Last year when Olivia was turning 4, we were looking at preschools for her. After checking multiple schools out and then taking Olivia for a short tour of one, Olivia ended up in the hospital for a week and we decided none of us were ready for school. We kept her home for the year and now it is time to investigate kindergarten. I can’t say that searching for the right kindergarten has been easy. At first it seemed like the school district was anything but transparent on the subject. As we passed emails back and forth, the more I felt like I was being pigeon holed into a school for Olivia. A school that I knew I didn’t want her to go to. After meeting with the district face to face I felt a little better, thinking there were more choices for her but as time went forward again, I realized that really wasn’t true. I was given two “integrated” choices for Olivia, one “isolated” and then the option to build her own program in the school district. Unfortunately, when we had visited all those programs and decided we wanted to build her own program, the school district took that option back stating legally they could not do it. OMG so FRUSTRATING! Why would they even offer it then??? So now we are back to being pigeon holed into three options, none which are perfect for Olivia. Kids with special needs all need different levels of education and help and I feel like they are just putting them all together regardless of their abilities. It really worries me that Olivia won’t have children to model off.
I started to think that maybe I was just overreacting but as I spoke to more and more parents, I realized they felt the same way and parents that had made the choices to not “exclude” their children were much happier about their progress.
So, what do I do?? I want Olivia to have the best education she can have and yet I feel like no option given fits. I’m now stuck putting her in a program that I don’t think is right for her and paying for another private program that I think is.
Guidance please…