Annapolis suburbs vs. Bergen County or North Jersey (Severn, Severna Park: spring break, sale)

[melmix]

I am currently living in Park Ridge, NJ. My husband took a temporary job at the CFTC in DC and we planned on moving back. We bought a small condo in Alexandria. He decided he wanted to stay on and liked the job. My son became chronically ill with Lyme disease and Pandas - he was out of school for a while and is just starting back in after receiving ivig treatment. I need to move to the area in the next year- timing partially depending on his health. I have heard from my support groups that Anne Arundel county is well versed on his condition, so I would like to look for a school in the county. The hard part is I want a great school with at least some economic diversity. The town we live in now is an amazing close knit community but one town over is so fancy you get dressed up for pickup from school. I am hoping someone can point me in the direction of a town that is a good fit. We should have around 700-900k depending on the sale of our house and the condo and what we gain on property taxes (ours are almost 22k here). I would really lean towards a large yard with pool as a saline pool could be theraputic for my son. I have also lived in Greenwich CT, Wilton, CT and Arlington so I would understand those as comparisons too. My son may have to have an iep but as I have heard these schools know about the disease i hope their special ed would not be a problem. Any help would be much appreciated.

[Alex1484]

Severna Park or Davidsonville are very nice areas that would fit what you are looking for. Also Crofton is another area I would look at.

[DreamingofSunshine]

I'm from Bergen County originally and now live in Anne Arundel County w children w IEP's. I know a bit about Pandas as well. The school quality/ability to deal with children who do not fit the box comes down to staff. You can search Great Schools to narrow down your search but some of the best schools can happen to be inept in dealing w special education students. This is not an AACPS thing, this is the case all throughout the country. What grade is your son in?

[melmix]

My son is in 3rd. He has been in and out of school but tends to enjoy learning on his own so the academics are not a problem. He gets nervous/ocd with a strep infection although the latest round of ivig helped. He will be in 4th next year and I will have a second grader. We have finally figured out schooling here but it is so hard splitting the family apart. Do you know of specific schools? I may go for a visit during March around their spring break. Also I assume the commute would be about an hour - is that correct? He works downtown .

[cjmeck]

I agree with Crofton as a suggestion as far good proximity to D.C.; hopefully the Anne Arundel County parents can jump in with feedback. My kids are in Howard County schools (currently ranked #1 in the state) and I've been really happy with their education for the most part. Both of my kids have 504 plans (one used to have an IEP). And my second grader was diagnosed with Lyme disease 18 months ago. I believe Johns Hopkins recently got a grant or they are doing something with Pediatric Lyme Disease. So check into that if you haven't already. It is such a confusing terrible disease. My daughter has for the most part recovered by she has these odd behaviors she didn't have before it happened; very OCD like (and anxiety based) but not diagnosed. Best of luck to you.