Military family- looking for school advice (Greenville, Mauldin: home, best school, where to live)

[MMilMom]

Hi everyone-

I've been lurking in this forum for a while and really appreciate how helpful you all are. I have never posted anything like this before- so I hope I am doing this right!

We are a military family (likely) relocating to the Greenville area next summer. We consider all orders as unconfirmed until our household goods are on a truck

We will have a second grader who is very bright and also carries diagnoses of anxiety/ ADHD. We are trying to figure out the best school placement. Currently he is in a mainstream classroom in Fairfax VA and receives push in/ pull out supports and is doing really well there.

We have heard that special education services are different in Greenville and that we will need to carefully navigate this transition. There isn't a base in Greenville, so we don't have the usual contacts within the military community EFMP offices. And I am having trouble getting anyone to call me back from the county school office. So I thought maybe you all could help.

Does anyone have a school recommendation based on personal experience where the principal/ faculty/ staff support inclusion for kids with this profile?

We are open to any area in Greenville- we will choose our home location based on the best fit for schools.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[Psychoma]

I believe Donaldson Center just south of Greenville used to be a base many years ago, and still services military aircraft today by third parties (Lockheed Martin, etc). But as you mentioned likely no longer has military relocating help or official presence I'm assuming .

Not sure on the schools but keep in mind there are also a fair amount of private schools (most religious I believe) so there may be additional options inside Greenville County and surrounding areas.

[MMilMom]

That is good to know about private schools. Are there any in particular that anyone knows of that are effective with kids like this?

Also we are Catholic, so would that be an issue at religious schools? Where we are now it is no big deal, we have many religions represented at our parish school. But I realize that might not be true everywhere. And I don't want to offend anyone by making uncomfortable queries to schools.

Thanks for any guidance you all can provide!

[MMilMom]

Thanks to those who have responded. I have a few more questions I am hoping someone can weigh in on:

I am working on a short list of elementary schools to tour when I am in town- would the following be strong candidates for supporting twice exceptional kids (gifted with learning differences)? Are there others folks would suggest I tour?
-Oakview
-Augusta Circle
-Sara Collins
-Mauldin

Are there any listservs or other places where parents of kids with special needs discuss the services available? This is the one I am familiar with to give you an idea of where I am coming from.
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/forums/show/36.page


Thanks for any suggestions!

[WhitewaterVol]

Originally Posted by MMilMom

That is good to know about private schools. Are there any in particular that anyone knows of that are effective with kids like this?

Also we are Catholic, so would that be an issue at religious schools? Where we are now it is no big deal, we have many religions represented at our parish school. But I realize that might not be true everywhere. And I don't want to offend anyone by making uncomfortable queries to schools.

Thanks for any guidance you all can provide!

There are 2 private catholic schools in Greenville if that is what you are looking for. I don't have any personal experience with navigating the schools for your situation so I apologize that I can't help on that front.

[MMilMom]

Oh goodness- I did not mean to imply that we were looking for catholic schools. They are on the list, but I wanted to cast a wide net right now.

We are open to any schools that are effective with this profile of child. (I just wasn't sure if it would be appropriate for a catholic family to apply to schools with other religious affiliations.)

So if anyone out there has any suggestions of private schools regardless of affiliations, I would love to hear about them!

I found that Christ Church Episcopal School seems to have some good supports available so I am going to engage with them. I was also looking at Augusta Cirlce and Oakview as possible public options.

We will decide where to live based on the school supports available. So all suggestions are welcome.