PARENT-PLACED EDUCATION

Aiden Sousa attended Clarke School East because of its reputation and expertise in oral communication. Sousa was born with a genetic condition causing complete hearing loss. He now has cochlear implants. When the Swift family of Weston was considering the Carroll School for their son Alex, who has dyslexia, he was invited to "shadow" a student for a day of classes.

At dismissal time, mother Maggie Swift was pleased to see "a smile you can't imagine."

His first comment was "I love this school."

When asked why, he simply said, "I didn't feel dumb."

Their school choice was made. Now in his third year at the Carroll School, a private school in Lincoln, the seventh grader is well-adjusted, happy, and successful.

"He loves his friends and his teachers," Swift said.

There are currently 6,000 Bay State students attending private schools that the state Department of Education has approved for children with special needs, said James Major, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools (maaps).

jim spirakis photography for clarke school east The majority of these schools educate children with severe special needs who have challenges such as autism, hearing impairments, blindness, dyslexia, traumatic brain injury, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), among many others.

Most tuition costs are public school district funded. Specifics such as program expertise, number of students, staff/student ratio, schedules, grade levels, and tuition costs vary from school to school.

What happens if a public school cannot meet a child's needs?

When should a parent consider a private school for their child with special needs?

How does the process work?

"The first step (for parents) is to inform themselves (of their rights) and develop as positive a relationship with the school district as they can," Major said. Next, "start working through the evaluation process" and meet with, as active members, the child's IEP (Individual Education Plan) team of teachers, administrators, and specialists, to discuss placement options. If the public school does not have an appropriate program, private placement may be the team's recommendation.

jim spirakis photography When parents and the public school district disagree about whether private school is necessary, "a mediation process is available, but not mandatory," Major said. However, if an agreement is not met through mediation, parents have a right to appeal. The process is quite involved and the incidence is very low in this state, he said.

For resources and information on the entire Individual Education Program process and their specific rights, parents can refer to the Massachusetts Department of Education or the Federation for Children with Special Needs Web sites or call the agencies on page 44 directly. In addition, the online maaps Membership Directory can help make searching for schools, based specific criteria, easier.

"There is no substitute for the parent spending time at the schools that they're considering for their child," Major advised.

A comprehensive, multi-page checklist for parents to take along on school visits is available at http://pfrr.org/ParentChecklist.pdf .

The Swift's experience with their New Jersey public school district convinced them that Alex needed a more specialized education. He had tested with borderline dyslexia and though his elementary school attempted to tutor him and modify his reading program, Alex was "completely shutting down," Swift said. The family weighed their options by researching schools, visiting campuses, and talking with other parents. Their decision to relocate to Massachusetts was due in large part to the Carroll School having "one of the best reputations on the East coast," she said. The family chose not to seek public funds, thereby financing the education themselves.

"The program (at the Carroll School) is designed to immerse the child in an environment, which will remediate their language-based learning need and build skills and strategies to support their learning profile," said Sue Kingman, director of admission and transition. The school's staff/ student ratio is 1:3 with a current enrollment of 272 students in grades 1-8. Financial aid opportunities are available, based on need, to help cover the $33,000 per year tuition.

Finding The Right School

Clarke School East (CSE) in Canton operates a small, specialized program providing services for children from birth to age 7, who are deaf or hard of hearing.

"Our focus is to develop effective spoken communication," said Director Cara Jordan.

At Clarke School East, children are taught to maximize residual hearing and do not communicate with sign language. Many of the students use high tech hearing aids and cochlear implants.

"There are many options for educating children, who are deaf or hard of hearing. Some approaches use sign language or visual cueing and some focus on spoken language development. We are lucky in Massachusetts to have many excellent programs, which use the differing philosophies in their work with families and children. Public school options are also available in most communities," Jordan said. "Parents need to explore all of the philosophical options as well as different placement options before their child turns three. It is important to find the right approach and the right type of program for the individual child. In addition, parents should know that whatever they decide does not need to be absolute ... make the best choices they can given the information they have about their child and how he learns at the time. In addition, BE FLEXIBLE. They should watch their child's progress and adapt and adjust the programming or even change their communication choice or placement based on what they feel will work best for the child."

Clarke School East staff is comprised of teachers of the deaf, speech, and language pathologists, an audiologist, and early childhood educators. The Parent/Infant Program provides individual families with assistance until children turn three. Preschool and kindergarten class sizes are kept small, with a student/teacher ratio of 1:4.

"Our hope is that if we can provide appropriate intervention early and support for the family, the child's need for services will be less over time," Jordan said.

She pointed out that though the Clarke School East opened in 1995, the larger, internationally-known Clarke School in Northampton has been mainstreaming children with hearing challenges for 150 years.

Jill Sousa's son Aiden was born with a genetic condition causing complete hearing loss. The family received Early Intervention services, in part, through Clarke School East when Aiden was an infant and at age 1, he was fitted with cochlear implants. They chose Clare School East because of its expertise in oral communication.

When the time came for Aiden to attend preschool, the Sousas met with the Plymouth school district and together concluded that he should continue at Clarke School East for preschool and kindergarten.

"There was no program (in the local public schools) that had experience with cochlear implants," Sousa said.

Younger son Trevor, also born deaf, is following the same educational path through Clarke School East. He has "such a great big brother for a role model," she said.

This year for first grade, Aiden mainstreamed to full inclusion at his local public school. Looking toward the future, Sousa talks positively about college aspirations.

"Wherever he wants to go ... the world is open to him."

Sue Lovejoy is a Holden-based freelance writer, who writes often on issues related to parenting a child with a disability.

Parent Resources

Federation for Children with Special

Needs, 1135 Tremont Street, Suite 420, Boston, 02120, 617-236-7210 or 800-331-0688 (in MA) www.fcsn.org

Massachusetts Department

of Education, 350 Main Street, Malden, 02148-5023 781-338-3000 www.doe.mass.edu/

Massachusetts Association of 766

Approved Private Schools (MAAPS) 781-245-1220, www.spedschools.com

School Options

maaps Member Directory

www.maaps.org/MAAPS-Community/DesktopModules/Directory.aspx

National Association of Private

Special Education Centers 1522 K Street, NW, Suite 1032, Washington, DC 20005 202-408-3338, www.napsec.org

Carroll School

25 Baker Bridge Road, Lincoln, 01773 781-859-8342

Clarke School East

1 Whitman Road, Canton 781-821-3499

Clarke School

Round Hill Road, Northampton 413-584-3450