Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional First day of school - No one's read the IEP...

Yesterday was meet the teacher, and, I was not surprised to learn, none of DS9's teachers had gotten a copy of his IEP yet. I was, sadly, surprised to learn that the Spec Ed coordinator that we loved so much last year is gone and we've got a new one. She did have the IEPs, but hadn't gotten them out to the teachers yet... The one teacher last year (a male technology teacher) that really, really worked well with DS is now the vice principal, so hopefully he'll be able to help out if necessary still.

DS usually does fine the first few weeks of school, regardless, so I'm cautiously hopeful about 4th grade.

Has anyone else in the states started school yet?

Yes. In NC, our state has implemented a computerized system which spit out a schedule for each incoming student, a schedule which ended up having little or no value, since most often it was wrong. My DS11, who's experiencing a new transition this year, not only into middle school, but is also skipping a grade, was one of many, many students who were placed in the wrong classes. His first day, he was designated to go to 6th grade and so I went in to make sure that he went to the right grade. Once that was sorted out he spent almost two days with a group of unruly, behaviorally and functionally challenged students. Not only were the things that were supposed to be put in place so that his transition would be more comfortable, such as pairing him with another grade-skipped kid, not done, but they had him in remedial classes. As I said, this was a school-wide, and county-wide problem which the teachers have been workign tirelessly to fix. As I've had to go in and advocate every day to see that DS is where he needs to be, I've seen it first hand. I can only imagine the stress of having to basically fix by hand the mess caused by this state's computer mess-up. I have so much respect for these teachers, that they are working so hard despite little support from the community, from the state (NC keeps taking and taking from the teachers) and so little understanding of what it means to be a teacher in today's world.
I have high hopes that this hiccup will be a lesson in tolerance and patience for my DS and that soon he'll be happy and excited about school rather than dreading it. He's coped better than I imagined he would. That said, I'm still hearing "I don't want to go to school," and I'd love to not hear that.

We usually have to gently remind/notify teachers individually each year that: a) my dd HAS a 504 plan-- most are blissfully unaware, and that b) they should really-- NO, REALLY-- read it through.

Unfortunately, we've found that the first week of school is so chaotic for SpEd staff that they seldom get information to teachers in a timely fashion, even in those instances where the disability is hidden and/or life-threatening in nature. [sigh]


We start in a bit over a week, and DD still has no German teacher, and there have been a number of things already that we're going to need to tackle right away.

We've started school - and fwiw, I think the first week or two of school are simply crazy busy for everyone (parents, students, teachers). I wouldn't necessarily worry that not having the IEP yet (especially in the case of new staff) would be a signal that the school year won't go well. I would, however, give a copy of my copy to your ds' teachers, be sure they've seen the list of accommodations and make sure they will be in place, and also talk to them about anything you feel they need to know

I hope your ds has a great school year!

Best wishes,

polarbear

I figured I'd give the teacher these first few days then check in on Monday to make sure they've all gotten a copy of the IEP. I really want to make sure he's being sent to the resource room @ the end of the day like he's supposed to be... so we avoid all the lost paperwork and the chaos to general dismissal!

We had a meet the teacher yesterday too ... plus a meeting with the school nurse and the lead teacher regarding DS5's allergies. We never even got to the IEP. I was spitting fire as soon as I realized the nurse didn't even notice DS's Health Management plan had TWO pages and not just one ... she was like "oh! There's a second page?" ... so much for managing his asthma and environmental allergies (covered on page 2) ... first year of school for us. Trying to not let anything ruin it for us! Really trying hard!

We just started today, but we don't have any IEPs this year -- they dropped DS's IEP last year due to stellar progress, and it worked out fine, so we're hoping that it still goes ok with him fully in middle school this year.

However, when we did have one, we always had a meeting a week or two before school started, with everyone who was involved with him, just to set things up and get everybody on the same page. And another one a few weeks into the year after the chaos settled out, to see how things were going.

Well, things are a wee bit chaotic at school this year anyway... they expanded the building over the summer and the new gym is still under construction... so no PE for anyone yet! And DS's class isn't finished just yet - no shelves or whiteboard for the teacher. He told me he didn't meet the spec ed teacher yesterday or go to the resource room. He mentioned he was very confused about what to do at the end of the day (was he supposed to go pick up his sister? go to resource? go straight to dismissal?) so I think I'll try and find the spec ed director's email and send her a quick note.

ETA - In completely unrelated news, the school has decided to partner with ALEKS... (starting in 6th grade). And they are going to start doing NWEA MAP testing! Hoo-boy!

DD's IEP didn't get distributed until the end of day 1, and since in day 2 it was clear that the math teacher wasn't following a key accommodation, I alerted him and the IS about it. I just got email lectured by him about why the accommodation isn't reasonable.

And this is in the noise of problems with the start of the year...