New Hope

Through all our frustration over the last school year, Katie's therapist had repeatedly mentioned services she knew were available at Hayes Elementary school.  Over the summer I debated with myself what to do for Katie.  Maybe the struggles we faced last year were the natural reaction to adjusting to a new school, on top of having a less than understanding homeroom teacher, and perhaps this year would be better with a different set of teachers and the 504 plan in place that I could have beefed up to suit her needs more specifically.   But I really didn't think switching classrooms for almost every class (like in a middle school) was a very good fit for Katie, and I was seriously underwhelmed by the provision of services so far.

So when schools brought back some of their staff in Aug. I made a couple calls to see what our other options might be.  It turned out Hayes was not in our home district after all, so I would have to open-enroll her if I wanted her there. 

I called Hayes and was transferred to the director of SpEd services, explained that my daughter had needs I didn't feel were being met by her current school and asked if she could tell me, in general, what kinds of services their school offered for the types of struggles I described.  With only a brief description from me, the woman was able to tell me several things that might be possible, more that Valentine Hills had offered in a whole year. With this and the therapist's recommendation, it was clear that this would be a better fit for Katie, even if it did mean changing schools again.

I stopped by the school that evening to fill out the papers for the open-enrollment into another district.  When I walked into the office I identified myself as the mother who'd called earlier and the secretary remembered and asked if I'd been able to get my questions answered talking to the SpEd director.  I assured her that in 10 minutes of conversation I had been convinced this would be a better alternative for us.  

There was a man also standing around in the office who overheard this and casually asked me where we were coming from and what struggles we'd been having.  I told him a little about Katie and some of her needs, and I don't remember the specific wording/term he used, but he said something like, "Oh yeah, XYZ can really be an important piece for sensitive kids.", and whatever the term was, something sensory related, it was exactly the right thing for what I was describing.  Something specific to sensory processing issues that the general person wouldn't know about.  I was pleasantly surprised!

I was even more impressed when he proceeded to introduce himself as Mr. P, the principal of the school!  I knew right there that this school "get's it".  If the principal himself is familiar with the terminology and needs around sensory issues, and doesn't just leave all that to his specialist staff, then clearly it is a real focus at this school and they will have resources to help us.  I wanted to cry right there on the spot, I was so relieved!  

He talked about the importance of the right fit of teacher for kids like Katie and immediately asked me more details about her personality and learning style and promptly chose her teacher then and there. Based on her needs, he knew just who he wanted her to have.  He asked about previous services and I explained about the request for evaluation last year and being pushed into the 504 instead.  He told me that was a really backward way of looking at that process and that they have a completely different approach to it here at Hayes.  He encouraged me to go ahead and write him a letter right away to request an evaluation so we could get things rolling as soon as school started instead of having to go through the timely process of waiting for the teacher to identify her as having problems.  He even walked me right down to the office of the SpEd coordinator for their building to introduce me and let him know I'd be requesting the evaluation.  

I left that day so relieved and full of hope!  I may have even cried, if not I was certainly close.  We wouldn't have to go through another year like last year!  There were people out there who knew what to do and were eager to help!