Sarahandbabies | ADHD Information

I'm waiting to hear also! How did the meeting go?bump--i see you are here now...Oh... I almost forgot. They wanted to schedule a follow-up meeting. First they said they wouldn't have anything until like... late April. I said no, that's too long. And again, what good could you possibly do it the last 3-4 weeks of school? So, they found a spot in 3 weeks- March 20. We will discuss how the interventions are working and/or if new ones need to be put into place. You go, Mom! GREAT JOB!!!

I think you did fabulous! You are making them do their job!!

I would go visit the classroom for an entire day in two weeks. If the classroom interventions are not working (based on your observation alone), I would immediately come up with a list of new ones myself and schedule a meeting with the principal and ask her to get them in place with the teacher. I would also call the school psychologist next week and ask him/her if you can come by and sign the paperwork to initiate the educational testing. They cannot start without your signature, and you don't want them to take 3 weeks getting that stuff together. Also, given the history of your school, I would find a tutor for reading and meet with the teacher first to go over what areas he needs to work on and the future goals for the rest of the year for reading. Get very clear on exactly what he needs to know by May for reading--I mean details.

They cannot retain you child if you disagree without jumping through hoops....

[QUOTE=lillian]You go, Mom! GREAT JOB!!![/QUOTE] You really think I did good? What else should I/could I do? I am still torn up about this whole school thing...

Anyhoo- when I mentioned the 504 that the psych recommended, they called in the school psych and he said now the school needs to do some tests on him... ??? Then they will see about starting the 504. I need to get more info on this, I am still sort of confused about the 504. But the school psych called me back Friday and said things are ready and to call him- so he seems to be cooperating in helping, I am glad for that....

What confuses you about the 504 Plan?

Sarah, great job with the school and keep it up.

I am so glad to have this site. Lillian and NoTellin, thanks for sharing all of the great info. CCrazz, way to go!!!

Great Job!!!

that is awesome that you were finally able to get somewhere with the school...Me on the other had had to retain my son this year so he repeated kindergarden

but this year i fought tooth and finally got them off their butts to do something for my son...the only thing that was hindering everything was on quote by the school"just because the doctor and the child psychologist did testing and wants accomidations does mean we have tooo"....i finally got through by going to the superentendent and found out that legally since my son is on ssi and legally has a disability(even without ssi) the school had no choice but to do something. here in washington state their are laws were if a medical professional like a doctor and psycholoist say something has to be done then the school can be held reliable for purposly not helping that child....thank god ....fight is over and now he is reading and doing homework and not fighting school as much.....he is excelling so much and so well that he is telling everyone about his school work now.....everyone has rights and we as parents especially us need to just keep fighting and tell these officals to BACK OFF....and let us to our jobs....

ccrazzdmom38781.9059722222Wow, that is amazing. What state do you live in? I am glad you have been able to get through to them. It makes me grateful for our school. Not the best, but at least they want to help.

Hey- thanks for asking!! Sorry it took so long to get back with you... I am still sorting through all that went on... I will try not to write a book but still not leave out the good stuff..

As you know the day was moved up. So I go in at a time when the kids should be in PE. Turns out, PE is cancelled for the day because they are doing school pictures in the gym. So, his teacher doesn't know what to do with the kids, but the teacher coordinating the program is running around saying, "Something has to be done- we have an emergency meeting!" After hearing this a couple times, I said, "Oh- this is an emergency?" "Yes," she says, "That's why we callled you in for this week instead of the 13th. All children who are candidates for retention must have their parent meeting by this week, because the paperwork has to be in the office by Friday." ohhhhh boy... I felt my blood starting to boil at that point... but I was SOOOO glad I had the info from this board!

I had copied a comment from someone (THANK YOU FOREVER TO THE ONE WHO SAID IT!!) that said, how can you discuss retaining him when no interventions have been tried. I said that about a hundred times during the meeting. And, they just sat there... all they could say was... well- I guess we should try some ideas. They really acted like they wanted to work with him, but it was such a change from the mood at the beginning. I just know if I had walked in there, heard her say they needed to retain him, then just rolled belly up and said ok... it would have been totally different. But, they realized I knew a little more than they expected and they started doing their job.

So, I continued to stress that interventions need to be made in the classroom and they came up with a few so we'll see how they work. They wrote down some ideas of interventions, plus the teacher said he really is doing much better now with the meds.

After I left from the classroom (the kids were back, so I had to go out of the clasroom), I continued talking to the school counselor/psych. I asked for about the gazzilion-th time, "Why wasn't this done back in say, November? Why weren't interventions started? WHY?? Why did I walk in and hear he's being retained, instead of hearing he is struggling, let's help him??"

All he could say was, "I don't really know. That is a question for the principal." Well.. ok- so I went to talk to her. We spent another 1 1/2 in her office rehashing all this. I asked all the same questions and at least got her to hear the answers. The teacher also said he has been doing better in the last couple weeks. And my final question to her was regarding my dd, who seems to already be having reading problems in first grade- I said, "What do I need to do so that I am not here again next year in this same situation with dd?"

After the teachers left, I talked a little more to the principal. I was almost in tears when I said again- you just cannot retain him. I KNOW he can do the work and the teacher knows too, and it would crush his self esteem if he was held back. I mean honestly- if I felt he couldn't do it, i would be ok with retaining him. But that isn't the case. She gave me a hug and said, "Don't worry- I know after this meeting that he doesn't need to be held back. Plus, I don't agree with retention anyway. And we will start now with dd to help her with interventions so she doesn't have this trouble."

Well, so much for not writing a book... Just a couple things about our school though- we live in one of the suckiest (is that a word?) counties around. About 3 years ago, our county was suspended because of violations in the schools. It was hard to actually get a straight answer what exactly that meant, but basically they werent' doing enough to make sure kids were getting what they deserve academically. So, there was a major rehaul with the schools and new people all over.. new rules and guidelines. They got real big with a lot of the rules, but obviously forgot about some of the more important things in the NCLB.

Well, maybe my advocating for my kids might help some others in the future. Thanks again to all who helped me get through that part. I am sure I'll be back with more soon... and I'll try to help any I can also.

Sarah