UGH.... Class of 2027... Really?

OMG.......... Met with the people over at Dysart Early Childhood Education Center, where Conor will be attending Preschool in January 2013. He will transition out of the DDD Early Intervention program when he turns 3 years old and into the public school system.

Now, I have to admit. I was scared to death of turning my son over to the public school system, and to be honest, I am still hesitant, but I do feel a little better after my meeting yesterday. When I was searching for day cares for Conor, I was so picky. I looked at every single little complaint and review. So walking into this meeting at the school, I was nervous.

I knew that Joshua, Conor's DDD caseworker was going to be there, but I was pleasantly surprised to see Dan Hermann also there. Dan has been helping Joshua "learn the ropes" since he is new. So knowing that they were both joining me for this meeting, I felt a little more comfortable.

We walked into a conference room and there were 3 women, a 4th joined us shortly after we started. Come to find out these 4 people were all child psychologists. Again, that made me feel a little more comfortable knowing they these women weren't just people they hired off the street to fill a baby sitting spot.

First I was asked a serious of questions about Conor. Questions such as what does he do in (blank) situation and what does he do when (blank) happens. They just needed to get a feel for where Conor was today, versus what they read on the report from February that Dr Kessler and his team from SW Human Development wrote up. She then explained a little about the school and their program. I asked questions about the teacher to student ratio which is either 1-6 or 1-9, depending on the class/program Conor would be placed. He would be going to school Tues, Wed, Thurs, and Fri from 950am to 1220pm. No school on Mondays.

I have a meeting in a few weeks to complete all the enrollment paperwork and at that time I schedule his evaluations with the school psychologists. He will also be evaluated by a physical therapist as well to determine where he is physically compared to his age. I was worried about Conor being "taken away" from his therapists when all this happens, but I did confirm with Joshua his caseworker that after he turns 3 and transitions out of the DDD Early Intervention Program, he would be able to continue seeing his speech therapist (if they feel it is necessary). Basically DDD and the schools feel that developmental and occupational therapy would take place in the school so he would have to stop seeing them when he turns 3. UGH.... Anyway, I hope his speech therapists feel they can continue to help Conor.



I do feel more comfortable putting Conor in this school. They seemed very organization. Very curriculum oriented. Very not what I expected. So I am pleased about that.