Special Ed/Autism Inclusion at Oakland middle schools
I am looking for a Middle School for my highly verbal and intelligent daughter who has ADHD and ASD. She is doing fairly well right now in public school with an IEP in a mainstream classroom setting, although I am somewhat concerned that this is dependent on having an amazing teacher. We spent several years struggling in independent schools that were not equipped to support her, so it is a relief to have some stability and for that reason, it's hard to imagine going back to an independent school or considering an NPS. The fact that many of the specialized schools are boy heavy in their population could also be problematic.
At the moment, I'm most interested in Edna Brewer, as they seem to put mental health and learning differences front and center, but I am worried that we will not get in. Because it is my daughter's first year with an IEP, we are also still honing in on the supports that she needs and EB has everything there. Many of my daughter's friends will be going to Claremont, which is our neighborhood school and I feel that I have to consider it.
I have so many questions: What does inclusion in ms look like? How are students who struggle with transitions supported (for example if they get distracted moving between classes)? Did you have a child similar to mine that was successful or not at Claremont? Somewhere else?
Thank you, parents!
Parent Replies
Hi,
I have an ADHD 12 year old who has had an IEP in Oakland public schools since 3rd grade. We toured Edna Brewer, Claremont and Montera. I did not like the way Edna Brewer handles kids who are verbal and intelligent but otherwise have special needs. All special needs children are put together in the same classes regardless of what their particular needs are. He would have likely matriculated into Claremont, but ultimately we chose Montera because their program is more established than Claremont (at the time, the inclusion program there was newer - that was two years ago.) At Montera, my son is in mainstream classes and has a social skills class and various supports to help him if he needs it. Having said all that, I'd say talk to the inclusion team at Claremont and see what they have in place to assist your daughter. In some ways I wish I would have kept my son with the kids he knew (at Claremont) because the social aspect of middle school is so difficult and frankly, Montera has a big bullying problem that we're trying to navigate right now. Hope this helps. Good luck.