In 4th grade, our son was tested as being at the pre-K level. He’s now a freshman in a mainstream school, albeit it in a program called “Foundations”. He has worked very hard and his teachers frequently comment that he is the most focused kid in their classes.
He will be attending either Camp Dunnabeck (Kildonan) or Foreman this summer. My gut feeling is that he would receive better services and support in a full time boarding school with strong supports for kids with learning disabilities, than in a mainstream school, which has him in remedial classes, which we support with tutors. In his current school, he’s an outlier.
He’s not unhappy where he is, but he complains that the classrooms are loud and the kids aren’t attentive (there are 20 to 25 boys in each class.)
Clearly, I believe he will do best where he wants to be, but I’m wondering if there is a way I can encourage him to consider boarding school…and does this make me a bad parent?
@SNMore: You’re posting on the college side of the forum. You’ll get more of a response (and support) over in the Prep School Parents section. Good luck!
I think this is completely understandable and reflects concerns that his needs be met to the fullest. I don’t understand why this would make you a bad parent.
I know parents who felt that being in the mainstream local school helped their kid have a feeling of belonging in the community, but in the end, the kid ended up living away anyway 
Your local public school might end up paying for the boarding school if you can show need.
He is young, and this would take him away from home, which is a drawback. I wonder if you can find a school with services where he could commute.
Your local school MIGHT pay for the other school if it can be shown that the public school could not meet your student’s educational needs.
I am sending you a PM about Forman…it’s a great school for some kids.
If you can afford it, I say give it a try. Many boarding schools accept day students, if you schedule and location works. I hope he will try a boarding school after the summer camp experience.
Is it necessary to send him to a boarding school, or are there some private schools that might be able to offer him what he needs. Private schools often have separate academic support programs that he can attend for an additional cost. Either way, I don’t think you’re a bad parent for wanting the best for your child. How does your son feel about it?
It’s tough when a kid who is focused and motivated lands in a public school class with kids who for sometimes understandable reasons, are not similarly focused and even distracting with noise etc. Just sympathizing. Generally public schools are obligated to provide services, and have the staff for it, though many are not that happy with the results Our state has a Federation for Children with Special Needs that is very helpful with advocacy.
We did a mixture of homeschooling and school, treating school more like the Boy Scouts or other socializing extracurricular. But at a financial cost.
It is hard to send a 10 year old away.
I think either a private school geared to your son’s needs, or move to the area near the boarding school so he can commute !
ps I know a few parents who have succeeded in getting the town/schools to pay for private boarding school…yes you have to prove it and a lawyer might be needed but well worth it. Again, the Federation of similar organization can provide advocates at low cost or advice on the phone.
Yikes! I totally forgot to add a critical fact: Our son is in a private, Catholic school. However, the school is known for the sports’ program, not the academics.
@SNMore have you looked around at other private/Catholic schools? My kids go to our local Catholic school but it does not have a specialized program in place for kids with LDs. I learned a few years ago through talks with other parents that there were several high schools in our archdiocese that offer specialized programs for kids with LDs. My 8th grader has a mild LD so we went through the search process this fall to find the right fit for him. The programs are not all the same - one school offers specific tracks with kids who have LDs together in their classes with trained teachers. Another school has the kids mainstreamed in to the same classes as the rest of the school, but they are assigned an advisor who stays with them all four years, they have a center in the school where the kids take all tests, one period of the day they meet with their advisor where they get assistance with executive function skills, test taking strategies, study for upcoming tests, etc. Advisor has regular meetings with the student’s teachers and parents. We chose this school. Due to the number of kids in the program, they are widely integrated into the school and there is no stigma attached to those in it. We have no personal experience yet but have friends with kids in the program who speak highly of it (as did the neuropsychologist who did our son’s testing and our son’s tutor-coincidentally, they both had boys in the same program years ago but we did not know that at the time we were researching schools).
Check with your archdiocese to see if any of their high schools offer such a program. In our archdiocese I think there were at least 10-15 (co-ed and single sex) schools with LD programs-we had no idea! This is our third child and only one with LD so we didn’t even realize these schools had programs until the last couple of years when we started thinking about what to do with him in h.s.
If you are a taxpayer, you can still pursue the public schools paying for your son, if it is justified.
I’ve heard really good things about this program:
http://www.landmarkschool.org/about/glance