School stuff

Ethan got his 1st quarter grade card today and I thought I would share.

 *UPDATE* After reading the comments I received, I realized something I did not mention. I am very proud of my young man. He is such a good, sweet, smart kiddo and he tries very hard and I'm proud of his grades and his successes. I meant to put that in the original post and somehow managed to leave it out! OOPS!!

Religion - Satisfactory (S) (all subcategories are satisfactory)

Math - Good-(G-) (all subcategories satisfactory)

Language Arts - Good (edits and revises own work - needs improvement, the rest satisfactory)

Reading - Good+ (G+) (all subcategories outstanding)

Phonics- G+

Spelling - Excellent (E) (subcategory outstanding)

Handwriting - S (forms letters correctly - needs improvement, other category satisfactory)

Social Studies - S- (subcats satisfactory)

Science/Health - G (subcats satisfactory)

Computer - G (completes projects - satisfactory; shows effort - outstanding)

Spanish - S (subcats satisfactory)

Music - G (subcats S)

Art - S (subcats S)

Physical Education - S (is prepared for class - Outstanding; other subcats S)

Personal Behavior - S- (shows responsibility; uses self-control; respects the rights/property of others; respects authority - all Need Improvement; works and plays well with others - S)

Work skills - S (completes homework - outstanding; all other subcats S)

Attendance - G (only 1 absence YEAH!!!!)

Conduct - S (1 red flag, kind of like a demerit, get 5 and they get a detention after school)

Teacher comments: Ethan has come a long way since the start of school. I look forward to him raising his hand at sharing times. He is a blessing.

 

Now mind you, all this sound as though he is doing pretty good at school, right???

Well as Sharon already knows, things are quite going that smoothly. In fact, to put it bluntly they are kicking him out. Now, they aren't doing it harshly or even using those exact words. They expressed to me at our meeting on October 14th that he was having difficulties and that maybe that other school would be better, blah blah blah. Since then, I have been researching these schools to determine where the best placement for Ethan is. I had found just 2 or 3 choices and was trying to narrow it down when I got a letter last Wednesday stating that they could no longer continue to serve Ethan and that the problem was two-fold, his meets could not be met and his behaviors were disrupting class making it difficult for the other children to learn. I had till Friday (2 days!!!) to let them know what my plans for his further education were! After a long couple of days(stressful, fighting with my poor hubby, and just anger and confusion on what to do next) I found 2 schools/programs I wanted to go check out, neither of which were on my first list. One was a charter school that works with only children who are on the Autism Spectrum, or have ADD/ADHD. The other works with only children on the Autism Spectrum BUT they are completely imbedded and also are in a Catholic school with typical children. In this program they attend the pre-inclusion class to start and are assessed. As the child is ready they are mainstreamed, maybe an hour a day or even an hour a week, up to the whole school day, whatever the child is ready for. There are only 10-12 kids in the program at any given time, they rent 3 rooms out for the preschool, pre-inclusion room and sensory integration room, and each child has their own one-on-one teacher. We went to both schools on Monday and decided to send him to the one that does inclusion, that's at the Catholic school. I'm excited because it's exactly what I want for him and what I believe he truly needs. The only thing is, there is a paperwork issue currently. The state of Ohio offers a Autism Scholarship good for up to $20,000 for any family to receive to send their child with Autism to a private provider. The scholarship comes from money the student's school district would normally get, so the school district has to fill out and sign the papers stating that Ethan is a child with Autism, has a IEP and MFE, is eligible to enroll in the school district, etc. Once that gets done, I have to mail that in with the rest of the application to the Ohio dept of Education and wait, and wait, and wait (usually, from what I'm told, it's approved within 24-48 hours after they receive it, but then I have to have the approval form and they will not overnight it I'm sure!! but I wonder? Would they fax a copy to me so he can start receiving services he needs?). Then, the school goes year round and the scholarship only gives up to $20000, and only for 3 out of four quarters (fiscal not typical school years, so Oct-Dec, Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep) and so the summer quarter won't be paid for. It will cost a pretty penny for us to send him there, but it's well worth it. We have been blessed the last few years, having our savings last us as long as it has, and now with Jason's good job, we should be able to handle at least this year and over half of next years. From then on, we will figure it out. Plus, who knows, since they are trying to get the kids ready to handle a regular classroom without an aide, without the therapies, etc. maybe he'll only need this year and next. Here's to hoping. Hoping it's the right place, hoping we can afford it as long as he needs it and hoping that he will eventually make the progress needed so that he won't need it forever. After all, that is the goal, for him to be able to handle situations better, do good in school and the real world without support all the time, and be a productive citizen.