Alpharetta, GA: Public schools for kids with dyslexia (Atlanta, Marietta: school district, moving to)

[mrsmyrtle]

My family and I are moving to the Alpharetta area in a few months. Two of my three children have dyslexia as well as other learning disabilities. I had seen an old forum (2012) discussing the non-existent services dyslexic children receive in the public school systems in Atlanta. I was wondering if that is still the case? Is that specific only to Atlanta schools or is that also the case for Atlanta suburbs, i.e, Alpharetta?

I would appreciate any input as to what public elementary schools would be best for my dyslexic children.

Thank you!

[Mattie]

Will your children have IEPs in place from the district they currently attend? We had no problem at all having our son's IEP followed here, but it wasn't for dyslexia.

[lastminutemom]

The state of GA does terribly by children with special needs in general. Things may vary from system to system, and much more frighteningly from school to school within a system.

Where do your children stand in terms of services and results?

[AtlJan]

similar to lmm's question, how old are your children and have they already completed a remediation program?

If they are in elementary school (especially early elementary) and could be helped by remediation, there is a very good school near Alpharetta, The Swift School, that is a specialized, private school for dyslexic students. If they are older and have already completed an Orton-Gillingham or Wilson program, than this won't be of use.

I have a dyslexic child and network with parents of dyslexic kids on a regular basis. There is not a school district in the metro that does a great job of educating dyslexic students to their potential. Some school systems are better than others at accommodating and some do a weekly pull-out tutoring. I do know that many of the early grades teachers at East Side Elementary in East Cobb were trained this year in a very thorough O-G course. So good job, East Side. Otherwise, "Dyslexia is a medical diagnosis, so we don't recognize it as an LD" or "If your child is at grade level, or only one grade level behind, then there isn't a problem" is what you will hear in the public schools for the most part.

[mrsmyrtle]

Thank you so much for your responses! I really appreciate your time.

To give you more information...my son (4th grade) and daughter (2nd) attend a private school in the suburbs of Chicago. As it is a private school, they do not have a 504 or an IEP (well, they do have an IEP for speech). However, the school has gone above and beyond and given them every accommodation that I have asked for as well as what they have come up with to help my children succeed.

Both of my children have had a thorough neuropysch evaluation/test done.

My son is a severe dyslexic, whereas my daughter is moderate to mild. They see a private Wilson tutor twice a week. My son has been seeing her for 2.5 years and my daughter for about a year.
They were both in occupational therapy for 7 (son) and 6 (daughter) years. We recently stopped as our therapist moved away.

I wish we could afford all the numerous dyslexic private schools that are in the area but with 2 of my 3 children being dyslexic, it is unfortunately not going to happen.

My concern is after hearing about the lack of help for dyslexics, that they will come from receiving copious accommodations to none in an Alpharetta public school. Is that a fair assumption?

East Side Elementary in East Cobb was mentioned, any other public school recommendations in the Alpharetta area? (Doesn't necessarily have to be in Alpharetta, just somewhere near).

I came across Pathways Academy in Marietta, has anyone heard anything about them?

Again, thank you all so much for your responses and time! If you have any more questions for me, please feel free to ask!