our son is in kindergarten and is in a self-contained special ed class and it is just damn depressing. My husband and I are willing to move anywhere if only we could know he's getting the best in schools. We are open to private education too and we will do whatever it takes to pay for it...
So, please let me know if you are thrilled with your child's education/opportunities in your particular area!!!!!
Thanks so much!!
Lauri

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grantsmom1 · Posted: August 31 2010, 7:55 PM Post subject:

Sorry you are having a rough time. Grant's not in kindergarten yet, so I don't have any advice. Just wanted to tell you to hang in there!

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Robyn
Grant (6/06 DS), Logan (12/08 )

Rylie's mom · Posted: August 31 2010, 7:55 PM Post subject:

We have had a wonderful experience w/ Rylie so far. Full inclusion, 2 years of kindy and now starting 1st grade. She has a wonderful one on one aide and the staff loves her. However I've heard a few horror stories from other parents at the same school. I am going to take Rylie's experience on a year by year basis and never let my guard down. I think success comes when you have a willing teacher and not all teachers are willing no matter what the school. We are in Pennsylvania(right outside of Philly).

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Val~ mom to: Rylie 7
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maziebaby · Posted: August 31 2010, 8:09 PM Post subject:

Hi LAURI, Mazie is in a private pre school even though she is 7 I'm not ready to start her yet because of health issues she has had really not been able to get through preschool yet. I do however hear raving reports about the buckeye school in the buckeye school dist it is Full inclusion and the parents seem very happy with it. It is the next dist over from us but we will have no problem going their. We live about 40 miles east of sacramento in the foothills. Where in so cal are you ? I'm not sure if what we will do with Mazie we home school our other 4 (a teacher comes 3 days a week and we may choose that for mazie ) Hope I was of some help. Laughing

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Lisa Wife to Glenn Mom to Johnathan 24 Allison 21 Chad 15 Greta 14 Sarah 12 Jennifer 9 and Mazie 6 (DS/ vsd repair 8/03)

DanielsMommy · Posted: August 31 2010, 8:17 PM Post subject:

Knocking on wood....cause I don't want to jinx us....but we have been VERY happy with Daniel's school. Our city has an Early Learning Center and it houses preschool through Kindy....self contained to full inclusion and everything in between. Tomorrow starts Daniel's 3rd year. He's doing PreK in a full inclusion class. The school itself was once an elementary school and it closed and it was reopened as the Early Learning center. All remodeled, bright walls, great outdoor area, great inside play area....tons of classes and motivated teachers. We have been super happy with all his therapists too.

However, on the downside....the economy in RI is awful. Unemployment is at an all time high. Not sure what you guys do for work...but many folks live in RI...but commute to Boston to work or other MA cities and towns.

If I can be of any help at all...please feel free to PM me. Best of luck!!!!

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Lisa - Mommy to Elayna 10-1-02 and Daniel (Ds) 6-7-05
Always have hope....Without rain, there can be no rainbows.

momofrussell · Posted: August 31 2010, 8:26 PM Post subject:

Sorry you are having a hard time!!!

We had a pretty decent education for Regan and Russell in CA but Russell wasn't in school that long in CA before we moved to the Midwest.

I have to say we are very pleased out here and I know other parents that are too. We live outside of St Louis, MO. There are some really great public school districts outside the city (never do St Louis city schools!) in St Louis County and in St Charles County. We have been in good districts in both counties...we now reside in St Charles county in the Fort Zumwalt School District.

Good luck! I met a family at the NDSC Sacramento conference last year and the mom pulled me aside at our Friday conference saying she and her husband wanted to move to St Louis, MO. So, they now are moving in a month or two. I helped give them some info and they have friends out here that have helped them.

If you need more info, let me know!

Adrienne

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Adrienne - mom to: Regan 17, Russell 12 DS, Autism, Visually Impaired, Reece 9.

DSAGSL 2009 Buddy Walk

kris10z · Posted: August 31 2010, 9:25 PM Post subject:

As much as I would LOVE to have you here, do NOT come to NC!!! Our district is awful! They don't support our teachers at all. So upsetting!

