Looking for great special ed town in north shore for dyslexia. Can't afford Marblehead. (Beverly: condo, school districts)

[a_rons]

Hi any suggestions on a North shore town with a great program? We are moving down from Maine. Could do Seacoast NH as well.

Thanks!

[gf2020]

What is your budget and where do you need to commute to?

[sal1181]

I had met a woman who's son has dyslexia. The town she lived in could not accomodate her child so he was sent to the Landmark school in Beverly. She raved about how awesome that school is and she did not have to pay to have her son go there

[a_rons]

I think sub $500k, and close to route 95 would be best.

[gf2020]

Look at Georgetown.

[a_rons]

Does Georgetown have a great special Ed program?

[kingeorge]

Best programs are in the priciest and most sought after school districts. No way around that. Something will have to give. You should do some research on boards that are SPED specific, it is very hard to advise you on what is the best program for your child.

Most often people are trying to give you locations on account of your budget, assuming decent family sized SF, and not necessarily because of familiarity with any given dyslexia program. In any town that fits the bill, you should contact school ASAP, and get as much info as possible. Poorer the the town, poorer the services, usually.

Are you OK with TH or a condo? Smaller, older home? How many beds do you want/need? What about commute?

Why can you not afford Marblehead? There are 30 listings under $500K, including 14 SF. That is not bad for this time of the year. Sellers will be more eager to sell.

There are many options are open depending on your priorities.

Good luck.

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by sal1181

I had met a woman who's son has dyslexia. The town she lived in could not accomodate her child so he was sent to the Landmark school in Beverly. She raved about how awesome that school is and she did not have to pay to have her son go there

Coming from out of state, I don't think the OP understood your comment. Is that a trick that some families use to get their child with an IEP into private school? I know if a town that can't provide adequate services for your child, you can have your child placed at a private school that specializes in that learning disability and your school district has to pick up the tab. It's hard to do this for autism, but it should be easier to get placed out of district if you have a less common learning disability. It appears that moving to a low-performing school district that doesn't spend a lot per pupil increases your chances of that town not being able to provide adequate services. If this is true, then everyone coming onto this forum asking for the best SPED program is looking at it all wrong! As a bonus, you'll also save a few hundred thousand by moving to a town with bad schools.

[sal1181]

From what I was told her son was attending public school at the district that they resided in. He was not performing well. He had evaluations done and he was diagnosed with Dyslexia that's when they moved him to Landmark. There he did great since the class sizes were smaller. I was surprised when she told me the town had to pay for that school which cost $50K a year

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by sal1181

From what I was told her son was attending public school at the district that they resided in. He was not performing well. He had evaluations done and he was diagnosed with Dyslexia that's when they moved him to Landmark. There he did great since the class sizes were smaller. I was surprised when she told me the town had to pay for that school which cost $50K a year

I know a couple kids from Sudbury who attend Nashoba Learning Group, a private school in Bedford for autism. Sudbury also has to pay the tuition which is $100k/year per kid. It must be a state law for the town to foot the private school tuition, but I'm not familiar w/the details on how to get placed out of district.