Is Park Day a Good School for Kid with Dyslexia/ADHD
I've read great things about Park Day. We've looked at Sterne in SF and Charles Armstrong in Belmont. Our kid has dyslexia and ADHD and needs individualized attention in addition to group learning. Smaller classroom sizes. He also thrives on social interactions/friendships. He has many friends but also lacks self esteem and is needing to find his people. None if his good friends go to school with him as he has to have specialized learning. His current environment lacks diversity and the majority of the school stop tier are white and somewhat stodgy. It is not a great fit for our family. We are looking in SF, Oakland but not limited to. Thank you
Sep 2, 2024
Parent Replies
My kid also has dyslexia/ADHD and we considered Park Day. After talking with their admissions people and asking very specific questions, we weren't impressed. In general, private schools will not offer the special education services public schools will. They are not required to do it. If his dyslexia is severe enough to need help but not severe enough to go to a school that specializes in it (that's where our kid fit in), you may want to do a public school, get private help on the side, and sue the school district to pay for it. The services offered at public schools are not good enough, but they are required to give them, so you may be able to recoup your outside expenses, depending on what your kid's IEP says and what services the school actually offers. You could talk to and advocate at DREDF https://dredf.org - that may be helpful.
My dyslexic kid sounds like yours at that age. We sent him to Aurora, which is pretty much the same as Park Day in terms of demographics and educational approach. At the time, they had a good learning resource support program--not all private schools do--and it was great in the early grades with pull out twice a week, which we supplemented with our own educational therapist. What I would say about any private/parochial school is this: Small class size is better, but it does not compensate for teachers trained in specific strategies for teaching these kids. Like all schools, it really depends on the teacher, who will vary in their skill sets and level of experience. My kid is Latino, so it was important to look at the diversity of the students, so that he wouldn't be the only brown person there. Even so, the families in these progressive schools are all pretty similar, and you may feel more at home in that culture, which is fine. But real diversity will usually be in the public schools. Don't let the warm fuzzies sway you too much, in the end it's about getting your kid to read.
Anyhow, ask Park Day if they have learning specialists on staff and how they accommodate dyslexic students at all ages. Private schools are not obligated to provide services and not all of them do. Ask to speak to parents with kids with LD. Also, ask what their policy is for kids with ADHD is. I've seen kids get kicked out and families left high and dry because the teachers feel like the child is too disruptive. Other schools for dyslexic kids are Hope Academy in Concord, Star Academy in San Rafael (they bus kids in from all over), and Stellar Academy in Newark. The only one I really know is Star Academy. It's a great school (but far). Good luck.