Re: Schools in broward I need some information

[Guest guest]

Ida-

My husband was acting weird and wanted me to post that email. After I

posted the email and then explained to him the way things are run for

Tyler and showed him that private schools do not have to follow any

of the guidlines for Broward County or the state for education he was

fine, but of course I can not delete the post so Im the one getting

embarassed, not him. MEN! I am learning about the Star program and

didnt know they did it at Baudwin.

> >

> > I am really uncomfortable with my son being in a cluster at a

public

> > school. He is in Kindergarden now and they work on the STAR

program.

> > Does anyone know what that is? The way his teacher explained how

they

> > do things at his school is that even though he will go through

the

> > grades, because noone fails in the cluster, he will be way far

behind

> > from other kids. Can anyone tell me some great schools in Broward

> > County that will give my son an education as well as help my son

with

> > his needs?

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I think your posting echoes the sentiment of some of us parents with

children with disability regarding Special Education. The purpose of

Spe Ed, according to the law, is to help close the educational gap for

our children, but how often does that really happen? Spe Ed is supposed

to be a set of services and tools to help our students with

disabilities but instead it has become a PLACE where our children go to

study, separate from the rest of the student body, and God borbid you

try to get him out of there! While it is true that some students with

disabilities may not be able to learn everything a typical student

learns, the goal should be to get him as close to that point as

possible within his capabilities by providing him or her the necessary

accomodations. Nothing in the law says he needs to be able to keep up

with the academics of typical students to be in a typical classroom.

Yet, when we inquire in schools about inclusion for Jonnhy who has Down

Syndrome or who has PDD the schools tell us all about how our

children would not be able to keep up with the other students because

after spending years in cluster, yes they are very behind in the school

curriculum. The way I feel about it is that I can live knowing my child

may graduate from high school not knowing calculus, trigonometry,

physics or having written a paper on Shakespere. He may not have much

use for that in his daily life (I certainly don't in mine) but I am

more concerned about him learning the skills that will allow him to

live an independent, happy, meaningful life in the real world. Keeping

our children in the coccoon of a cluster classroom does not teach them

anything about surviving in the real world. And I know this is a very

unpopular statement for many parents in our circle, but there I said

it. I read the other day something about the #1 reason why employers

will not employ people with developmental disabilities. Interesting

enough, they did not mention " lack of knowledge or skills. " They all

cited their problems relating to other co-workers, and not knowing how

to interact in the workplace as the reason why employees with DD could

not hold down a job. How can we expect them to know how to work with

typical individuals if all their lives they were in self-contained

environments? So I feel that just because my child may not be able to

decipher the meaning of the Odysee or solve chemical equations, does

not mean he needs to spend his life in a segregated classroom. I want

him to learn as much as he can, not only about academics but also about

creating friendships and learning appropriate social behaviors and I

want him to grow up feeling part of his school (not just part of the

ESE classroom). And this can only happen, in my opinion, when he spends

as much time as possible with typical children. Ida

>

> I am really uncomfortable with my son being in a cluster at a public

> school. He is in Kindergarden now and they work on the STAR program.

> Does anyone know what that is? The way his teacher explained how they

> do things at his school is that even though he will go through the

> grades, because noone fails in the cluster, he will be way far behind

> from other kids. Can anyone tell me some great schools in Broward

> County that will give my son an education as well as help my son with

> his needs?

>