Need advice on good pre-schools for spec. needs child in Round Rock..plus other relocating questions (Austin: apartments, to rent)

[texasboundmom]

First of all, let me tell you a little about us before I ask my questions. We are moving from Phoenix, AZ to Round Rock, TX. My husband is getting a job at Dell, I am a SAHM to 3 yr old b/g twins and a 2 mo. old son. My son is autistic and currently in the DDD system here (Department for Developmentally Disabled) he is getting speech, occupational, physical therapy and is in the Priority Preschool through the school system.
We are wanting to move to the Round Rock area but need to know which schools are some of the best for special needs preschool and above. I have heard that the west side of Round Rock is better for schools, but have no idea how to differentiate which schools are on the west side.
If anyone has had any experience with the special needs preschools or contacts out there input would be greatly appreciated. It takes a long time to switch him over and don't want to waste my time with a bad school district.
Also, if anyone has there child in the Montessori preschools out there, can someone give me opinions on them, I plan on enrolling my daughter there but just want to get some reviews.
Plus, we have to move in to temporary housing before we can purchase a home and would like to get input on any good apartments in the area or is it better just to rent a house there?

[gigi927]

texasbound... We moved from Scottsdale, I have a 4 year old who was in special needs preschool in Cave Creek and is in a program here as well in the local school district. He has severe speech impairment and sensory integration disorder.

If you search on this forum for "speech delay" and "autism" and "montessori" there are several other threads on all of these topics, especially one on special needs programs in RR. and someone just provided some detailed info on Montessori just a few days ago.

We are in the Leander ISD and I am blown AWAY at the level of services my son is receiving and the quality of care he is getting at the preschool. In fact, one of his classmates is PDD-NOS and her mom pulled her out of several private programs because the services couldn't be beat in the school district. It is very easy to get your child moved over into these school districts; I will PM you with what the process is.

I can give you more info than anyone would possibly want to read here.

Check your private messages a bit later!

[jwb123]

I am on the "east side" of Round Rock - in Forest Creek. Kind of just before Hutto, and to the north of Pflugerville - near Dell. My husband works at Dell and his commute is 8-10 mins.

From what I hear from others who have lived here for some time - the reason the "West side" is considered "better" is because it's newer. Additionally, right along 35 is much older homes and neighborhoods so that creates the "west side is better" stuff too.

We are in a golf course community that has been in development for 6-10ish years. Across the street is Lake Pointe (I think?) and Sonoma. Both, very nice developments. There are other new neighborhoods going in around this area.

Very close to toll roads, shopping, easy onto Loop 1 and 35.

My son is autistic and currently in the DDD system here (Department for Developmentally Disabled) he is getting speech, occupational, physical therapy and is in the Priority Preschool through the school system.

They don't have DDD here. I was surprised too - as my son was getting that too in WA state. I thought it was a Federal thing. Anyway, My son isn't autistic, but he has several of the same therapy needs. He's 4 - so he's currently getting therapy, and a developmental preschool environment from the school district.

You can't go wrong with the Round Rock school district, (which is what we are in, and it's exceptional for both my typically developing 6 yr old and my 4 yr old special needs child) but I think many of the surrounding districts are comparable. I have found that different schools offer slightly different programs so you might want to talk to the PPCD coordinators for the various districts.

We are in Forest Creek - which is serviced by Forest Creek Elementary - and we are MORE than thrilled with the progress my son is making, and I definitely attribute a lot of it to the program. It's very personalized - vs what we had in WA. I could put you in touch with a parent liason for FC's program, if you are interested. We won't leave this area, simply because we are THAT pleased with the program.

If you are renting first, I would rent a house. You can find a large house comparable to the price you would pay for an apt of lesser quality.

[texasboundmom]

Thank you both so much for the information, I am so surprised that they don't have a DDD system there. We have not completely decided on what area to live in, that's why I am putting out some feelers to see what others think.

