Possible move to Hickory/Newton... Special Needs child.. advice please. (Conover: transfer to, elementary school)

[mattchel67]

Hello, we are currently living in Upstate, NY, and my husband has an oppourtunity to transfer to Newton, NC. We need to decide whether we want to take the transfer, now! The main problem is that our 6 year old son has ADHD, OCD, and would need an aide in school, and we are unsure of what the school system in North Carolina provides for special needs children. Our son is extremely intelligent, and is reading at a 3rd or 4th grade level, and is currently in 1st grade. He is thriving in school now, and we don't want to move and not have the assistance that he needs in school. Does anyone have a child with similar needs in North Carolina, or know of what the school system offers for these children? I would appreciate any advice that you might have

[J_Lurk]

Every school system is different, and you might just want to directly contact the relevant school system and ask. I'm not an expert on that area of the state, but I think the school system would be either Newton-Conover City Schools ( Newton-Conover City Schools ) or Catawba County Schools ( Catawba County Schools ) depending on where exactly you would live. Look on the websites for the "exceptional children" section for contact names.

[roadpony]

My step-daughter is an elementary school guidance counselor in the Catawba County system. I've asked her to sign on here and help with advice.

[mattchel67]

Originally Posted by roadpony

My step-daughter is an elementary school guidance counselor in the Catawba County system. I've asked her to sign on here and help with advice.

Thank you so much! The deadline to apply for the transfer is October 1st, so we have been stressing about the decision!

[HickoryNCKeisler]

I hope the information that I sent you helped! Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with!

In case you did not receive it, I am pasting the info below:



Here is the email address for the "Exception Childrens Director" at Newton-Conover Schools : jennifer_cash@nccs.k12.nc.us

They even have summer programs for Exception Children, CLICK HERE for their schedule.

Here is a quote from their website:
"Approximately 400 Newton-Conover students are served in programs for exceptional children while an additional 120 or more students across Catawba County are served in joint programs administered by Newton-Conover Schools. Service options for students vary based upon individual needs, however; most students are provided services in regular classroom settings. Other service options include resource classes, separate classes, separate school, home, hospital and residential settings."


It looks like Newton-Conover is the "hot spot" for special needs children... 76% of special needs children in Catawba County are in the Newton-Conover education programs...

Here is a link to their main page on Exceptional Children, on the Newton-Conover site.

I hope this helps! I know it can be overwhelming to relocate to another area - and the process of finding a great school for a special needs child makes the process that much more stressful!

We are here to help - if you need anything, let us know! We live and work in Newton, NC. So we know this town "inside and out"!

Katie Keisler