Special education in New jersey (Union, Fair Lawn: real estate, renting, condos)

[kpn]

My family will be moving from Tokyo to New jersey this summer. My son has PDD and hence I am looking for a good school district where special education is also very good. I would like to know what are the criterias that helps to decide which school district has the best special education program.

I have been doing some research and Union county looks most appealing to me as they have good school districts and the commute to NY sounds reasonable.

If you think there are other county other than Union that has better special education program please let me know. What are your thoughts on Princeton for special education. Any information will be grately appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[njchick]

I wish I could help you but I only know about private schools for children in the autistic spectrum (I used to work for one), but NJ has great special services in general. Princeton has several private schools for students with autism/pdd/asperger's, so Princeton is a good choice. In Bergen County, where I live, Ridgefield, Paramus, and Northern Valley (PIE program) have pretty good programs, I believe, and I'm sure there are others. I don't know how old you're child is because some districts are better for pre-school intervention and others are better for older children, many send the child out of district depending on the severity of the disability. However, NJ in the past has been more committed to getting quality services for children of the autistic spectrum than other states, and in keeping the child in the least restricted environment, so you're starting in the right place. I wish you much luck in your search.. I hope someone else who is more knowledgable about specific services can help you.

[exhdo1]

I have 2 family members with special needs children. Both live in Bergen County (Hillsdale and Wycoff) and they can't say enough good things about the programs. If I'm not mistaken New Jersey has a law that if you live in a town the board of education must provide anything neccessary to deal with special needs children, even if there is only 1 child in the program. I believe that includes transportation and student aides. I think you would be better served by narrowing the area you may want to move to and then contact that schools administration about their programs. Good luck to you!

[kpn]

Thank you both for your advice. I have been hearing a lot about the Princeton programs especially the eden center, which is a private institution. Bergen county also seems to be a very good school district. I was wondering how the special education there would be, thanks for putting some light in that area. My son goes to a typical school right now and then gets therapy after school. I am hoping that he can go to a regular school set up and get some therapy on the side. So I am hoping to end up in a place with good public school and special eduction. People are suggesting me Bergen county again and again, there should be something really good about there. Do you have any idea about the neighbourhoods, is it a good place to raise a family?

[njchick]

In Bergen County many districts have decent to excellent special services, and exhdo1 is correct that by law they must provide the least restrictive environment (ie the highest level of placement that the child is able to succeed in) for the individual special ed student. Right now, there is even more of a push to keep the child in a regular class with support from a special ed teacher if possible. Bergen County is a good place to live, a good place to raise a family, especially Northern Bergen County, but I will tell you it is expensive if you are looking to buy a home. However, the prices have leveled off and there is a glut of homes on the market, and prices have gone down a bit. As many have mentioned here, the taxes make living here more expensive though. However, NJ spends more than most states on education, and I do think the schools are better here for that reason, especially in light of the fact that NJ is committed to taking care of special needs children. I'll mention some towns I am familiar with that have good special services to get you started, (remember only my opinion : Ridgefield, Tenafly, Northvale, Norwood, Leonia, Demarest, Closter, Emerson, Paramus, Hillsdale, Montvale, in general I would stick with northern Bergen County if that is possible. Good luck! Hope everything works out for you and your family, you sound like a very caring parent

[kpn]

You are right njchick, I noticed that the house prices are very high. We are having a budget of 700-800 thousand, and I am hoping that I will find atleast a town house in these areas. I am finding a few houses in the at price range in the real estate web sites, but is had to say if it is a good area, and a good house just looking at the pictures.

Is buying a town house a popular concept in NJ? I used to live in Texas before I moved to Japan and in Texas town house is a big NO, as it has no resale value and there are lots of houses available for about the same price.

And njchick, thank you for your comment on my parenting...it always nice to hear some one say good things to you.

Thanks

[njchick]

You're very welcome If you have a budget of 700 - $800,000 you really should have no problem finding decent housing here. Townhouses in that price range are popular also, there are new developments going up all over. As far as I know, the resale value is good for townhouses or condos here because of location/ proximity to NYC. If you look on a map of northern NJ, and check out towns in Bergen County, preferably northern Bergen County, then go on Realtor.com or other real estate websites, you can search better for towns that you would be interested in that way. But as I said, in that price range you should be able to get a house, or townhouse, just beware of the taxes, lol.

[JoeNJ]

Fair Lawn, is very good with special education. They have special classes, study teams, and depending on the disability they may be entitled to join the group of " Special Friends" the ages range from around 12 to 21 it is a great program. The kids at the middle school have classes with them and play with them. These " Special Friends" are of course at a lower learning speed and the school i think is more meant to be for social learning, with some educational learning.

[JoeNJ]

We have 2 train stations that take you right to NYC, or you can drive 15 miles to the GWB

[pdtwildcat]

For those of you that live in Bergen County, have any of you heard of a school called Barnstable? I'm trying to figure out which specialized school would be best for my son and this one looked interesting. Thanks for your thoughts.