Choosing a School: Questions for the Principal

[Guest guest]

Hello! With an eye toward purchasing a home within the next month or two, I am planning to meet with three public school principals to determine which school will be a best fit for our HFA son who will be entering a general-ed Kindergarten class next year. I have been asking his therapists and other parents which questions they think I should ask (see list below). Can anyone add to or comment on that list? Thanks so much – I truly appreciate everything I have learned from those who have "traveled this road" before me.Can you describe what your school does to promote the acceptance and inclusion of those children with differences?Can you describe the training that is provided to your teachers, therapists, and para-professionals with respect to autism specifically and to behavior management in general? (not sure if "management" is the right word)I often work as a conduit between the pre-school and my child's therapists by letting the therapists know what specific issues at school need extra work and by prioritizing the issues the teacher feels is the most important. To do that, ideally I need regular and somewhat frequent communication with the teacher and I also need to be able to observe my child in the classroom at periodic intervals. Can you describe what your teachers might think about this? (again, am I dreaming?)In an effort to provide help for our child outside of school, ourfamily works with a team with private therapists, including ABA, language, and social-skills therapists. Can you describe how your teachers view the role of this extra intervention and what role they ascribe to the therapists? (basically, I want to know if the teachers will be open to working with my "team" in a collaborative fashion…am I dreaming?)Can you tell me the process by which children are assigned to specific teachers?Would you describe the activities that take place during recess and lunch and how we could work to make sure my child was included (if not covered by answer of question 1).Sorry for the long post. Any thoughts?Thanks!Janice