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Kristen: Wife to Scott, Mama Bear to Ethan
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Kasey · Posted: September 01 2010, 1:12 AM Post subject:

Dawson Creek BC!!! But you would have to put up with the fact that it hit freezing overnight on August 30! But we really do have a good system up here, Paige isn't there yet, but our little town has always been on top of inclusion for a long time. But good luck!

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Kasey, mom to Paige (2!)

naomid · Posted: September 01 2010, 7:36 AM Post subject:

We moved from So Cal (Santa Monica) due to the huge battle we had with Callum's schooling and lack of fully included opportunities, so I really do feel your pain.

We moved back to our native England and have had a fantastic experience with Callum being fully included at the local school with a wonderful 1:1 and the teachers have been very supportive. We had a few hiccups in the start but it was all sorted pretty quickly.

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Dylans_Mom · Posted: September 01 2010, 10:09 AM Post subject:

Dylan is still in pre-school, but the pre-school in the school district we are in is awesome, love where he goes. http://www.learningcommunity202.org/mcbeth/index.htm here is the website to the school he currently goes to (IL) and here is the website of the school district we are in http://www.psd202.org/Departments/SpEd/
Plainfield, IL is where we are.

So far I have all good things about working with this school district, but again we are still in Pre-K, we go into K next school year, so lets hope it continues.

Hope you find the a solution.

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Sandy (Dylans_Mom)
Mom to Hailey 3/2002, Dylan (ds) 12/2005

ajbest · Posted: September 01 2010, 11:31 AM Post subject:

we are VERY pleased with the 3 different schools Janna has been a part of so far although she's only been in her K-12 school for 2.5 days now. she is in regular K class but my cousin's wife works in the self-contained class room along with an AWESOME teacher in case she ever needs to be there. everyone speaks highly of this school/community and their work with/acceptance of exceptional kids.

and you know how close you'd be to your folks if you came our way Smile

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babystpierre · Posted: September 01 2010, 12:46 PM Post subject:

Thank you to each of you for your responses. I have pm'd each of you and look forward to hearing more from you! Thank you so much!
I have also emailed NDSS for information about leading schools - I'll let you guys know what they say...
~Lauri

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Katrina · Posted: September 01 2010, 1:24 PM Post subject:

We live in Lafayette, Louisiana, our catholic school has a program in the school my daughter goes to that is geared for down syndrome . I sure hope I can get Peyton in the program when he is six. The school goes to 8th grade and then feeds into the catholic high school . My daughter is a teacher at the high school and teaches P.E to the OPTION girls. I have a neice with DS that goes to STM. Mybe check into some of the private schools and see if they have a program like this. I hope this helps.

Good luck Katrina

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Peyton and Paige

kittycat3376 · Posted: September 01 2010, 11:23 PM Post subject:

Central Kitsap School District, Silverdale WA. Kitsap County also has great programs for disabled adults looking for jobs. I hope to move back over there before David is in high school. The elementary schools here are pretty good. I don't really know how good the middle schools are (Cassie starts middle school on the 8th...so ask me again in a year), but at the high school level, special ed. is total crap. For behavioral IEPs the ONLY placement is self-contained and that is just NOT the right placement for my oldest. Grrr!

Central Kitsap is great, straight from pre-school to graduation...and even beyond. I went to school there and we already had kids with DS in inclusion programs there when I was in middle school and high school (I graduated in '94). At my high school there was a boy with DS who had the locker under mine and I never even saw him with a "shadow", so obviously the school accepted and trusted his ability to handle outside of class activities on his own. Bremerton has a community college and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation will pay for a two year degree there for anyone with a physical or mental disability.

The only major problem here is there are no medicaid waivers for disabled children (adults yes, children no). If you make too much for him to qualify for SSI or for DSHS children's medicaid, he WILL NOT get medicaid if you move to WA.

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babystpierre · Posted: September 02 2010, 1:38 PM Post subject:

Thank you, Katrina - I will look again into schools through church organizations. I have not had luck in this area around here that is why it is invaluable to hear from people like you who have had other experiences. Thank you!

