Q. Do the teachers at this school have experience with children with special needs?
A. The director and head teacher, Nichole Mann, is a certified special education teacher. She has experience teaching children with ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, intellectual and cognitive disabilities, speech and language disorders, and social/emotional/behavioral disabilities.
Q. My child has special needs. Will he be qualify for your school?
A. The decision about whether our school is a good fit for any child, with or without special needs, will be made by the student, his family, and school staff as a team. Someday School can be a great fit for children with diverse learning needs. As all children are different, however, we can't guarantee that it will be a great fit for every child, with or without a special need.
Q. We've heard the director say that children with ADHD or autism are often successful in this model of school. Can you explain that?
There are several reasons why kids with autism and ADHD are often successful in similiar models of schools, after being unsucessful in traditional classrooms. One reason is that traditional classrooms and schools often rely on getting children to comply, and getting everyone to do the same thing at the same time. Kids with ADHD, autism, and some other special needs have difficulty with this. They march to the beats of their own drummers, and cannot always just adjust their minds and bodies to match what the teacher wants them to do. They often have difficulty following a direction "just because." For example, a child may be able to read about their favorite topic for hours on end... yet when told that they must read, "just because" it is time for reading, they may balk, refuse, or just have a difficult time concentrating on what they are told to concentrate on.
Given the freedom to learn about what fascinates them, and permission to skip the activities that don't interest them, takes away all of the control battles that often occupy the school day.
In addition, there is no pressure for children to conform to what similarly aged peers are doing. No child at Someday School is compared to their peers, or told that they should be doing what the others are doing. We see each child as unique. A child at Someday School, with or without special needs, has the freedom to become their true self, at their own pace.
Q. Will my child have an IEP at your school?
A. Students don't necessarily need IEPs at this school, because they are allowed to learn at their own rate and in their own style. IEPs in public schools are meant to make sure that students with special needs have accommodations and modifications so that they can access the curriculum that is being provided to everyone, or so that they can be given specially designed instruction. But at our school, each student's curriculum is tailored just for them, by them. However, if your student is coming from a public school and already has an IEP, we will be glad to meet with you and go over it.
Q. Your school does not seem very structured. What about students with autism spectrum disorders who need structure?
A. Part of helping a student to become independent will involve helping him structure his own day. We will not have a pre-determined schedule that we will make your child follow. However, with the help of his family and the staff at the school, a student who needs that structure can set up his own daily schedule. We can even help create a visual schedule and other visual reminders that he may need.
Q. How will you make sure that my student is doing his work?
A. In some public schools, staff will go so far as to place students in chairs with trays so that they cannot stand up to leave, or use their bodies or furniture to block them into a certain area while they work, or withhold preferred activities or snacks until the work is done. We will not do that. What we will do is provide opportunities for structured learning as well as opportunities for self-directed learning. We'll help them to follow their interests and curiosities. But we will not force them to learn or to do certain activities.
Q. When my child was in a public school he had a 1:1 aide with him throughout his day. Will he have a 1:1 aide with him at your school?
A. We are an extremely small school and don't have the funds to pay a staff member to work 1:1 with a student throughout the day. However, we want children to have the opportunity to be part of our school if at all possible. We'd invite you to attend with your child for a few sample days to see how he functions in our school. If you and/or we think your child would need a 1:1 adult with him for safety reasons, we can look into finding a solution. Some possibilities would be helping you hire someone to attend with your student, or looking for a volunteer staff member who would work with your student full time.
Q. My child has had behavioral issues in school. Will he still qualify for your school?
A. There is nothing that would automatically "disqualify" a child from our school. We would meet with the potential student and his family to talk about the school and whether it would fit his needs. Some behaviors that are seen as negative in a traditional school are acceptable at our school. For instance, if a child refuses to do his work, or has difficulty staying in his seat, or is very active, he can be seen as having behavior problems in a traditional school. In our school, these things are okay, and so he would not be seen as having behavioral problems. Also, some students develop behavior problems because they are frustrated at being forced to do certain things. At our school students don't have to worry about entering control battles with adults. Our main rules are keeping ourselves and others safe, and being kind and respectful.
Q. My child qualifies for speech and occupational therapy. Do you have these therapists at your school?
A. We currently do not have a speech or occupational therapist. However, even if your child attends our school, he still qualifies for therapy through your local public school district. We can help arrange this for you.