What services are available??

amother

NeonPink

Tue, Jan 31 2023, 10:24 am

What type of services in schools? I know people that send to Orchos Chaim because their kids need extra help and they have more services and self contained

Some schools have more services than others
Most schools have kriah, reading, math, speech, and counseling. If ur kid needs more people go private for ot, tutoring or speech

amother

Banana

Tue, Jan 31 2023, 10:59 am

amother Black wrote:

What kind of services? It could be they are still eligible for title 1 which funds catapult etc but idk. Overall the services provided in private schools are pretty minimal

If you live out of Lakewood, you can join a self-contained class (including Kochvei and Mekor Hachinuch) if the majority of the students are from Lakewood. You can get some kriah/reading tutoring. No speech, NO STARS, no Linden, no SCHI, no Center.

If there is any town with some hope that advocacy may change things, it is Jackson. TR, Manchester and Brick are very difficult to deal with in this way. They will not negotiate out of district settlements and are very strong in court.

amother

Banana

Tue, Jan 31 2023, 11:04 am

amother NeonPink wrote:

Zivia Krieger foundation helps
They come to observe the child, go through all the reports and help with placement

Ontrack does evaluations in frum schools and recommends services

Ziva Krieger Foundation is only as helpful to recommend services and programs that are available. They sometimes can't help because there are no local programs that make sense and have sometimes recommended out of Lakewood options.

OnTrack is only useful for evaluations. They can recommend plenty of services, but if nobody is providing them for a reasonable cost, they can't do anything about it.

Lakewood is a far, far, far cry from NY in terms of variety and availability of services. If you have a special needs child, do your research very, very, very carefully to make sure there is an appropriate placement for your child that they will be eligible for.

amother

Banana

Tue, Jan 31 2023, 11:11 am

amother NeonPink wrote:

Orchos Chaim has a partially privately funded special ed track in the school and are overall most responsive from all chadorim in town. That being said, if you are not a sibling, it is very hard to get in. They have very limited self contained slots because they are a mainstream school and want to stay that way. I know of a sibling who couldn't get in due to lack of space, as well as a very well connected family.

Most schools have decent kriah and reading. Some have good speech, math and counseling. However, keep in mind that private cases pay better, so most schools can't attract top people due to lack of funds (bigger schools have more government funds and private donor). Also demand usually outweighs supply so staff are stretched thin in some schools.

Bottom line, if your kid needs extensive services, be prepared to go private.

amother

Carnation

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 8:11 pm

amother Banana wrote:

This. Orchos Chaim gave us a VERY hard time getting our son with language delays and coordination issues (he’s bright and has no academic issues). He’s our first boy. He didn’t need a self contained class or shadow, just needs instructions etc. repeated and to be seated up front. He gets OT+speech (2x/week for each) in school from therapists who work for the therapy place. Didn’t bother renewing his IEP, the Lakewood district doesn’t send related services (therapy services) to private schools.

I am shocked that Orchos Chaim turned down a sibling-they’re usually obligated to prioritize siblings over new applicants. Are you sure that’s really what happened, or are the parents just telling people that to save face because the child really had greater needs beyond the scope of what Orchos Chaim has?

amother

Banana

Wed, Feb 01 2023, 11:27 pm

amother Carnation wrote:

I am sure. This was not a Primary student, he had been in special ed and was ready to mainstream. That particular grade was already overloaded with special ed students and couldn't handle one more. It was a real pity, but it was what it was...