Bennett Elementary School - Fort Lauderdale? (Plantation, Coconut Creek: low income, neighborhood, university)

[Kasia_216]

Does anyone have any feedback on this Elementary school? My child has Special Needs/IEP and we were provided a placement in this Public School.

Any feedback about the school would be greatly appreciated. I have not yet had the opportunity to view the school/classrooms yet as we're currently in the midst of a move.

Thanks in advance.

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by Kasia_216

Does anyone have any feedback on this Elementary school? My child has Special Needs/IEP and we were provided a placement in this Public School.

Any feedback about the school would be greatly appreciated. I have not yet had the opportunity to view the school/classrooms yet as we're currently in the midst of a move.

Thanks in advance.

I would say Bayview is better, but Bennett is not that bad. It may have a special program for your ESE child that Bayview does not have. You need to look into the ESE programs.

[Kasia_216]

Thanks for your reply. Bayview is actually the school we live closest to (zoned for) however they don't have a Pre-K program (He's 4 years old) plus he has an IEP.

Bennett Elementary is the closet school to us that can accomodate his school needs at this time. I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with the school/kids/administration etc. as I'm from out of state and not very familiar with the schools & areas in my immediate neighborhood. Looks like the school does fairly well from an academic perspective, just concened with the makeup of the school population and whether it's a Title 1 school?

I'm also going to explore Private school options in the case I deem the public school placement unsuitable.

[Momma_bear]

I took a look at the demographics (I don't live in FT Lauderdale) and I noticed that 79% of the students qualify for free/reduced lunch. Given the demographics the school does remarkably well from an academic standpoint. I would say you have to try it to see how it works for your son before you make any decisions.

[Kasia_216]

Thanks for your reply. I know that's why I'm kinda torn as it sounds like a Title 1 school (large low income student population) but the academics are good based on what I've been able to find online.

I'll be down in a few weeks and I'm going to tour the school and meet with the Admininstration/ESE Specialist to learn more about his actual placement. I don't want to enroll/accept the placment unless I'm 100% sure it's going to be the right environment. In the meantime, I'm researching back-up options which will have to be Private.

Sagemont looks pretty nice and isn't overly expensive (like some of the other schools). I also like The University School (on Nova Campus) as it seems they can accomodate kids with special needs.

[Momma_bear]

I guess you can't tell until you visit the school.

My kids are at American Heritage in Plantation. They have 2 schools there. American Heritage and American Academy. American Academy is designed for kids with special needs. One of the nice things about the dual set up is that if a child need special accomodations in some areas, but not in others they are able to take some classes at AH and others at AA. It's more of an issue for middle and high school but some of my son's friends have benefited from the ability to take differentiated classes. All sports teams, clubs and elective classes are available to all AH/AA students. North Broward Prep in Coconut Creek has a similar setup. Both American Heritage and North Broward are pretty expensive though.

[fauve]

I had my kids at Sagemont for part of lower school. The administration is super accommodating, so depending on the special need, your son might do just fine there, at least for lower school. For middle & upper, my kids go to AHS too, and I also highly recommend it. As a side comment, it may have been just my daughter, but when I thought she might have been better off at the Academy (she has ADD), and I suggested it, she was horrified - so there may be some social stigma attached - something to be aware of.

[Kasia_216]

Thank you both.

My son has mild mostly speech delays and I would benefit from slightly smaller class size (he currently does OK with 12 students). I'm going to call American Heritage/American Academy to get details on their Lower school program and find out about the application process. Most schools seem to be scheduling tours this month so I'm hoping to catch a few as well.

Also going to check out Sagemont as I would be most interested in Lower school too!

Thanks Again!

[Momma_bear]

Originally Posted by fauve

I had my kids at Sagemont for part of lower school. The administration is super accommodating, so depending on the special need, your son might do just fine there, at least for lower school. For middle & upper, my kids go to AHS too, and I also highly recommend it. As a side comment, it may have been just my daughter, but when I thought she might have been better off at the Academy (she has ADD), and I suggested it, she was horrified - so there may be some social stigma attached - something to be aware of.

There may be a little bit, but I don't think it's a huge thing. My son's friend (a football player/wrestler) was in all Academy classes last year and he did really well in them. When I saw him this summer he was a little worried that they moved him to all Heritage classes. He was very proud of himself this fall though, when he got his first quarter report card and had all good grades. He crowed a little bit when he told me that he did well and that it was "all Heritage classes too." Can you tell I love this kid??

[Shoegal1075]

That is a very nice story momma!