Schools around the Charleston area (Columbia, Mount Pleasant: sales, houses, transfer)

[millwoodhouse]

We may be relocating to the Charleston area and hoping to get some feedback on neighborhoods and school systems surrounding the area. I have a 6 yr old son with down syndrome so I'm interested in any experiences with the special education system in SC. thanks

[beachme]

I recently helped a client in your same situation and they interviewed with some of the schools and found that the Mount Pleasant area had the best programs for their child. You might consider talking to someone at the schools in the areas your considering.

[mrpeatie]

I have friends with a Downs child who they send to James Island Elementary. They send their daughter to the magnate elementary on Ashley River road and can afford private so I've always taken his attendence there as a vote of confindence.

BTW- a lot of the specialists rotate form school to school visiting the kids so the some schools might be better than permanant staff would suggest. I'll check with one of my neighbors who does this and see if she can add any thoughts. I live within four houses of three diferent special needs teachers so you might want to think about my neighbrhood.

[millwoodhouse]

Thanks so much for the responses. We are certainly open to any advice....neighborhood suggestions. If we accept the transfer we will be coming down to check out some areas and visit schools. It is a sales job so we can live any where from Columbia to Charleston (Charleston more likely) but trying to stay under 510K. Would love to hear from anyone in special education to get a feel for their thoughts.

[SCBeaches]

I had a little boy with Downs Syndrome in my regular class at Stiles Point Elem. on James Island 6 or 7 years ago and we have had others go through our school too. The parents I know have been very pleased with the attention and education their children received there. The child I taught had very supportive and involved parents who visited our classroom often to help out. They were both professionals who presented lessons and workshops on their given fields to my class, so all my students got to know the parents very well and were very receptive and kind to their son as well. He received special services a few periods a day, but for the most part was included in everything the rest of the class did. His special needs teacher and I worked together to adjust & adapt his assignments and assessments to meet his academic level so that he felt/experienced success. He learned a great deal, made many new friends, and was a positive influence on the other students. We had a great year and I have heard that he is now doing very well in high school.

[tjtrimeloni]

I am a coach/volunteer in the Special Olympics in Dorchester County. Although I don't work with younger athletes, I thought I would direct you to our website www.dorchesterdragons.org. Many of our volunteers have had experience with their children in the schools here in the Charleston area and also work for the school district. I am sure they would be more than happy to share their experience.

[mrpeatie]

I finally had the chance to speak with two of my neighbors who work in special ed for the district- and again we get a set of responses that point to James Island. One said she thinks Harbor View does a good job with special needs kids and the other said James Island schools in general but had further questions.

Neighbor 1 works more with autistic children while the second is a specialist for Down Syndrome kids and her job sounds similar to the teacher upthreads experience. She said that you would have had some testing done already and that you would have gotten various scores/results (?) about aptitude and that these would make a big diference in how the child's needs are approached. She generally likes main-streaming and says that she has a set of kids with whom she works. She follows them but she also spends a great deal of time working with teachers to see how the kid is doing and to adapt plans/assignments to suit the child. She said that if you've determine your child's situation more specifically to actually visit the schools and see if they have recommendations for which classroom the child may be placed in. I guess if they've had teachers who were more successful with this in the past they'll likely send th child through their class. She also likes that James Island High School is a magnate school- this would be helpful for the Downs child and any siblings.

I agree with checking with the district office (75 Calhoun) but it looks like we've had three votes for specific James Island schools, one for generic James Island and one for generic Mt Pleasant. The generic james island was the Downs teacher who said she could be more specific if she knew the childs needs in more detail- she is a wonderful person and if your child had someone like her as a teacher he woul be well served.

ETA- please do not judge my neighbors thoughts on my atrocious spelling. Yikes!