New to the Area: Looking for School for ADHD 3rd grader
Hello all,
This is my first post. I took a job offer at one of the tech companies in South Bay and we will be relocating in a few weeks. We have been searching online and have been a bit underwhelmed and discouraged with the school options. Our third grader has ADHD, the inattentive type. She’s very well behaved, social, and imaginative with a strong memory. The class sizes we’re seeing are huge and the highly rated schools seem to be extremely competitive and focused on test scores. Where can we send our child in the middle of the school year, meaning rolling admissions with small class sizes, nurturing, and open to children with learning differences? We’re ok with public or private. I should also note that we haven’t finalized where we will live yet but I’m open to any good area that has a max commute of two hours from Sunnyvale on company shuttle (commute time factors into my work day). We’ve been looking at East Bay and South Bay a areas that would fall into my maximum desired commute. I would like to nail down a place to live and school for her prior to sending for her. Thanks!
Parent Replies
Hi there -
I am not aware of any elementary schools in the East Bay that particularly cater to ADHD kids . My guess is that your kid will most likely be better off in a private school due to smaller class sizes, (mine was) but how experienced the teacher is in dealing with ADHD is always the luck of the draw. The CHC is very active in the south bay and seems to be involved in two schools, but at first glance they don't seem to be focused on ADHD. Still, this might be a good local resource for you: https://www.chconline.org/ebc/. Good luck!
I can't imagine having to do this commute, but ...
We moved to Lafayette in the East Bay in Jan 2018 and enrolled our two daughters in the public elementary school. Three months later they were both diagnosed with ADHD (one combined and one inattentive). I have been SO pleased with the support we have gotten from the school. I wish the class sizes were smaller, and there was less focus on grades, but overall I think we have been extremely lucky.
So, if you can stomach the travel from Lafayette to Sunnyvale I highly recommend you consider it. Best of luck!!
I recommend looking into Crestmont School in the Richmond/El Cerrito Hills area. My son started school there this year and I was attracted to their philosophy of nurturing the whole child, collaborative approach to learning, as well as their small classes sizes. The also have rolling admissions. Best of luck to you!
Our son was diagnosed with ADHD in the second grade while at BUSD. We pulled him out of public school and discovered Aurora School in Oakland. It was the best experience he had in his grade school education.
Hi There, My son goes to Sunnyside Microschool in Downtown Oakland. It is a really special school for spirited kids who are not neuro typical. Many have ADHD or other learning differences. The school serves a small mixed age group who does a lot of individual work within different themes set by the teachers. They do not track to common core, and allow kids to work at their own pace within each subject- all of the math is done via individual tutoring and there's no homework. My son has been thriving there this year and the anxiety, pressure and overwhelm that he experienced with other schools is non existent at Sunnyside. http://www.sunnysidemicroschool.com/home
Would you consider a parochial school? Many (at least in East Bay/Oakland) have smaller classes and resources to support ADHD and other learning differences. We found many privates simply weren’t equipped. We switched our ADHDer (combined type) after a couple years in public OUSD school. We’ve found the quieter environment, consistent routines and expectations, and enrichment are really helping our child thrive. So much so, we haven’t needed to engage with their Learning Resource Coordinator for additional support. We’ve also been pleasantly surprised by proactive offers for accommodations.