Alternatives to public school?

Post Reply New Topic

Since my regional question got very little response, thought I'd try a broader question: what are others doing besides homeschooling and public school, are there other options? I have 3 kids, 2 with HFA (7 & 9), and 1 NT (also 7). I don't know if I can keep trying to make a system that doesn't work for my kids try at least not to do damage. I need a plan B for middle school and high school. I worry homeschooling will isolate us more than we already are (besides being a lot of work for me that I feel unqualified for). So... private schools? Ways to homeschool? Public schools doing something right anywhere in this country??

You should look into online school. The kids learn from home on the computer, but they can still interact with teachers and students. There is also social functions to attend and class field trips to go on.

It's easier than homeschooling because you don't need to worry about fulfilling state requirements - the school takes care of that for you.

There are a few people here on WP who go to online school.

I know a user named Ezra occasionally learns online, rather than go to his school building.

Thanks. I'll explore.

I home school b/c our public system here was a terrible fit for us. When I tried to do research on the online options, it was really hard to sort through the information. The online school rep I spoke to was not good at answering questions that were not easily answered by her canned script -(she kept bragging about the social opportunities that I told her many times were not going to be of any interest to my son)- The home schooling forums, while helpful on other points, tend to be very enthusiastic about home schooling on principal and not necessarily good at understanding or appreciating the perspective of those who were thrust into it, involuntarily.

I am sure someone who got further along into the online charter journey can give more information than I could, but the main advantages (to me) were that it was paid for by tax dollars just like regular PS, and the supplies and curriculum are taken care of by them. You also have teacher resource humans, but that is also partially in the negative column b/c some people have said (not verified b/c we did not do it) that they can be inflexible and pushy about progressing in a very specific path through the materials.

Also in the negative column (for me) is that there are mandatory video classes and the fact that you need to log a minimum amount of time online. While it makes sense that they would need to have proof of a certain amount of butt-in-seat work --if you have a kid who best learns by doing, you may not want that kind of rigidity.

In the end, we decided to go our own way because the thing that hurt us the most in public school was the lack of flexibility. Even though our issue were with things other than the academic work, I really didn't want to have to deal with it if the online videos and materials were a bad a fit, their lectures boring etc. and then fight with them about trying to get permission to do it differently. In public school my son would zone out or act out when bored. I had no confidence of how that could be dealt with. They were unable to answer questions about what they did with kids who were on IEPs or anything like that.

I guess what I am saying, is that online could be great or not depending on whether your child would do better with a school style curriculum and teaching methods or needs something more flexible. Sometimes the need for flexibility can sneak up on you. For example, this year I was intending to do earth science, and a special interest in chemistry popped up. So I am doing chemistry followed by physics. If I were in the online school, I would still be spiraling through general science. My state is very flexible and I don't know what Mass. allows, so some of your constraints may also be state determined no matter what you do.)

Edited for literacy.

I homeschooled my ASD1/gifted son from second grade through eighth grade. There are so many homeschooling resources available nowadays that it's really not hard. It also doesn't have to be socially isolating. Depending on how common (or not) homeschooling is in your area you may find that there are many co-ops and extra-curricular activity groups just for homeschoolers. That said, it's definitely not for everyone and IMO everyone in the family needs to be on board with it before taking the leap.

Here in my area there is a private K-12 school just for children with autism. They also accept a limited number of students with ADD/ADHD, I believe. The tuition is very expensive, though. They have a scholarship application on their site, but I don't know how generous the scholarships are or how difficult they are to qualify for. But you might do some research and see if there are any schools like that in your area.

For high school you can look to see if any of your area schools have grants for P-TECH (www.ptech.org). It is a model that started in Brooklyn, NY and has spread to other districts and states.

It is basically a 6 year high school program, but upon graduation the student has a HS diploma AND an associate's degree in some STEM area. It is a partnership between the school, local business community, and local higher education.

