How do most boarding schools handle the administration of medication? I’m assuming the students aren’t allowed to keep something like Ritalin in their rooms - do they keep it with the school nurse and go take their pill each morning?
Also following the ADHD topic - if a student has a 504 at current high school, how does it usually work to ensure that the student gets similar accommodations at BS? More specifically, time and a half on assessments, access to class notes etc?
The health center holds meds, most meds, even the ones that seem silly to hold, and kids go daily to take them in the presence of the nurse.
Accommodations are school dependent. I don’t have knowledge of any kids being allowed access to notes during tests but time and a half seems standard from what I have seen. Access to class notes might be a no go for most BS that are not heavily focused on learning accommodations.
While this differs from school to school, at many the nurse dispenses meds. Many of these schools have seen a brisk trade in ADHD drugs, so this is how it is managed.
You would need to ask the dean how academic accomodations are handled, which is essentially that yes, they are – it’s just a matter of how they are communicated. Agree that access to notes might not be allowed.
This is a great question to take to revisits just to make sure your assumptions are in line with reality.
To clarify didn’t mean access to notes during tests - meant, access to notes just in general. To help a student who might have some organizational issues. That accommodation is less important than the extra time. I would think the BS would want a copy of the students plan from the current school?
I see. Yes I assume most schools will want a copy of the current plan but I think them following that plan is highly dependent on the school. I think you did not apply to New England ISL schools which is the set of schools I am most familiar with. If you applied to schools with strong learning centers I would assume that you have been put in touch with someone from the learning center with whom to address these issues. If not I would ask about that on revisit day or email and ask about it now. If my student needed any level of help I would not assume it was going to be forthcoming.
I would think that adhd and time and a half must be a pretty common accommodation at most of these schools right? But good advice. I will definitely ask these questions. Best to be fully prepared and let them know as much info as possible. Thanks.
I don’t have a child myself with a 504 plan but work in an educational setting (higher ed) so can speak to 504 plans. Typically all accommodations need to be linked to a specific “need” specified in a medical/psychological report; for instance time and a half on assessments or separate setting for assessments should be linked to needs in the area of focus, distractibility, etc. Easy enough with an ADHD diagnosis. I have never seen in a higher ed setting an accommodation allowing a student to use class notes on assessments if the rest of the class isn’t allowed. I have seen 504 plans that a student can get a printed copy of class notes (either from a classmate or the instructor’s own lecture outline, etc.) especially in cases where writing is an issue. My guess is that boarding/prep schools are similar to higher ed in that they would require justification and evidence as to why certain accommodations are required. I would just make sure your ducks are in a row (testing and diagnosis is updated, needs clearly outlined from a provider) before the fall, just my advice!
Thanks for this. Yeah, our child was re-evaluated last year by county psychological and educational staff. Thorough testing was administered. Prior to this testing was done in middle school. So everything is up to date. Basically the main accommodation is extra time which has been given by the school as well as college board and act etc. The notes are not to assist with assessments — they’re offered instead to help during the course of the year with learning the material and staying organized. I definitely agree it makes sense to reach out to the learning centers of these BS’s to make sure all ducks are in a row and have current school send over everything from their files as well.
I would think this type of accommodation (extra time) is very very common at these schools. Even some of the “top ones”.
If you’re going to revisits, make a point to introduce yourself to the head of the academic/learning center. He/she will likely ask you to send the psychological evaluation via email over the summer so a plan is put into place before the school year begins. Since ADHD meds are a controlled substance, your child will need to go to the health center each morning to take his/her medication and again at night (if he/she takes a second dose). Since kids with ADHD often forget to take their medicine, (we have a running joke in our family that whoever decided ADHD treatment should be a daily pill that has to be remembered, clearly doesn’t have ADHD) you can likely set up a system with the health center for reminders (either sent to the student, or send to the student and parent(s)). Also be sure to touch base with your child’s advisor as soon as he/she is assigned to go over accommodations / medication etc so there is one more person on top of it.
Agreed - they all have student resource/learning centers and people on staff hired especially to help students who require some support and/or accommodations. And if you have updated testing and a current 504 plan in place - I am sure the process to getting it implemented would be pretty seamless!
