Submitted by peanutbuttercandy8 t3_zwgmq9 in massachusetts
I was homeschooled 🙄 and now I have my own kid. I have no idea how public schools work or how to enroll my kid. Or pretty much anything about the process. Is there someone I can call or a handbook that explains everything I need to know? The doctor said to get him in a school program for the head start resources but I don't know what I'm doing.
Thank you. Why didn't I think of that🤦♀️
Because you didn’t go to school here; you’re allowed!
Good point. I appreciate your help
Probably because you were homeschooled!
😂 I am not a fan of homeschooling after the experiences I had
Yes, it's pretty rare for those who were homeschooled to then homeschool their own kids. The idea of homeschooling by choice in a state with world class public schools is so ludicrous.
I honestly believe that homeschooled children should have weekly welfare checks.
They have daily welfare checks from teachers in the PSs, and that is an important thing.
Low-key burn
this is going to vary widely based on where you live. If you're in Boston, it's a complicated nightmare with training sessions and facebook groups dedicated to deciphering the arcane pagan incantations needed to enroll in Pre K.
If you're in a burb it's usually a little more straightforward.
Thankfully not in Boston. Even though it's over an hour from me I still get Boston schools when I search online.
Search YourTown schools and you’ll find your district website with information about enrolling and contacts. The district office will probably be closed until January 3.
I can’t dispute that it is a nightmare, and Boston sucks in many ways, but they try really fucking hard to get kids into school. It may not be the school of your choice, but they will die on the hill of getting you into at least one public school in K2 or higher. They also have free breakfast and lunch, and send home COVID tests every weekend. They know that every uneducated child will cost them much much more if they have to pay the BPD to deal with them later
If you google your town's public school system and kindergarten enrollment, you will likely find a starting point there. As it gets closer to the spring, more information should emerge. You can also find out what the closest elementary school is to your address, and contact them directly and simply ask about the process.
As for head start, the doctor may mean preschool, but your town may have a specific head start program, which your town's public school department should have more information on.
It's okay to not know these things. I grew up in public schools, but this was all new to me as well when it came to my own kids. It's a learning curve for everyone, and you'll come to know all of these things, too :)
She said the local head start was through the public school. I think I have a handle on it now. Apparently I needed to know and find the school district.
Go to the school dept, bring a bill that shows you live in town, and the birth cert showing they're your child, and they'll enroll you.
Call the school district for your town or city.
Since you specifically said 'head start' then this information might also help you out
Thank you. That looks like some resources I should look into.
What town are you in and how old is your child? Kindergarten doesn’t start until age 5, so if your child is younger than that you’ll need to look at preschool. Head Start is preschool for kids ages 3-5 and it’s free if your qualify under federal low income guidelines. If you don’t qualify there still are options. Some towns will offer preschool free or with a fee. Then there are also private pay preschools. Lots of options for you
He's almost 4. I'm looking for preschool. His doctor said the local head start was run through the public preschool I think. At least that's what I understood. I think I found some information on the school district page. I'm not sure what the difference between preschool and kindergarten is as far as applying and resources.
Kindergarten is mandated by the state. So each district has to offer kindergarten free to all residents. It’s essentially the first year of “public school”. You don’t have to apply to get into kindergarten. You just have to register for it. You can’t get denied from kindergarten and it’s totally free.
For preschool, it gets a little trickier. For public preschools you can apply for a spot and if they have one open you get it. If they don’t, then you’re out of luck. The only exception is if your child is a special education student. Each district is mandated to provide services for kids 3+.
For head start you have to meet the federal poverty line, which i believe is less than $25K a year. If you make below that you qualify. If you make too much $$ you don’t.
Private preschools are totally different. You have to pay no matter what.
Thank you. That clears it up quite a bit. Do you need a doctor recommendation to be a special education student do you know?
If you think your child has a developmental delay or any disability, look into getting an assessment done by the public school district you reside in. If your kid qualifies, you will get free preschool and services if your town has a public preschool.
