Any advice on a school district for severely disabled child? (Dallas: fit in, apartment)

[corfo]

Hi, We will be moving to Dallas in summer. We were wondering if anyone had any comments on which school district might serve us best. Our daughter is 3, she has a rare genetic disorder and is very delayed, cognitively and physically. We were hoping not to move too far from Las Colinas, so we were thinking of living in Irving, Farmers Branch or Grapevine. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks

[Squirl]

If you want to live in Irving, live in Valley Ranch or Hackberry Creek where they are served by either Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD or Coppell ISD. I have a friend who is a special ed teacher in CFISD and she tells me very good special ed programs there. But I do not have direct knowledge.

[corfo]

Thanks Squirl!

[rohanbasrur]

I think it is important for your child to be "tested" before you finalize a school district of choice (and hence a city to live in). Call up the school districts in advance before your move. After summer, when the school year starts, you must meet the Special Ed Dept Coordinators before you make up your mind.

Typically if there is severe development delay, then the child is wheelchair bound and is often medically fragile. Such a child will go in a LIFE SKILLS class and given the age, into a pre-primary program.

Irving ISD has the * best * LIFE program with highly dedicated teachers and should be the first school district you must consider. This school district invests a lot in Special Education for mentally challenged children.

Now CFB-ISD has an awesome Special Ed department but they are better known & highly rated for Gifted/Exceptional Education - called their ACE & LEAP programs.

Irving is a great city to live in if you plan to stay in an apartment. Homes are higher priced & frankly less value-for-money as compared to most other areas in the metroplex.

If you finalize on Irving as your city of choice, then you need to carefully decide which part of the city you live in. Irving is served by 3 school districts - Irving South is covered by Irving ISD and Irving North (Las Colinas & Valley Ranch) is covered by CFB-ISD and Coppell respectively.

I seldom lurk on these forums but will check back in a week or two to see if you have any downstream questions.

Best wishes - god bless you & your special child.

Rohan

[corfo]

That was a fantastic answer! Much appreciated. Our daughter really does fit into the severe category. The syndrome she has is severe, she has very low muscle tone and cannot walk, talk/sign or feed herself, so we are not looking for education as such, more therapy and life skills.

[loves2read]

I might also suggest that you call the TEA region 10--Dallas area--and check with the coordinator for special education
that person deals with programs in all the Region 10 ISDs--probably worked in one at some point--and would be knowledgeable about most programs available for a child like yours...
Special Education Home
Gloria Key is the asst director for special populations as they call resource dept
this is some of her background info
Gloria Key, a graduate of Texas A & M Commerce, BS in Education (Elementary and English); Baylor University with a MEd in Special Education (all-level and Educational Diagnostician); and Dallas Baptist University with a doctorate in educational leadership. Experience as a general education teacher, special education teacher, educational diagnostician, special education director, Region 10 consultant, and currently Region 10 Director of Special Education and member of the Texas McKinney-Vento Homeless Education management board

[corfo]

Thank you Loves2read. Again another great suggestion, I am glad I posted this question. I had tried talking to the school districts but they are fairly cagey about what they might of might not offer. So all advice as to how I can get the best for my daughter is great.
Have a wonderful weekend.
c

[Big G]

Why is it that Highland Park ISD and Dallas ISD never get mentioned in these threads?

[Squirl]

Originally Posted by Big G

Why is it that Highland Park ISD and Dallas ISD never get mentioned in these threads?

....well, maybe because the OP already identified the locations she was interested in and HPISD and DISD were not among them.

[loves2read]

frankly Highland Park ISD is small--the possibility that the district would have enough severely handicapped students in range that the OP's child is probably ranks pretty low
in situations like that, the district will often contract out the IEP for a severely handicapped child to larger district with more resources--vs hiring people qualified to provide that level of care for one child...
it is just not cost effective...as harsh as that sounds...and legally the district is allowed to do that
that is what the Argyle ISD does now I believe --with its resource students--contracts with Denton ISD, larger and fairly close...probably all Argyle provides is bus service