The program is a STEM program and seeks to graduate it's students at a state in which they will be truly workforce ready. For my son's program, all of his community college coursework is guaranteed to transfer directly to any state college if he wishes to pursue his 4 year degree. He is a sophomore and has already been assigned a business mentor who works with him 1:1 for workforce readiness. He is taking his first college class right now. Before you panic and think...how will my kid be able to take college courses when he/she is 14 or 15 years old? Relax! I had the same huge panic attack when we went to the orientation. But the first few college classes contain college level curriculum, but are taught in the school, so he isn't actually going to college. But he will be (which still makes me nervous, except for all of the close monitoring he will get).

Although it is not intended as a school for kids on the mildly impaired end of the spectrum, it sure suits the bill. The school has PBIS (Positive Behavioral Intervention & Support) built directly into the program for all students. It also uses PBL (Project Based Learning). My son has excelled since entry into this program and the teachers are all...ah...how to describe? They were clearly hired for their ability to think outside the box to try to find ways to engage kids. It is very hands on and personalized. I think my son's biggest class has 8 kids in it. He gets a lot of 1:1 time with teachers.

When I went to the open house for this program when my son was in 8th grade, they stated that one of their goals was to support kids who were disadvantaged, to help get them through their associate's degree and on to successful employment. In the presentation, they clearly indicated that they were interested in kids who either came from an economically disadvantaged home, or one in which neither parent had gone past high school. That certainly does not fit our situation, so I met with the principal and told her I felt my son was disadvantaged in a different kind of way because of his neurological makeup. I shared with her his struggles. She said he was the perfect candidate for this school and encouraged him to submit his application. In our area, there are limited spots available for the program, but my son was selected.

The thing my son loves most about the school is it is probably the first time in his life that he does not feel like an outcast. We suspect a number of the kids are on the spectrum, but, as one of his teachers put it "everyone here is here because for one reason or another, they did not want to go to their assigned high school." Some are clearly somewhere in the genius category. Others are socially awkward. Some probably come from families that for whatever reason were not giving them the right kind of support. Regardless, it is an academically challenging program, but it is designed and taught in a way that most kids seem to be learning from.

Last "best part"? It's funded by the kid's assigned school, so it is free to parents (yes, a FREE associate's degree at the end). And, he will have a lot of guidance and support through the first two years. My son is cognitively capable of getting at least a bachelor's if not a master's degree, but I never really thought he would be able to cut the non-academic requirements of college. His issues with executive functioning are that impairing. This program gives me hope, though, because he will have a LOT of support during the first 2 years, which will hopefully give him a strong foundation for furthering his education if he so chooses.

Wow, p-tech sounds amazing. I will check that out too.

A good public school in a good neighborhood is fine, public schools are not all bad for autistic kids.
I think there is value in going to public school.
If I had a child, I wouldn't put them in a special autism school, and I think private school is unnecessary unless you live in a bad school district.

My kid is in an ASD Nest program in public school. It is, basically, a smaller inclusion class with the classroom/ supports designed particularly for ASD kids. There are 5 ASD kids, and 10 gen ed kids in the class. I live in NYC. I believe that some places in Massachusetts also have a model like this, but don't know of other places in the country. It is hard to get these spots, as more kids need them than there are seats in the program. Prior to my son getting a spot in this class, I had gotten him a spot in a private school for ASD kids. However, the spot opened in the public school before he was set to start the private school. My kid really needed a different setting than a regular ICT class, or gen ed class. He could not cope with the amount of kids in the room, he made no friends. He happens to really, really have an interest in socializing, but the kids in his regular public school setting all rejected him, and it was causing major self esteem issues. He was also melting down all day long with sensory overload. Now, he has friends and is feeling much calmer during the day. A lot of parents who cannot find their kid a public school setting that will work for their child will find a private school setting, then try to get the DOE to defer the case (meaning the DOE will agree to fund the private school setting). This is hard to do, and, often, the parents end up suing the DOE to try and get their child in the private school. It sucks, but if they can prove their child cannot thrive in the regular public school setting, they will often win the case. I was going down this road before the public school program spot opened up. I know parents in other parts of the country who did have to sue the DOE, but ended up getting a good placement for their child.