Will also add that my child’s boarding school keeps pretty much all medication under lock and key and administered by a nurse at the health center - which is great because they have been on it when my child has forgotten on occasion to pick up their meds -I know my child complains sometimes about the inconvenience of getting the meds from the health center but it provides some reassurance to us as parents that they are indeed getting their meds!
I sent my child’s nueropsych to various schools we were interested in to see if they felt they would be able/willing to provide the accommodations and what that would look like. It’s important information to have before making your decision.
So true re remembering to take the medicine every morning. Not to mention the idea of extra time also goes against the idea of having adhd. My child utilizes it but def isn’t a fan of sitting there for longer times. But it also allows for the child to take more deep breaths and giving themselves a minute to regroup.
I had 2 kids with adhd at boarding schools. The one at Millbrook did get extra time which he used some times but not every time. The one at Hotchkiss did not. Hotchkiss (and I’d guess schools like Hotchkiss) is NOT set up to deal with learning differences. The pace is FAST and that doesn’t, and can’t, change. Miss an assignment or two and things snowball, and the student is quickly underwater. Teachers are used to working with kids who hit the ground running and many do not know how to work with learning differences. I would not send a kid with anything more than very mild adhd to one of the very rejective boarding schools. That is setting them up to struggle/fail.
I would also think long and hard about the need for notes. This is a time for adhd kids to learn the tools needed to succeed in college and the world. After high school no one is giving a kid notes or the equivalent. As much as possible I’d be focused on using the high school years to enable the kid to live without accommodations.
My Millbrook son started out needing tutoring 3x a week in 9th grade, 2x in 10th, once in 11th, and no tutoring in 12th. And then he managed the academics at Emory pretty easily. That’s the kind of path I mean. Hotchkiss would have destroyed this kid.
To be clear, I think both Hotchkiss and Millbrook are phenomenal schools. But neither is phenomenal for every kid. Fit is incredibly important.
Did your child with adhd at hotchkiss have a tough time adjusting to the lack of accommodations? Not even extra time? That seems crazy to me. We know so many people from nyc with kids at the top private schools all of which are very very a academically intense - Horace Mann, trinity, Chapin etc - and all schools allow for adhd accommodations. At least the extra time. That seems so unproductive to me.
I would think most schools would give extra time. My kid takes advantage of it when needed. Some exams she doesn’t feel like she needs the extra time.
The daily trip to the health center to get meds is a real negative in my opinion. My daughter would maybe take her meds once or twice a week. The health center was not convenient and you are asking kids that already struggle with executive function and time management issues to remember medicine daily.
I have been told that compliant with meds for adhd kids at our school is not good.
I will say that the whole experience has been frustrating for our family.
It has been a frustrating experience for us as well. Kiddo often forgets to go, the health center often forgets to let us know when he hasn’t shown up, and the advisor hasn’t been much help either. It is definitely something parents need to stay on top of, at least in the beginning. And if someone could please invent some sort of implant for ADHD treatment, I would be eternally grateful!!
No, we didn’t know he had adhd until after he got to Hotchkiss. He had not needed accommodations before. We didn’t know why he was struggling until we did neuropsych testing in 10th grade. His adhd was mild, and probably would never have been discovered, but for Hotchkiss’ intensity.
Private schools have no obligation to follow a 504 or whatever was in place at a previous school, public or private. They may or may follow those recommendations. They may request all testing data before granting accommodations. They may require testing be updated every two years. They may create a new plan for use within their school or testing systems. Don’t assume anything about a new school and their systems and accommodations. Don’t assume anything will automatically be granted. Always ask and discuss. Policies vary wildly.
This is true -I believe they are only required to follow Section 504 if they receive some sort of governmental funding… many do so anyway, but they are not technically required to.
Makes sense. They can have it all! We have nothing to hide. But I do think that in this day and age timing accommodations are pretty common. That’s the least of what some of these kids get in some places. We are at a private school. My child used to have an iep but no longer needed some of those resources so the iep became a 504, but this was after hours and hours or testing so that his accommodations could be extended for a few years.