Special Education in Bedford, NH schools (Manchester, Derry: how much, school district, design)

[th66]

Hi Everyone!
My husband and I have a child with special needs. We are considering relocating to Bedford. What is the special education department like in Bedford? We are also considering the communities of Windham and Hollis.

[BF66389]

A neighbor of ours has a child with special needs in Hollis; they were extolling how much they love the school district to us. I don't have details because I have no children.

[th66]

Thanks BF66389! Our daughter is currently in the Litchfield school system which is deplorable. She'll be entering the fourth grade this fall. My husband who is an engineer has set up an "exit strategy for leaving Litchfield". Yes, there is a time frame and yes it's on Excell!! We have heard the Special Education director in Hollis is not very good. I think most elementary schools do an okay job with Special Education, however it gets harder to find good special education in middle schools and high schools in NH.

[BF66389]

Kind of a general comment (from the son of a 30 year+ special ed teacher):
Make sure the schools programs will acknowldge not only weaknesses but strenghts as well. Many times a special education student as a specific weakness (reading comprehension for example) but has many other strengths (math and science for example). A good special education curriculum allows the student to be placed as high as they can succeed in their strong skills and only receive specialized/targeted help for their weak skils.
In VA the general rule was to place the kid in special ed altogether and the child was generally "stuck" on that track rather than pushed to do well in areas where they had no weaknesses. This meant almost all special ed students stayed entirely in special ed (and was better for the school because of the special accomodations allowed for standardized testing); but it wasn't better than the children. I'm not talking the "every child is special" concept, but I am talking about addressing each problem as an individual problem that doesn't encompass the entire individual.
Kids are adaptable- if they have a few weaknesses holding them back they can often overcome them with targeted help; but they won't if their is no incentive/path to do so.
I work with a gentleman who couldn't read as of the 5th grade. He still is not a stellar writer (actually, he's pretty awful at it). But some of the mathematical computations and engineering concepts he can recall make him invaluable. He had a school system that let him be in remedial language classes (with a teacher who helped him learn ways to compensate/get by) but AP Math & Science classes...enough said.

[th66]

Thank you (BF66389) for your response. When a school system can't list strengths on a child's IEP (there is a place on the IEP form for this), they either don't know what they are or they don't care. Thank you for your insights and help in this matter.

[theresabert]

You may want to consider Hampstead. We moved here from Derry specifically for the special education. Both the Central (kindergarten through fourth) and the Middle (fifth through eighth) do an outstanding job of looking at each child as an individual and designing a program that is appropriate for each student. Also, the general education is excellent as well.

[th66]

Thanks theresabert for your response! Have you heard any good things about Salem or Windham? I spoke with someone from New Hamphire's Education Department and they mentioned that Manchester, Derry, Litchfield, and Hudson did not have very good reputations with special education or for that matter their general education.

[Valerie C]

th66, as mom to a child in need of services since 1st grade, I have to say that Londonderry schools have been overall been favorable. We started with a 504 plan in elementary school, which developed in an IEP that followed to middle school. The reputation of the Londonderry school system is the main reason that we chose this town, and while there are bumps in the road, overall I feel that we chose well, especially when we hear some of the horror stories of special needs students in other nearby towns...