We had a terrible experience with Choices in Learning. Several months ago, we had registered our son for kindergarten and been given a high spot in the lottery, so we did not expect him to get in. The day before school started, we got a call that our son's spot was up, so we rushed to get everything ready to he could go here. We thought it was a great opportunity, because the school is rated highly.
My son is very high-functioning on the autistic spectrum. Most people cannot tell he is any different - he is very intelligent, sociable, and expressive, but he does occasionally have meltdowns. The school was aware of this. He has an IEP, his diagnosis and other details are all in there, and there was some discussion of the accommodations he might receive. Also, my wife is very familiar with how this works through the county because she is a former SCPS teacher herself.
The first day of school went amazingly. The second day, I got a call from the dean saying, "We need you to come pick him up." I asked what happened, and she simply repeated, "We just need you to come pick him up." I asked, "Is he hurt?" She said, "No, we just can't get him to calm down and need you to come pick him up." I was working, so my wife went to pick him up. Apparently he had a meltdown in class.
Again, having a child on the spectrum, we understand these types of meltdowns happen occasionally, especially during stressful times, and the beginning of the school year starting kindergarten in a brand new school can be very stressful for a five year-old.
With that said, our disgust with this school comes from the way they handled the situation, from how they handled our son and how they treated us as parents. We came to learn that they had evacuated the whole classroom, then sent a police officer in to try to restrain my son, and then the principal restrained him. They told us he was throwing desks. I can assure you my 40-pound five year-old boy is not capable of even lifting one of those desks, much less throwing them. Also, if a child is having a meltdown, "evacuating" the entire class from the room is only going to make the situation more stressful by isolating him and drawing more attention to the meltdown. And why is a police officer restraining my five year-old?!! I understand the school is concerned about liability and being sued by other parents, but seriously, how much of a threat is a five year-old that an armed officer needs to be involved at all?
We are also upset at the way the school treated us as parents. When my wife arrived at the school, the staff immediately bombarded my wife with the details, before even introducing themselves. Also, several comments were made that were very unprofessional. The Principal told my wife, "I almost took a shoe to the head, and I'M NOT DOING THAT FOR ANY KID. I DON'T GET PAID ENOUGH." Take note, CIL Parents, that's what your Principal really thinks about your kids, and she said it directly to my wife without any hesitation. Also, she made it a point to tell my wife that I had been "rude" to her Dean when she called. As described, my entire conversation with the Dean consisted of, "What happened?" and, "Is he hurt?" How that might be construed as "rude" must take some mental gymnastics, but perhaps they have trouble discerning a parent's concern for their child from rudeness. As they continued explaining the situation to my wife, it was obvious they were implying that they no longer want our son there. Comments were made like, "We're not saying he shouldn't go here, BUT... if he does this again, he'll be suspended, etc." Basically, they said everything they could to my wife to dissuade us from keeping him there without actually saying they don't want him there, because they're not allowed to.
Needless to say, we love our son more than anything in this world and are concerned for his well-being first and foremost. We don't want him at a school that doesn't want him there, so we made the decision to withdraw him.
Through this experience, it became painfully obvious that Choices in Learning does not want children who are on the autistic spectrum or that have other related special needs. They may tell you they care about special needs kids all day long and have all kinds of accommodations for them, but they are just saying that because they are required to. We have seen their true colors. When they were actually faced with a challenge of my special needs child, they did everything in their power to subdue him, get him out of the classroom, and then get him out of their school. This is not how a public school should operate, charter or not.
Even if your child is not special needs, do you really want to send him or her to a school that mistreats special needs children and parents this way?
We are disgusted and disappointed in Choices in Learning. read more
