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Old 01-30-2008, 02:29 PM
 
4 posts, read 75,136 times
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I am a mother of four boys, ages 9, 7, 5 & 4. We are moving to Virginia Beach from San Antonio this summer, and I am wondering what the best elementary schools would be for a child with special needs. My 5 year old has autism, and is currently attending a public school where he is integrated into a regular Kindergarten class. We are planning to buy a home in Great Neck, Little Neck, or Kellam. If any of you have any thoughts on this, I would greatly appreciate it!
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Old 02-02-2008, 06:27 PM
 
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Depending on your son's behaviors he may go into SECEP, I work for them. SECEP does have some students integrated into some regular ed classes and special education classes. They have classrooms with a max of 7 children, 5 is about average. The classrooms are located within many of the local schools and VA Beach PS provides transportation. The staff is trained to work with children who have autism. There is 1 teacher and depending on the number of students 1 - 3 T/As. A lot of the T/As have 2 & even 4 year degrees and are going to school for their masters while working for SECEP. VA Beach is starting its own program for children with autism, but this is the first year so I can not speak for its quality. I do know they have a larger max class size and a higher student to teacher ratio than SECEP. If you google SECEP their website will come up and you can contact them for more information.
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Old 02-18-2008, 04:30 PM
 
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Thank you so much for your response. I have been to the SECEP website, and it looks like a good program. I am quite certain based on his severity he would qualify for this program. I'm always nervous moving him to a new school situation (and I have 3 other boys to be concerned with as well!). Thank you again.
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Old 02-18-2008, 05:26 PM
 
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Hi Sboline!

I'm moving to the Hampton Roads area from Minot, ND (Air Force) in June. I have a 4 year old son on the spectrum (moderate to severe). I have heard that the best schools are north of Mercury Blvd (?), and along the York County/Hampton County line. I don't know about the neighborhoods you mentioned, but it's nice to see someone else with the same thing going on moving to the same place. Can you please put the link up for SECEP webpage, I have not seen it and am interested. I also have 3-4 names of DAN! doctors, two of which accept TRICARE (I don't know if you are military or not). Also where are the neighborhoods/towns you mentioned?
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Old 02-20-2008, 12:54 PM
 
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Hi Jojo! So nice to know someone else is going through the excitement of moving with a child with special needs! We are not military, but are moving because my husband is now working in Virginia Beach. The neighborhoods I listed are neighborhoods in Virginia Beach, and from my understanding, my son with autism will probably be serviced by SECEP through one of the neighborhood public elementary schools. The website is SECEP.net if you want more information. I wish you and your family the best of luck in your relocation.
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Old 02-20-2008, 04:40 PM
 
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Jojo SECEP is a southside program. Hampton where Mercury Blvd is located is on the peninsula. They do not have any Autism specific programs, like SECEP. I grew up in Hampton. It can be very hit and miss with safety and schools, so do your homework. Personally I would only send my son to VA Beach Public Schools. I feel the quality of education in VA Beach is much better than in Hampton. My friends have children in Hampton City Schools and they are thinking of moving to the Beach.
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Old 02-20-2008, 04:52 PM
 
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I also work at a summer camp for children with Autism. They have camp during the summer and spring break as well as monthly socials and holiday parties. It is designed specifically for children with autism. Camp for Autism - Summer Camp You-tube video from camp
YouTube - Camp Gonnawannagoagain - Autism (ColdPlay - Talk) Surfers healing comes to VA Beach as well Surfers Healing You will find there are a lot of resources here locally. Autism Society of America - Tidewater Chapter 261 - Resource Directory (http://www.tidewaterasa.org/resourcedirectory.html - broken link) Hope you guys find this info helpful.
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Old 02-20-2008, 07:11 PM
 
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Spaz--

How long (timewise) is the commute from VA Beach to Langely AFB/Hampton? If it's not too long I would rather live somewhere that has decent enough programs.
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Old 02-20-2008, 08:58 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jojo61397 View Post
Spaz--

How long (timewise) is the commute from VA Beach to Langley AFB/Hampton? If it's not too long I would rather live somewhere that has decent enough programs.
With traffic it can be 45min to several hours depending on the time of day. A lot of people make the commute. Here is a link to our local traffic cams. TRAFFIC | WVEC.com | News for Hampton Roads, Virginia You may want to look at them during the times your husband will be commuting to see how it looks to you. From VA Beach to Hampton you would take I-264 west to I-64 west. You can get off anywhere in Hampton and get to Langley the closest exit is the Lasalle exit, but I get off at Woodland Rd and cut through a neighborhood using the king street gate. You have to drive past naval station Norfolk to get from VA Beach to Hampton. NOB/NAB is the worlds largest naval base. Trust me it has the traffic to match. Gas is around 3.00$ a gallon here so you have to take that into account, too. I can tell you the BAH for VA Beach used to be higher than the BAH for Hampton. I don't know if it still is or not that was about 8 years ago.
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Old 02-27-2008, 09:13 AM
 
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We bought in Virginia Beach (best all around special ed program we thought) not knowing whether my son (then 3) would be accepted into SECEP or not. It's not an easy program to get into. If your son had been mainstreamed before you may have a hard time convincing the district that your son needs SECEP. SECEP is essentially a private school that leases space in some public schools. Your district pays your child's tutition - so they they don't just give this program away. We are on the west side of Virignia Beach.

Virginia Beach also has a new Talk About Curing Autism (TACA) Chapter
TACA Talk About Curing Autism -Virginia TACA Group
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