In hopes of tapping into the CC parents’ usual wisdom, I am posting here in the Parent Cafe.
A former colleague and good friend is currently living and working in the D.C. area. She has a 7th grader diagnosed with severe dyscalculia and a 9th grader with some need of additional support. The 7th grader is attending a specialized school in D.C. where she thrives and performs at and above grade level in all subject area but math.
My colleague will be transferred to NYC next summer and is already looking for a school where both children could find a home. As her employer reimburses school fees, it does not matter if the school is private or public. The work place will be in Manhattan but the family hopes to live close to school in a suburban area. This could be Long Island, New Jersey or any other commutable place in the region.
Does any of you know of a suitable 6 - 12 or K-12 school that could accommodate both children?
Are there education consultants or even pediatricians/specialised psychologists who could help with or advise in the school search? Again, the employer would reimburse consulting fees.
As the family would like to rent close to school, they are desperate to find resources that can help them identify schools for both children.
Any advice is appreciated and will be promptly passed on to the family.
We homeschool, but that’s not an option for many families. Your friend is fortunate that her employer will reimburse her. See the [Yale Center for Dyslexia](What Parents Can Do - Yale Dyslexia) website for a list of schools that serve children like ours. [url=<a href=“http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/answers/independent-schools#5/%5DUMich%5B/url”>http://dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/answers/independent-schools#5/]UMich[/url] also has a list of options she could explore.
If you can do homeschool. Connections academy offers an online public school option that is free. You could get a tutor as a teacher for math if they can do all the other subjects well.
Eagle Hill School in Greenwich might be one to contact. I had friends whose children attended Trinity-Pawling but they may not have the intense programs that these children may need.
Thank you so much, @austinmshauri, @SeniorStruggling and @ECmotherx2. That already helps a lot - especially the Yale and UMich lists. In the past, I had already found two young professors researching Dyscalculia. One was in UW-Madison and the other at UT-Austin. However, academia sometimes seems very removed from practical considerations, e.g. school search!
As I don’t want to hi-jack @Aspieration 's recent thread, I would like to tap into the knowledge of some of her posters:
@GCmom, @sybbie719, @oldfort, @jonri, @cobrat, @MiamiDAP - If you have any suggestion for the situation described above (search for 6 - 12 school for siblings with dyscalculia and possible ADD, however both functioning at grade level otherwise; commute from the suburbs should not be longer than 45 minutes to 1 hour one-way), I would be eternally grateful.
One thing I’d say for certain if dyscalculia is an issue along with possible ADD…don’t recommend Stuy or other NYC Specialized High Schools in your children’s case.
Maybe some of the elite NYC private schools with better support and less emphasis on STEM or some suburban NJ districts like Ridgewood though I don’t know how well their policies are in terms of supporting students with those conditions.
Stick around and peruse suggestions from posters with more knowledge/experience.
Good luck and hope you are able to find a great school which fits best for all your kids.
@cobrat The family is not looking for an elite high school, just a safe high school that can help the 7th grader with dyscalculia and the 9th grader with possible ADD to perform at grade level and be happy. This is a bit the opposite of what is discussed in @Aspieration 's thread or the discussion about Menlo High School in another thread.
The family is not American and is sent elsewhere by the employer every three years. Both children have been living on three or four continents. They started out in the German school system abroad but that could not cater to the need for math support and somewhat tracking.
Homeschooling is not an option at this point.
@blossom - any advice about the NY area? Schools or educational consultants who could help look for the right resources. Schools can be either public or private as long as they can cater to the student’s needs.
Thanks again to everyone who answered. Please feel free to tag experienced posters in the NYC area. I am fairly new to CC and can’t really place most people geographically.
In my experience with private schools, they are not as good at dealing students with special needs because they do not get public funding, whereas public schools at more affluent towns tend to have more special programs. I have a friend with a kid with speech problem. He was able to get a speech therapist through his local public school, but couldn’t get similar assistance at any local private schools. Most top tier (expensive) private schools tend to cater to high academic performers. My kids school would turn away students that couldn’t handle their course load. There are private schools that are more nurturing, but it doesn’t mean they would have funding to help students with special needs. I would check out public schools in NJ, LI and Westchester.
Thanks, @oldfort. That has also been my experience both in Arizona and in the rural South. Public schools are held a lot more accountable and, if too small or with a smaller customer base, might share a speech pathologist, a psychologist, or an occupational therapist. In fact, that is what happens in our school district. Even Gifted teachers might teach at several elementary schools, not just one.
The family is open to both, public and private options, as long as they are not cut-throat, high-performing ones as described in the recent NJ thread. One poster referred to data bases at UMich and Yale and that might be a great start to narrow down options. The students might have to be placed in different schools, like they are now in the D.C. area.
Anyway, I just thought I ask here because often times someone knows someone who just had similar needs or knows the perfect education consultant to track down possible choices. The family is very lucky in that the employer will pick up school and consultant fees.
Thanks, @naviance and, especially, @Regulus7. My friend had already heard about some of the schools you suggest. They will drive to NYC at the end of January to go to some Open Houses and guided tours. Hopefully, one of them will be the right fit for both children.
Thanks, @Regulus7. And, yes, @oldfort, that’s why I am trying to help her research schools. She just received marching orders from her employer and is very aware about deadlines.
Just a quick update: My friend’s children, now in 8th and 10th grade, started last week in a small private school somewhere on LI. So far, so good … Thanks again for all the help! Will share more, once I hear back from them mid-year
TallyMom2017, I don’t know whether this information will be useful for your friend, but I will post it just in case.
I live outside NYC in Westchester County. The Windward School here is very highly regarded. Unfortunately, it goes only to 9th grade, but perhaps it would be suitable for the younger child.
My son was assessed at the Yellin Center in NYC when he had some academic issues. I don’t know whether these children would benefit from the very thorough assessments they do there, but if they do, I would recommend it highly. I don’t know of any other center that does what they do. I considered Yale, but it just didn’t compare. They may be able to help with school choices, and they can certainly help with learning strategies.
I have heard from a mother of a child with severe issues, who moved from Westchester to NJ, that in NJ the school systems are very willing to outsource services for special needs students. This worked very well for them, much better than fighting the school system here for services, which were provided in house and we’re inadequate.
Best of luck to your friend! It must be so hard to relocate frequently, especially with learning issues.
