Best East Cobb/North Fulton schools for dyslexic 4th grader (Atlanta: home, private schools)

[amcs]

We are relocating to the Marietta/Roswell area from the Chicago area. My fourth grader has been diagnosed with dyslexia and I want to make this move as positive as possible for him. I have read many of the threads on education here and know that the East Cobb school system is excellent. My concern is that my son get excellent support so that he can continue to be academically successful. Any and all advice is very much appreciated.

[lastminutemom]

Historically, in GA, dyslexia is not well managed in public schools. What adaptations/modifications does your child get at his current school?

[Mattie]

I could be wrong, but I am under the impression dyslexia alone doesn't qualify for an IEP here, so if you have one in place now, be sure to bring it with you.

[amcs]

Illinois also does not recognize dyslexia for IEP qualification. His disability falls under a language based learning disability. He also has expressive/receptive learning issues. The school has been working with the Wilson Language program with him. He also gets spelling words ahead of time. He is doing quite well. I am also getting speech and language help privately to support what is being done in the school.

[amcs]

Thank you for your replies. Learning that the public school system doesn't offer much support for these learners is really disappointing. Knowing that the districts' drive is academic excellence, would you recommend one over another for a bright kid that needs that extra help? He gets lots of support at home and I'll do all I can. Thanks, this has been a rollercoaster ride!

[lastminutemom]

Any chance you can swing private -- there are some great private schools that serve dyslexic children and have tremendous success in getting them ready to "do school" with little to no support -- ie teaching them the strategies, etc.

Let me know.

[amcs]

I looked at the tuition for some of these schools and they're too high for us. I think the average was 16 to 20,000. Thanks so much for your input.

[AtlJan]

You may want to call the schools (Schenck, Wardlaw at Atlanta Speech School, Swift, Porter) to see if you qualify for financial assistance. There is also partial funding from the state but I believe you have to have been in the public school system (locally) for a year to get the funding.

In addition, there are summer programs which are phenomenal at these schools. Children often travel from out of state to attend Schenck's summer day program. It is expensive, but could be worth it. And the school makes it fun and it definitely boosts the older children's morale to see peers with similar struggles. Can't say enough good things about this school.

[CMMom]

Agreed with ATlJan. My son has done the summer camp program at the Schenck School for the past two summers and I believe it has made a tremendous difference in both his reading skills and his enthusiasm for reading. Writing is still a struggle, but he no longer resists his 20 minutes of daily reading homework. It's worth a phone call or two to see if you can qualify for financial aid. We're talking about life-changing intervention here. The older they get, the more difficult true remediation is.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Mattie

I could be wrong, but I am under the impression dyslexia alone doesn't qualify for an IEP here, so if you have one in place now, be sure to bring it with you.

Unfortunately, we did not qualify when seeking an IEP here for my then 4th grader who is dyslexic. She was attending Morningside Elementary at the time, and the special help she was getting there, while well intended, just wasn't doing the trick. She is now a sixth grader at The Schenck School, with which we are extremely pleased; however, it is very expensive - about $27k per year - so our family vacations have been reduced to a trip to McDonald's in the summer... Seriously, though, Schenck does do exceptional work and the results have blessed my daughter greatly. The Schenck School: Home