newton, brookline or where? for severely handicapped child (Boston, Arlington: apartments, homes)

[lorisheepdog]

Hi,

I have a "normal" middle schooler and a severely disabled 10-year-old. We are planning to move to one of the "inner ring" suburbs of Boston this summer. I am having a hard time figuring out the school situation there. Where we are now, our disabled child is in a lovely separate school for kids ages 3-21. He does not walk or talk and his condition is progressive. We are not interested in educating him in an inclusive environment, but rather want a special place for him to be lovingly taken care of by teachers who specialize in these needs.

Our friends who have lived in the Boston area tell us that Brookline, Newton and similar suburbs fit our family. We like to live close to a walkable, cute downtown area, and prefer an older home that has been renovated. Our home budget--$1.5 to 2.5 mil. I like having neighbors who are very well educated with liberal politics and values. We do not like suburbs that are exclusive, snobby and completely homogenous. We want both our children to be accepted by the community.

Any ideas? I'm guessing I will have to start calling the various school districts but thought someone might know.

Thanks!

[clevedark]

The Lincoln school district in Brookline will fit your bill. There are some beautiful single family homes that will fit your budget in Pill Hill (although I can't guarantee it will be renovated), yet in the same neighborhood is Brookline public housing, and plenty of small and large apartments, as well as the estate section where people like the owner of the Red Sox live. I have heard people say this school district has the most economic diversity in town.

Whether that's true or not I can't prove, but all school districts in this town have plenty of well educated sophisticated families and also families from all over the world who live here for a period of time with work related to Harvard, MIT, etc.

We moved here from a snobby and completely homogenous suburb and thank our lucky stars every day that we found this place. There is just about every kind of person and family here, and I guarantee that *both* of your children will be accepted by the community.

Good luck with your search.

[allykat623]

Hi,
I live out in the boonies NW of Boston but have I have a kid in a self-contained classroom and have done some research into what's available in the communities closer to Boston (we'd considered moving but are now going out of state for reasons having nothing to do with schools).

I have heard that Newton is highly regarded for SPED but I have no first-hand knowledge. Newton was on our short list in part because of the schools and services. Check into their inclusive recreation programs & camps.

Something to be aware of is that most or many communities are member of special ed collaboratives. It sounds like from your child's needs and the type of program you want you'd be dealing with one of the collaboratives. They operate classrooms within the public schools.

Arlington and Lexington (both worth your look) are part of the LABBB collaborative. My son attends a program as part of the CASE (Concord, Acton areas) collaborative. Our experience so far has been very good. I've found the collaborative & the school work very well together.

Good luck in your search.

[lorisheepdog]

Thank you both for your input. Brookline is definitely at the top of our list and we will be sure to investigate the schools there. I'm aware of this collaborative type of situation. Most of the towns near where we live currently (North Shore of Chicago) operate that way. My town is the exception with its own separate school for moderate/severely disabled kids. I think it's tiime to dive in and get some more specifics. Thanks again.

[ice_cream_eyes]

I think you would love Brookline. People here are not snobby at all, but very well educated and liberal. Also the school have a whole program for 4th graders called "understanding disabilities" that helps them develop empathy and learn about what it would be like to live with various disabilities. I was one of the parent chaperones for it this year at the Pierce School and it was extremely well done.