KittyKat, excellent information on a place to transition our kids to adulthood! I will file this away for sure! I am acutely aware that opportunities are drastically cut after our children reach 21 years so I am very interested in making the most of these years!!!

My son and I are flying to Rhode Island in three weeks to check out the Meeting Street private school. We will get to meet Lisa and Daniel. Yay! And we just want to see what they have to offer and how it compares to what we know about public special education. I really appreciate all of the info each of you have given me!!!! Please chime in more if you have more ideas.
Thanks so much, my friends. ~Lauri

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momofrussell · Posted: September 02 2010, 2:14 PM Post subject:

I think you should pass over St Louis and visit us here! LOL

Enjoy the visit with Lisa......!!! Smile

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Adrienne - mom to: Regan 17, Russell 12 DS, Autism, Visually Impaired, Reece 9.

DSAGSL 2009 Buddy Walk

Asa's Momma · Posted: September 02 2010, 2:41 PM Post subject:

Okay, chiming in! I have to say I love Asa's school. We have switched his services to the school district now that he is 3 and all his therapists are awesome! We live in a very small town that is a part of a larger community. He will be in the same school for K thru 8 and then he will go to the same high school my husband went to in the town we used to live in. Cool

We moved specifically for Asa to be able to go to this Elementary school and it is the town my husband grew up in - it is your picturesque small New England town, we live in the backwoods though Smile

but still close to shopping, hospital etc..

Lauri, I'm 2.5 hours from Boston. I just said to Lisa in another post that we really need to have a New England Meet-up!

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Jackie (34 yrs.) - wife to Brian (31 yrs.) and Momma to Asa (3 yrs.).

DanielsMommy · Posted: September 02 2010, 5:02 PM Post subject:

Jackie, how far into NH are you from the MA border? I'm an hour from Boston...and maybe 1.5 to the NH border. Would it be possible to meet in mid MA somewhere. Let's try and work it out!!

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Lisa - Mommy to Elayna 10-1-02 and Daniel (Ds) 6-7-05
Always have hope....Without rain, there can be no rainbows.

Asa's Momma · Posted: September 03 2010, 9:00 AM Post subject:

I'm an hour north of Concord, NH (well can be less then an hour depending on how fast you drive - LOL) So a little over, 1.5 hours from MA border. I live in the Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee Region of NH.

We would soooo LOVE to get together! What are the dates you'll be east Lauri? We could do the Aquarium or the Zoo, the Children's Museum might be a little overwhelming but also good. I haven't been to the Aquarium or Museum in years, but never been to the Zoo and my cousin says it's awesome, I think it's the Franklin Park Zoo that she went to.

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"Life is What You Make it..."
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Jackie (34 yrs.) - wife to Brian (31 yrs.) and Momma to Asa (3 yrs.).

babystpierre · Posted: September 06 2010, 12:07 AM Post subject:

Jackie,
Hi there! Thanks for chiming in too!! I will be in town Sept 22 - 25...just a quick trip for sure but would love to meet up with you. I am going to be spending a big part of my short time touring and observing at the school - but I'd love to meet you!
~Lauri

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Asa's Momma · Posted: September 13 2010, 1:36 PM Post subject:

Total Bummer! I wish we could sneak down for a day and see you. If you decide to move east you have a friend/s in New Hampshire!

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"Life is What You Make it..."
www.henryfamily-lifeiswhatumakeit.blogspot.com

Jackie (34 yrs.) - wife to Brian (31 yrs.) and Momma to Asa (3 yrs.).

JTPBMom · Posted: September 14 2010, 1:06 PM Post subject:

I just read about this school which is also in Boston - maybe you could fir this into your visit, too....
http://www.lhj.com/relationships/family/school/most-amazing-schools/?page=2

Good luck!

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Sharon
-Mom to Jenna(1/03), Tanner(8/04), Parker(6/06) and Brennan(3/27/08*)

lilpayton · Posted: September 20 2010, 6:40 PM Post subject:

Sharon, that school sounds freakin awesome! Now I'm drooling over it ... and I lurve Boston!! Hmmm ...... LOL!

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