Jenbar, does your son get therapy at home or only at school?

[jwb123]

Only at school. He goes everyday from 7:45-11:45. Next year he will do part-time PreK (to get him ready for K. It's the same program, just smaller class size) and part time PPCD. It's really tailored to his specific needs - and that's what I like about this program.

In WA, it was a decent program - but it was very much "This is the program, this is what we provide" regardless of what would benefit the child.

For example, here at the FC PPCD - they don't have a set time schedule for the program. In WA - it was 4 days a week, from 8-11. Here, if kids need more or less, it's tailored to what's best for them.

We are looking into private therapy as a summer thing, and I am finding there
are several organizations that help provide this, or help to offset the costs. etc.

I have a neighbor who works for an organization that helps people with Autistic kids find resources. I would be more than happy to give you her contact info if you are interested.

[jwb123]

By the way, I had a woman out today from the Department of Blind Services (my son gets vision education/services) and she confirmed with me that in regards to special needs programs - you can't go wrong with the RRISD. I was inquiring about the school for the blind, and their program - and she said that the RRISD was even better.... I know vision services aren't your issue - but thought that it still spoke volumes about the district and their program.

[texasboundmom]

I would love to get any additional resources or contacts from you. The school system there sounds wonderful. Since there is no state contacts to deal with I am assuming I only deal with the school system? I am planning on contacting some elementary schools in the areas we are interested in to find out their procedures.

[jwb123]

Since there is no state contacts to deal with I am assuming I only deal with the school system?

I think so! We have only been here a bit over 5 months... and as far as I know, I am doing everything correctly I only deal with the school system - they do all his IEP's (called an ARD here, and are every 6 mths, vs once a year back in WA). We aren't on medicaid or anything - so that would be the only thing I think people would need to deal with the state...

I am starting to look for resources outside of the school district for extra things (like the Department of Blind Services) - just because as he's getting older he's in the community more, etc and I want to make sure he's getting every. single. resource. available to him.

I will PM you in a bit with that woman's contact name and info...

[jwb123]

Here is Round Rock's special education information...
http://www.roundrockisd.org/home/index.asp?page=319

This is the general PPCD coordinator for RRISD - she might be a good place to start...

Contact: Kellie Johnson, Lead PPCD, (512)428-3090

Another thing I like about their PPCD (Developmental preschool) is that it's in a "regular" elementary school... so he gets adaptive PE in the same gym as the other kids, eats lunch in the same lunch room, etc. Additionally, there are typically developing children in my son's classroom. Typically, they are teacher's children - who are there for a sort a "day care" preschool environment.

I don't know how it is where you are - but where I was in WA, he went to a stand alone center, not affiliated with another elementary, and it was all children of varying degrees of delays and disabilities. Not that the environment was bad - they were very good and nurturing - but my son definitely gets challenged by being around other typically developing kids, and I just think it's a more positive, learning environment for everyone...

[gigi927]

Jenbar might know about RRISD, but here in Leander ISD some kids are offered summer school services if the district feels they will suffer significant regression without services across the summer session. I know that they also offer a bunch of other supplemental programs throughout the school year for parents (extra communication help programs and stuff like that) as well that many folks participate in.

I agree with Jenbar that compared to AZ the programs here seem much more customized to the individual child. And the staff is more hands on - here, every day I get a little report of what my child did, what issues he had. Never got that in Cave Creek. I am also getting formal written progress reports every 2 or 3 months as to how he is progressing against his goals.

If you need it, I can put you in email contact with the other mom in my son's class whose child is PDD-NOS and has all sorts of information about schools, programs, you name it. she is SUPER knowledgeable.

There is also an Austin meetup.com group for parents of autistic kids to discuss treatment, nonmedical interventions, etc. Here is the link for that:
http://autism.meetup.com/229/?gj=sj6

And you may want to check out the Autism Center of Central Texas, for additional resources:
http://www.ctac1.com/