Support for children with dyslexia. Hillcrest, Chabot, Claremont?
Hello BPN Community,
My family is considering a move to Upper Rockridge in Oakland and we are wondering about support for elementary and middle school aged-children with dyslexia at schools in that area.
We currently live in the Peninsula and my 4th grade son was diagnosed dyslexia between 1st and 2nd grade. My son has made great progress at a local private school that specializes in dyslexia education. However, we may be moving to Upper Rockridge soon. Can anybody tell me about the support that a 5th grader or middle school dyslexic student would receive at either Hillcrest K-8, Chabot ES, or Claremont MS? Thanks so much for any advice, it has been quite an educational journey for our family so far!
Feb 5, 2024
Parent Replies
My child doesn't have dyslexia, but Hillcrest K-5 is generally pretty good with learning challenges, simply because they're well funded by a wealthy PTA and have a good principal. The middle school was more challenging when we were there, but that may have changed. (My child loved it and had a great experience, but we know kids with ADHD and other issues who didn't fare as well.) The positive is if your child has done well in the lower grades, it is very nice for them (and you) to remain in the same small and close school for 9 years. Deep and long friendships are born when families are connected for that long. That said, you have almost no chance of getting into Hillcrest unless you are zoned for it, and even then not everyone can get in. It's a very small school. If you're willing to consider private, Aurora can definitely support a child with dyslexia and they are about 2 blocks from Hillcrest.
I have been a parent at Chabot for many years, and offhand, I can think of at least half a dozen families of dyslexic children who are deeply unhappy with the services their children receive(d) there. I think everyone in the building means well and does their best, but my sense from listening to other parents talk about it for years is that the root of the problem is district-wide policies and lack of funding. What fellow parents have told me is that OUSD doesn't have enough resources to provide quality services as federally required to all the kids who need it. So they do their best and only provide better services (slowly, reluctantly, and incredibly painfully for families) to those families who make themselves a total pain in the butt and/or sue the district. Honestly, it sounds like a total nightmare.
I also had a few friends who struggled to get services through Chabot because administrators made assumptions about them being well off enough to afford help outside of school and kind of treated their kids like a lower priority. It was incredibly disheartening for those families (and the assumptions were wrong in some cases too.)