In Massachusetts in order to qualify for special education you have to have a diagnosed disability. There are several different disability categories. For something like Autism that would come from a doctor. But things like a developmental delay or specific learning issues would usually come from an evaluation that is done by the school district.
If you think your child has a disability you need to contact the special education office in your district and request an evaluation.
Inform the your city/town school department that you suspect your child has special needs. The school has their own educational psychologists that will perform testing to identify the disability and the school will develop a plan to address your child's learning needs. In MA special education is taken seriously and a wide variety of services are available. Massachusetts has excellent school systems, so your child will have a great chance of success!
No. You need to write to the school special education department and say that you suspect your child has a disability or developmental delay. At that point, the school is obligated to evaluate the child for special education services. They will send you a consent form for evaluation which you will then sign and send back. They will evaluate your child to determine if he qualifies for an IEP and then hold an IEP meeting where they will share the results of their evaluations and discuss his eligibility for services.
You can get evaluated for an IEP by the school system. Call them up as soon as they open next week to get the process started. Depending on where you are, it may take awhile.
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There is also something called “Early Intervention” which, for very young children, is run by the state. It transitions to the local school district at age 2.5. As the name would suggest, it’s targeted to kids who might need a little extra help meeting milestones. If your doctor is talking about Headstart (which is a federal program from the 1960s aimed at socioeconomically disadvantaged kids), it’s possible they really meant EI (early intervention). Kids qualify for EI based on all kinds of things — from physical disabilities to social/ emotional circumstances which have left them a little behind the curve. You will need to actually call the school department in your town to find out about this, if this is what you mean. My own kids both went through the EI program, but only one still needed it at the age where the towns take over from the state. We had to call the director of EI for the town, get assessed, etc.
Here’s a list of where to look for every town in the Commonwealth.
https://www.massfamilyties.org/early-intervention-programs-throughout-the-commonwealth/#CatchArea4
Call the registrar for your particular school district. You’ll find their contact info on the district website.
What town are you in? We may be able to find someone that works in the district on this Reddit that can help you out.
Pepperell
https://www.nmrsd.org/registration this is the page you would need for their elementary school. I would still call the school next week and get more information but this seems like the place to start.
Thanks for the link. How is there not a handbook for all the things you need to know to be an adult with information like this?
When my kids were little, our PTA wanted to work with the school administration to make an orientation guide. There was no information given to parents at all before showing up on the first day. It was chaotic and overwhelming for the parents and the kids. The principal was ready to retire and refused to take any part in such a project. The PTA at that school did a lot for the kids. If there is a PTA organized in your local school, the main office would be able to put you in contact with the parents who lead it. I found these parents to be familiar with the whole school and helpful with all kinds of information about the community. I met some good friends from volunteering on PTA committees too.
That's a really good idea. Thank you
Pepperell is part of a regional school district. My experience with them thus far has been positive. They moved very quickly with a child I work with who moved into the town and was behind on all her services due to being neglected before being placed in her current foster home.
Are you looking for early intervention (EI) services or special education (age 3 and up)? Your local school district or your child's doctor should be able to help you navigate the system. It's a huge pain in the ass, I absolutely recommend you join your local SEPAC and network cuz it's a nightmare to navigate without friends to help you out.
Smare you on Facebook? My town has a Facebook group and i see people posing this question a lot and people providing resources. I hate recommending Facebook for anything, but it's a good resource in this case.
I'm not on Facebook but maybe next door would have similar resources.
How old is your kid right now?
Going on 4
OK. Are their any issues? Like a reason they might want your kids to go to EE (early intervention)?
Speech delay, some issues with motor skills, etc?
Speech and social issues mostly. He was in ee before we moved but in indiana it wasn't through the school for 2 year olds.
OK, so for that age he'll be in "early childhood" services. Contact your local school district and just let them know you've moved and have a child who was in EE in another state and probably needs an evaluation.
