Oakwood schools? (Dayton, Kettering, Centerville: credit, lawyer, transfer)

[MilMom6]

Hi,
We are looking at moving into the Dayton area and are considering Oakwood because of the schools. I understand they are very highly rated but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them for highly gifted kids and/or special needs kids (ADHD or high functioning autism). Are they pretty reasonable with accommodations or do they tend to discourage special needs kids from enrolling so as to keep their high stats? Is the small size of the district a hindrance to getting enough AP classes or things of that nature?

Any help gratefully received!

[dxdtdemon]

Disclaimer: This information is almost ten years old.

I have friends with ADHD who went to Oakwood, and they felt like the teachers and administration didn't want to deal with their IEP's, and were trying to force them to drop out or transfer. I'm sure that has somewhat changed because it is way more prominent now, and more people would make a big deal if that happened today. Assuming that they are more ADHD-friendly than they used to be, I think that the smaller class sizes, abundance of AP exams, and quality of their gifted program would make a great fit. Outside of Oakwood, I know people who have been in school more recently that say that Centerville is even more hostile to students on the autism spectrum, but the rest of the districts in the area at least try to be friendly to people on the spectrum.

[MilMom6]

Thanks for the info, dxdtdemon. Maybe I will call them directly and just see what kind of vibe I get.

[RDriesenUD]

I would look into the Kettering School system. Not as good as Oakwood, obviously, but they are good with kids with needs from my experience. I am sure there are others.

[SWOH]

^Kettering is known locally for their ability to handle students with disabilities, physical and mental. That's a lot of the reason why they are doing very well in the new State of Ohio report cards, because they can handle all types of students. Some of this is based on facilties (Oakwood's HS is in a historic building, which probably hurts their rating quite a bit) but it is an important factor to consider for a student with a disability.

Kettering received an A for students with disabilities, while Oakwood received a C. Check out more here:

Pages - District-Report - Kettering
Pages - District-Report - Oakwood


On the flip side (or maybe not) I see that you are also looking for a school with good programs for gifted students. Oakwood would make more sense, but Kettering does have a slight advantage over Oakwood because it has the IB program along with APs and Oakwood only has AP classes.

[MilMom6]

Thanks for the detailed info!

I think I'm going to have to decide what's more important to me--meeting the needs of my kid on an IEP versus maximizing opportunities for my other kids. I know that where we live now, we ended up having to move because the very highly rated district we were in refused to provide appropriate services for autism (only option was a segregated one size fits all special ed classroom) and the lawyer told us that district would happily drop half a million in legal fess to avoid giving us the services we felt he needed. But the new district is one of the lowest ranked for typical kids (greatschools 5 rating) although they have really been great with services and my son has made progress district #1 said he could not possibly do.

I guess I'm kind of hoping to have my cake and eat it too.

We don't have any physical disabilities, fortunately.

Maybe a place like Bellbrook would be a good option for meeting my divergent needs? Bellbrook seems to be the number two district (variously). I have not found much info on Bellbrook.

I confess I don't have much interest in the IB program because the military will just move us before my oldest could complete the program and I don't think they do "partial credit" whereas AP's seem portable.

How hard is it to get the STEM magnet school? Would going with Kettering for my IEP kiddo and trying to get the others into the STEM magnet be a likely option?

Does anyone have experience with Bellbrook?

Thanks! I really appreciate all this help!

[RDriesenUD]

It's not like Kettering is a bad school system. You really can't go wrong with Bellbrook, Centerville, Oakwood, or Kettering with your other kids, IMO. Some are better than others, but none are bad. I wish I could help you with the STEM school. I don't really know much about how they run things.

[dxdtdemon]

The STEM school is relatively new, and I'm not sure if that many people actually know about it. Also, given the amount of open enrollment around here, I'm not sure if it's possible to have your other kids go to Oakwood and enroll the one kid in Kettering.

[MilMom6]

Originally Posted by dxdtdemon

The STEM school is relatively new, and I'm not sure if that many people actually know about it. Also, given the amount of open enrollment around here, I'm not sure if it's possible to have your other kids go to Oakwood and enroll the one kid in Kettering.

Yes, to pursue Kettering for my IEP kiddo we would have to forgo Oakwood for the others. I was just thinking that since the STEM seems to be a charter that possibly they could go there if Kettering didn't work out. Having gotten burned on the last go around, I'm trying to build in a fall back option.

Thanks everyone!

[RDriesenUD]

You are welcome. I would check into everything, but I would base my decision more on the kid with the IEP. Almost all school districts around here are good.