I need to know about special needs services before I move (Portland: appointed, school districts)

[rosepetal720]

We want to move back to Oregon, but the only thing keeping us here is my daughter's school. She has mild periventricular leukomalacia, which means she has speech problems, weak muscles, and difficulty concentrating. Right now, she's at a school that specializes in speech disorders. She has trained teachers in every small classroom, they do intensive work, and she gets physical and occupational therapy once a week.

What are the services like in the Portland School District, or any school districts in that area? Have any of you had good experiences for your special needs kids, or bad ones? Are there special schools that might meet our child's needs, or are the normal classrooms accommodating to special needs children? (She's close enough to normal that no one except the teacher will even notice she has a problem.)

We will move to whatever part of the Portland area will best help our daughter.

Thank you for any info you can provide for me!

[Sassy01]

The best district for Special Needs Services that I found was North Clackamas School District.
Their services far outdid any other school district in the Portland area.
Good Luck in your search.

[rosepetal720]

Sassy01: Thanks for the tip! Gladstone/Milkwalkie would be a perfect place for us to live. Did you learn the schools were better than the others from experience, or did you do research and figure it out that way?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

The state of Oregon is not famous for the quality of the school system.

If your daughter is getting exactly what she needs where you are located right now, I suggest you try to hang on there for as long as you can. The more foundation years she can get in a school system that meets her needs, the better.

[talking rock]

Originally Posted by rosepetal720

We want to move back to Oregon, but the only thing keeping us here is my daughter's school. She has mild periventricular leukomalacia, which means she has speech problems, weak muscles, and difficulty concentrating. Right now, she's at a school that specializes in speech disorders. She has trained teachers in every small classroom, they do intensive work, and she gets physical and occupational therapy once a week.

What are the services like in the Portland School District, or any school districts in that area? Have any of you had good experiences for your special needs kids, or bad ones? Are there special schools that might meet our child's needs, or are the normal classrooms accommodating to special needs children? (She's close enough to normal that no one except the teacher will even notice she has a problem.)

We will move to whatever part of the Portland area will best help our daughter.

Thank you for any info you can provide for me!

Literally just came here to ask a similar question. One of my kiddos is 2e (twice exceptional, for those not familiar...which means she is gifted but also has disabilities).

So I see someone recommended North Clackamas. My question would be, what if you jump the border into Washington state? Are there any districts there known for providing decent services in these areas?

[VelouriaPDX]

Originally Posted by talking rock

Literally just came here to ask a similar question. One of my kiddos is 2e (twice exceptional, for those not familiar...which means she is gifted but also has disabilities).

So I see someone recommended North Clackamas. My question would be, what if you jump the border into Washington state? Are there any districts there known for providing decent services in these areas?

If you have a gifted child, stay far away from Portland Public Schools. You will have to fight for your child to get services, and when you do it will just be an extra worksheet or more homework. PPS does not ability group, does not do pull-outs, and does not appropriately differentiate.

Absolutely look north of the Columbia (aka Washington State). I don't have firsthand experience with districts there but Camas appears to actually have TAG (they call it highly capable) and project based programs.

If you must in Oregon, Beaverton is probably your best bet for more robust offerings but even there they do not provide any meaningful TAG services in elementary and in middle school it's only provided if your student scores in the 99th percentile on their standardized test.

[VelouriaPDX]

To the OP, if you are happy with the services your child is receiving where you presently live, I strongly encourage you to stay put. You will be disappointed in PPS and the surrounding suburban school districts are "better" primarily due to a more affluent population, not due to anything unique or special about the curriculum.

[rosepetal720]

Originally Posted by VelouriaPDX

Camas appears to actually have TAG (they call it highly capable) and project based programs.

I personally don't believe in the TAG program. All my friends got in except me, and I had just as good grades and just as many talents. I got into a good university and I'm finishing up an MFA. My friends said they didn't get anything out of it, so I don't know how the decide who gets in or what students are supposed to get out of it. From what I saw, it seemed pretty pointless.

[texasdiver]

Teacher here.

I'm not sure you can really do all that much fine level analysis about different school districts. They are all subject to the same exact laws regarding SpEd services and 504 accomodations. The success of which are going to depend largely on the individual SpEd counselors, SpEd teachers and GenEd teachers and their willingness and ability to implement whatever special services your child needs. That mostly happens at the individual school and classroom level not the district level. However, in general, the ability of teachers to really help special needs kids depends on a lot of things outside their control such as (1) class size, (2) differentiated curriculum, (3) paraprofessional support, (4) percentage of other special needs kids in the class, (5) prep time, etc. etc.

One parent might have had a great experience with Clackamas schools while another might have had a miserable experience with Wilsonville schools. Not because there are any meaningful differences between the SpEd programs in those two districts, but because of random differences in staff and such. And frankly there is massive turnover in the whole area of SpEd. For a lot of counselors and case workers it is a stepping stone into mainstream counseling and administrative jobs. A lot of teachers burn out and move on to other subjects or just leave. So what you get one year may change the next.

So what does that mean for picking schools? Look at basically the same factors you would look at for choosing schools for any student. In general, wealthier districts and those with more resources and better funding will be better positioned to serve all students including SpEd students. Wealthier districts are more likely to have a lower percentage of SpEd and behavioural problem students so teachers are less likely to be overwhelmed. Wealthier districts are also more likely to pay more that poorer or more rural districts so will be able to attract and keep the best staff. Its is the same whether you are talking about music programs or SpEd programs. There is a lot of inequality in public education. It is not as bad in the Pacific Northwest as it is in places like Texas. But it exists nonetheless. And it becomes a self-replicating cycle as the parents with means and the most engagement in education cluster into those districts and schools that are already the most high-performing.

[Yankeemama]

PM me and I can give you my experiences with school districts and I can ask around for you.