They should be able to point you in the right direction.
That sounds like a good plan. I can't believe how helpful you all were. In one morning I went from clueless to having several good places to start
No prob! You've got this!
Also, join a local mom's/parents group on facebook in your school district. They may even have a special needs group. My kid needed services and those parents have seen it all so they know exactly how everything works and will be a really good resource.
Early intervention ends on the 3rd birthday.
Head Start is for children from birth to 5 (I work for a program in western Mass) - you can find your local program and how to contact them here! https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/center-locator
You can call the elementary school closest to you. They might tell you to call the district office. They will tell you what to do. Usually, you can fill out registration paperwork and scan documents (immunization records and proof of address) and upload them online on the district's site.
How old is your kid? Head Start supports children from birth to 5 years old but if your child is 3 and has special needs, he may qualify for an IEP/public preschool or if he's baby-2 he may qualify for Early Intervention.
We had early intervention before we moved. He's turning 4 in a few months and the system is completely foreign to me.
I replied to another one of your comments as well but Pepperell is part of the North Middlesex school district. You should send them, in writing, a note that you and your child's physician are concerned that he has a disability and/or developmental delay. The school has 5 school days from that point to respond. They will send you a consent form for an evaluation for special education services. Once you sign and send back that consent form, they will schedule evaluations and then determine whether or not he qualifies for an IEP/special education services. They have 45 school days to complete the entire process.
When did you move? It kinda sounds like EI dropped the ball. At least in Massachusetts, EI has an obligation to notify the school district in the child's town of a child turning 3 who is aging out of EI and may qualify for services.
Well our previous EI services were out of state. I moved here last summer and haven't been in contact with any groups out here yet. Thank you for all your comments though. You seem to really know the system.
Yeah what I'm saying is EI should have prepared you for this prior to your move. If your kid was 2 1/2 in your previous state, they should have been working on referring him to school there. If he wasn't yet 2 1/2 and they knew you were moving, they should have provided you with his IFSP and advised you on how to establish EI services once you settled in MA and then the new EI here would have handled the school referral.
All of that is a moot point now though since he is already 3 but without services.
I didn't know that. Guess they really didn't help me set anything up here. Thanks for your advice. I feel much more confident. I'll call his doctor and see if they have a standard evaluation request. If not I'll draft something to send the school.
Def also get in touch with your SEPAC. They’re a resource specifically to help parents navigate the system.
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Head start is good for when both parents and grandparents are unavailable to care for the child. In that case it's been shown to provide better outcomes.
But... if there's an opportunity for a parent or other family caregiver to be around, studies have shown that head start provides worse outcomes long term.
Just wanted you to be aware OP. Others here are answering your main question pretty well...
That's interesting. I'll have to look into it. Do you have any studies to back it up?
Lots of info here, sorry I don't have time to filter through to find my exact point but you can read various meta analyses and get the idea - Head start benefits some but negatively impacts others:
https://www.google.com/search?q=head+start+meta+analysis+family+caregivers
You could ask your parents as they had to deal with the legal stuff which isn't necessarily trivial.
My parents don't talk to me. And my grandparents had a completely different system to work with.
Umm....call the school?
I didn't know what school to call. There are several in my area and I didn't know which were public or private or preschool or what. I think I figured it out now
Literally just call your school district and ask where to sign your kid up. Also it's probably on their website.
That's probably what I'm going to do. But I didn't know schools had districts until one of the previous comments. Now I have a starting point.
Good luck. It's super annoying to register students.
Usually it's just a one page form to register a kid. You also need paperwork before school starts (vaccinations, maybe birth certificate, proof of residency) but that's not HARD.
No, not hard, annoying.
Good luck. It's super annoying to register students, so glad I'm not a social worker anymore.
tokhar t1_j1ui1s3 wrote
Call or visit your town/city hall, or search their site. Education in MA for public schools is run by the individual towns. You’ll get your specific answers from them pretty easily. Good luck!