Help!!Who has High School advice. (Melbourne, Daytona Beach: new home, transfer to, neighborhood)

vconnie · 04-29-2007, 09:08 AM

Hello everyone we really want to make the move to Florida in the near future. We have one very important concern on where exactly to call home. Our 14yr. old daughter has add and choosing the right High School is the most important thing concerning the move. We really like Melbourne(Lake Washington and Satellite Beach)but, also have many friends in the Lake Worth area. Does anyone here have any experience with add, or adhd and a childs high school education that can shed some light on the right choice for a school? Any feed back with your own(or someone you have known)experience with a similar situation will be greatly appreciated!! Hope to hear from someone real soon about this. Thank you all in advance!!

121804 · 04-29-2007, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vconnie

Hello everyone we really want to make the move to Florida in the near future. We have one very important concern on where exactly to call home. Our 14yr. old daughter has add and choosing the right High School is the most important thing concerning the move. We really like Melbourne(Lake Washington and Satellite Beach)but, also have many friends in the Lake Worth area. Does anyone here have any experience with add, or adhd and a childs high school education that can shed some light on the right choice for a school? Any feed back with your own(or someone you have known)experience with a similar situation will be greatly appreciated!! Hope to hear from someone real soon about this. Thank you all in advance!!

I am a teacher.

You need to call the school & talk to administration & special needs. YOu need to go to the school & shadow it for a day or two. I don't necessarily suggest getting internet advice on such a vital issue. This requires you to go to the schools in the area & do your homework HANDS-ON!

There are ample resources on the internet to see test scores, funding & resources for a school.

And, parents make 50% of the experience. The more involved you are, the better it will be for all.

vconnie · 04-29-2007, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 121804

I am a teacher.

You need to call the school & talk to administration & special needs. YOu need to go to the school & shadow it for a day or two. I don't necessarily suggest getting internet advice on such a vital issue. This requires you to go to the schools in the area & do your homework HANDS-ON!

There are ample resources on the internet to see test scores, funding & resources for a school.

And, parents make 50% of the experience. The more involved you are, the better it will be for all.

Hello, and thank you for the reply. I have called the schools, Eau Gallie High in Melbourne and Park Vista in Lake Worth. The administration staff I spoke with were both very nice and informative. We live in NY so going to the school right now is not an option. It seems in Florida a self contained class is a completely different thing than it is in NY. I am very "hands on" with all our children, and am trying to do my homework best I can for now. For now I just wanted to know if anyone on the board has had any personal experience with either locations and their High Schools. Thanks again, and am still open to any feedback on the areas mentioned and their schools.

Retiredcoach · 04-29-2007, 05:15 PM

I have taught special education students in Pennsylvania for over 30 years... eighth and ninth grade. From my experiences, it will be an incredible challenge for your child to be faced with a disability, a significant culture change, a new home/school, and limited acquaintances. The best advice that I could give you would be to find the environment most closely resembles what she is leaving. Look for schools that will fully include your child, who will support her classes, offer extra learning supports to aid in finding the strategies of success (in spite of her ADD). It may not be easy... NY typically invests almost twice the amount of money than Florida does in the schools. Special education is an extremely expensive commodity for school districts, and you will find that the financial resources available in Florida are relatively limited. Whatever you do, do not allow your child to be "special educated"... taught in a special education classroom the majority of her day... her social interactions will be limited to a very small number of her peers , and she will be hampered by her label, not growing beyond it.

The very best of luck to you and your family... it is very obvious that you are trying to do what is right.

PBCboy · 04-29-2007, 06:36 PM

Schools in the Lake Worth area (Palm Beach County) are inner-city like and not very good (at least most or many of them are). Even if you are in a good neighborhood you still have a good chance of going to a bad school in Palm Beach County. Be careful!

vconnie · 04-30-2007, 06:23 AM

Thank you to all who have replied so far!! To "retiredcoach", I agree with so much of what you have said. I am hearing a lot of NY schools are way ahead of those in Fla. "PBCboy", when you say inner-city like what exactly do you mean? We are from LI, NY so my vision of this maybe a bit different than a Floridians. Do you know anything about the Park Vista High school? I would be very interested if you do. We narrowed down a house search to homes that would use this school. Look forward to any more feed back. Thanks!!

pirate girl · 04-30-2007, 06:51 AM

I used to live not far from Lake Worth. About 10 years ago I moved out of the area because my son was starting kindergarten and I did not want him in palm beach county schools.

Like PBC boy said- a good and expensive neighborhood does not guarantee you a good school. I'm all for ethnic diversity, but I did not want my child in a school district where spanish is the primary language spoken by the majority of the students.

My child is 14 too. I think she would have an easier time and less of a culture shock in Brevard County than in Palm Beach.

As for ADD, have you ever talked to a dietician about this? There are some amazing differences that diet changes can offer.

Rhett_Butler · 04-30-2007, 07:28 AM

Oh, never mind...... When you said "High School Advice" I was thinking more like who should you date and what zit cream to use and all....... Oops...

vconnie · 05-01-2007, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pirate girl

I used to live not far from Lake Worth. About 10 years ago I moved out of the area because my son was starting kindergarten and I did not want him in palm beach county schools.

Like PBC boy said- a good and expensive neighborhood does not guarantee you a good school. I'm all for ethnic diversity, but I did not want my child in a school district where spanish is the primary language spoken by the majority of the students.

My child is 14 too. I think she would have an easier time and less of a culture shock in Brevard County than in Palm Beach.

As for ADD, have you ever talked to a dietician about this? There are some amazing differences that diet changes can offer.

Dear Pirate girl,
Thank you for your reply. If you don't mind me asking where did you move to? I love the "feel" and look of a certain section of West Palm County, in Lake Worth there a two communities we really love. But, like you and others have said the school system there does not seem to match all else. For this reason, I agree on Brevard County. I hear that Melbourne has built up quite a bit in the past years, but has done so in a positive way. When I do a "web search" of the schools in the two counties and then take it further with phone calls to the school themselves, Brevard wins. One more thing, do have experience with a dietician and ADD? Thank you again for all the advice and welcome anyother!

pirate girl · 05-01-2007, 08:57 AM

Vconnie, I live in Flagler County. I took a transfer to the Daytona Beach area for work just to get out of Palm Beach County. When I was planning the move, I intended to live in Ormond Beach (Volusia County). I investigated the schools and lifestyle and was comfortable with it- but a friend told me to check out Flagler County which is only 20 mins north of Ormond. At the time the county had only five schools and they were rated very favorably. We are about 100 miles north of Melbourne. I'm very happy with the choice I made and if you would like more information, feel free to send me a private message or post here.

I don't have any clinical experience with ADD- but one of my best friends is a dietician and we have had regular discussions about the overuse of meds- when my son was younger a teacher wanted him medicated- but she just couldn't handle the fact that he was a spirited child. But run an internet search on the Feingold Diet- its a food elimination program that can make a huge difference.