Basic Info
Gaithersburg HS is located at 101 Education Boulevard, Gaithersburg, MD 20877. The principal is Dr. Christine Handy.
Rating
Please rate your experience at this school with respect to the following aspects on a scale from 0 to 10.- Inclusiveness: Does the school have a culture of inclusion and inclusive practices in place (e.g., co-teaching)? Are these practices effectively and systematically implemented?
- Staffing and resources: Does the school have staff and resources to accommodate a wide range of special needs?
- Cooperation: Does the school staff exhibit a cooperative approach by accepting/requesting the parents' input, listening to concerns, and attempting to resolve disagreements?
- Communication: Does the school implement progress monitoring plans? Does the staff regularly communicate with parents with respect to their child's progress and challenges? Is the staff responsive when contacted?
- Academic expectations: Does the staff systematically set high expectations for students with special needs? Does the staff systematically raise expectations when IEP goals are met ahead of time?
Gaithersburg HS
Inclusiveness
1
Staffing and resources
1
Cooperation
9
Communication
5
Academic expectations
1
Son with ADD/ADHD who is mainstreamed but needs support in the classroom. 2016-2019
Son in SCB program 2017-2019
Inclusiveness: Does the school have a culture of inclusion and inclusive practices in place (e.g., co-teaching)? NO. Let me qualify this. They have co-taught regular classes. They tried a “pilot program” of co-teaching honors classes last year, but swiftly dropped it. So if your child needs support and is recommended for honors, you have to choose whether he/she gets support, or he/she takes an honors class. This is not a decision that should need to be made.
Staffing and resources: Does the school have staff and resources to accommodate a wide range of special needs? I would say no to this. Not only do they not have support for ADD/ADHD kids to take honors classes, but my other son is supposed to have a one-on-one aide, and 5 months into the school year, he still does not have his support.
Cooperation: Does the school staff exhibit a cooperative approach by accepting/requesting the parents’ input, listening to concerns, and attempting to resolve disagreements? This is good. Many of the issues has to do with things out of their control, and they are as frustrated as I am.
Communication: Does the school implement progress monitoring plans? Does the staff regularly communicate with parents with respect to their child’s progress and challenges? Is the staff responsive when contacted? Depends. One Case Manager for son with ADHD/ADD I only hear from once per quarter. At the end. When he is failing classes and it’s too late to do anything about it! Some are much better than that.
Academic expectations: Does the staff systematically set high expectations for students with special needs? Does the staff systematically raise expectations when IEP goals are met ahead of time? This is okay…because I have the high expectations. Although, considering that they don’t support honors classes, in general, this is NOT setting high expectations!