A New School

CJ is no longer in his small group class. I had him transferred back to Pony Express. I just kept feeling like he needed to be brought to Pony and be around model students, have more consistency and structure and to work on getting him mainstreamed as much as we can. I kept having these feelings and one day I was talking to the mom of a little girl that was in Pre-K & TK with CJ the more I talked with her the more I felt like he wasn't in the right place. I talked to the VP at our school and he told me I needed to meet with the IEP team at CJ's current school to discuss placement. I called and set up an appt. I thought I was going to go in there and discuss placement and transition. That is not what happened at all. I went in and the teacher had already written down on his IEP that the parents were no longer accepting small group and wanted to put him in his neighborhood school, she signed it, the regular ed teacher signed it and I signed it...and apparently that was it. This was also apparently his last day of school there and would be starting at Pony the next day. I was shocked. I didn't know what to think. No discussion, no transition..NOTHING. I went to work that day and talked to the VP about what had happened..I didn't even know what to do or where to start...I had started to doubt my decision. The VP was awesome. They figured out which teacher would be best for him and we got it all figured out...for now. It is still a work in progress but CJ is more mainstreamed then he EVER was. The only inclusion he had at the other school was with specialty...art, music, pe, etc. And according to notes that wasn't working out...yet I had NO idea. Not only is he doing inclusion with specialty but he is in his regular classroom at other times throughout the day and all of B track time. He is doing so much better. I know that I made the right decision. Even if it wasn't and isn't meant for him to stay at Pony I KNOW I made the right decision. I have gotten so much communication and have learned so much about CJ's classification and what rights he has and I have then I had ever before. The 2 years he was with Mrs. Lewis he did pretty good. I just felt like the class he was in with this year...Grades 3-6 was just not the place for him. The environment was chaotic. Every time I went in there it was just crazy. This is not what he needed. He needs to be around model students, to see how he SHOULD be behaving and acting at school. He needs structure and consistency...and he IS getting it. He has improved and is doing so much better than he was before. He still has behavior problems but we are working on it. However he isn't having melt downs everyday or major behavior problems like he apparently had been having. As far as I know he has only had 1 major melt down since he has been at Pony. He has been there since January 25th. Almost 2 months. His teacher is incredible. She is amazing and so helpful. The whole IEP team has been awesome! They have been so honest with me and letting me know what's going on, what things he needs. They are trying to determine what he needs to succeed!! For now he is staying at Pony until the end of the school year. I know he will make some major improvements, he aready has. At the beginning of the school year his teacher said to put him on a Home Reading Level of C or D. He had ended last year at E...So I had her keep him at that level. When he brought books home I realized they were too easy for him, so I had him switched to level F. When he went to Pony and they tested him he tested on level H. He is reading so much now. He is doing all sorts of homework and stuff I didn't know he could do. There are still areas that he struggles with but he is working on it and improving. He surprises me all the time with the things he can do. He is such a sweet kind hearted loving boy! I know there are days I struggle with him but he is so sweet and so loving! This was and is a HUGE change and challenge for him, but he is continuing on and doing so awesome! I am proud of my little man for doing so well with all this. He is doing so good and I am so proud of him!