Best Long Island School Districts for Special Education (Huntington, Long Beach: where to live, shop)

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by countrygirl576

Although we have not lived in Ny for 2 years I would rate Shoreham very low. I had to go to the superintendent just to have testing services started. I requested them in October and by May they had not started. The principal insisted my son had a "behavior" problem to find out he had a learning disability. I was so discouraged by the whole situation. He lost that year of education. When we moved to Florida he was going into 5th grade reading on a 1st grade level. My neighbor retaught him how to read. He had little phonics knowledge because the district taught whole language. We didn't fit the mold is the kind of feelings I got.

I will say that most of his teachers were wonderful. It was the principal who later saw for himself what a wonderful child he was.

Thats a shame

Ive heard that about SWR.

From what I understand Rocky Point is pretty good.
For elementary ...Riverhead too.

crooks

[LItransplant]

your question about inclusion or seperate depends on what your district has to offer and what the diagnosis is of your child.

My district has 3 elementary schools but only one kindergarten inclusion class. That means they have to have a Special Ed teacher along with the regular ed teacher and assistant. If the District and you agree (and they have it) then they would be put in the inclusion class first (least restrictive environment). If they feel there are more severe issues and an inclusion class would not work, then they would probably be put in seperated special ed class. Having been there for both it all depends on what you think the child will do best. My district now has classes just for autistic children only. Let me just say that most districts do not know how to do inclusion well. You have to make sure they are MODIFYING the curriculum to tailor to your childs needs. The best thing is to try it first. If it isnt successfull than try to keep them in inclusion 1/2 the day and maybe another type of class the other. Its an intricate dance. But not knowing your whole story its hard to say. I highly reccommend you look at all the classes (and i mean spend 1/2 a day at each if you can) and observe the class before making any decisions. The district may not want you to do that but you should!

Good Luck!

[2FlappingKids]

Originally Posted by LauraJ333

Interested to hear any feedback on Miller Place

Miller Place is the worst!

Our attorney told us they have the reputation of being the 'sleaziest' of all CPSE and CSEs. and

Moderator cut: we can not mention people's names here we really are really stupid and know nothing about children with special needs and IDEA or that they are just plain evil. They deny everything. Violate FAPE all the time. Lie compulsively. They run a support group monthly and us parents laugh at them the whole time. We can't even be honest because if you say something they don't like, they will take it out on our kids!
Miller Place is know to not care about your kids if they are not 'ivy league' material.

Garden City, I have heard is bad, too.

South Huntington is great now that they have Dr. Krivochet as the CSE chair.

Half Hollow Hills has a great reputation for special ed, too

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by 2FlappingKids

Miller Place is the worst!

Our attorney told us they have the reputation of being the 'sleaziest' of all CPSE and CSEs. Not sure if : are really stupid and know nothing about children with special needs and IDEA or that they are just plain evil. They deny everything. Violate FAPE all the time. Lie compulsively. They run a support group monthly and us parents laugh at them the whole time. We can't even be honest because if you say something they don't like, they will take it out on our kids!
Miller Place is known to not care about your kids if they are not 'ivy league' material.

Garden City, I have heard is bad, too.

South Huntington is great now that they have Dr. Krivochet as the CSE chair.

Half Hollow Hills has a great reputation for special ed, too

I'm telling you Rocky Point has a very good program.
I know that people are moving in from MP and SWR for it.

crooks

[tofulovinvegan]

i heard east meadow is a good school district all around. was pretty good with special education students. they seperated them by behaviour problems and learning disabilities and were really patient and understanding...

[Maxsmom]

Rockville centre sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pjandamom]

why?

[Maxsmom]

Originally Posted by Maxsmom

Rockville centre sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!

Because they believe ONLY in total inclusion. So if your kid can't function as 1 of 22 with an aide, then good luck. And if it doesn't work, which in many cases it won't, BOCES is their only option. So, what they tried to do is go from the least restrictive environment, to the most restrictive environment. Of course, this is all about $$$. Fortunately, I have a good lawyer. Things have improved as we now have a new SP chairperson who is fair, intelligent and sane.

[cc1966]

Hi everyone,

This is a great thread. I have been living in Florida for about 3 years and will be heading back to Long Island hopefully in January. I have a 5 year old who was diagnosed with PDD 2 years ago and has had early intervention but Florida is not the best in terms of services. I was thinking about Bethpage because I know the school district is excellent and I am from there yet I have not seen one comment about it. Can anyone help?

Also, is it not possible to get every school district on LI to post on 1 site what they currently offer for children with special needs?

Thanks.

[Ali163]

Hi Everyone,

I am a PhD student at Fordham University in NYC and I am doing my dissertation on the Social Competence/Skills of Children with Learning Disabilities. I have been in communication with multiple school districts on the South Shore of Long Island (where I grew up), but I am having a very hard time getting parents to sign consent forms. I found this forum where a lot of parents are writing and figured I would try and see if anyone would be interested in participating in my study. I have to give three surveys (takes about 20-30 minutes) to children who are classified as LD in third through fifth grade (in regular education classes) and then I need the child's teacher to fill out a very quick survey about the child's social skills. I am currently doing this in Long Beach School District and Freeport School District (it was approved by the Superintendents in the districts), however the parent response with the consent forms has been extremelly dissapointing. If there are any parents reading this on the South Shore/Nassau County of Long Island, please let me know if you are willing to allow your child to participate in my study. I have my dissertation proposal all ready with the surveys, if anyone is interested in reading about my study first. If you are interested at all in having your child participate please respond to the thread.

Thank you!!