My 4 yr old son and I will be moving to st. louis, from Virginia and would like feedback regarding good schools/neighborhoods to consider. My son will be starting kindergarten next fall, and will likely require extra support w/ speech/language...Any advice? Thanks.
Look into the Montessori schools. Villa di Maria Montessori in Kirkwood. ###-###-####. Des Peres Montessori ###-###-####.
I live in Webster Groves (63119), about 10 minutes from downtown, with a small town feel. I think we are in a great district, in fact we moved for the schools. My husband and I both went to private schools and we feel that WG rivals them. We have a fantastic early childhood center, even though my 4 y/o goes to a church preschool, the special school district speech therapist goes to his school 2x a week.
I would also recommmend Kirkwood (63122). Both are relatively smaller districts. All the other mentioned districts are great, my reason for Webster Groves, is we are a much smaller district with a large percentage of our taxes going to the schools. Good luck with your seach. Not sure of your price range, but Webster school district homes, range from -$100K to $1+M.
If you ask around in St. Louis, nearly all cite Rockwood and Parkway as the best districts. One great benefit in the area also is the "Special School District." SSD is a county-wide (Rockwood has opted out) program that has specialized classes/schools for children who need lots of extra assistance, although it sounds like your child is not at that level. My children are in Parkway and there are lots of "specials" teachers; there are the traditional art, music and PE, along with media/computers, reading, speech, ESL, etc.
One great program that we enjoyed was during pre-school at the Parkway Early Childhood Center. There was a mainstreaming pre-school classroom that had 4 special needs children, some were autistic or in wheelchairs and walkers, etc. My children were some of the 4 "model" children in the classroom. It was so great to see my children become friends with the special needs kids and not even notice that their friends were "different".
Translating to now when my children are in 2nd and 3rd grade....they don't even notice children in wheelchairs. They don't stare or point at people when we are at the mall. And their teachers always comment that they are very good friends, willing to help out their fellow students, have lots of empathy, etc.
Good luck in your search and welcome to the area!
L.,
We live in Florissant, Just west of St.Louis it is about 20 min from there.
The school that I think does well is Lusher in Florissant. They have great extra support for the kids.
All Rockwood Schools have excellent programs, it is a more expensive school district to live in, but the schools are fantastic. Most of the Ballwin area is in Rockwood and that is a great city rated in the top 100 in the U.S. They have great parks and recreation and they are convient to most areas. Good Luck. I hope you like it here, it is a great city!
Rockwood is the #1 School District in MO. Good luck with finding the right school.
Both Rockwood and Parkway are great districts with extra support for learning. Good luck!
My four year old attends Stix. It's a St. Louis public magnet school. It's only Preschool - 2nd grade, so no big kids, and it's structured and challenging. He may go private after this, but this is excellent right now.
A.
If you end up living in the O'Fallon/St Peters area in the Fort Zumwalt school district they have a preschool or daycare called United Services that integrates kids with all different learning abilities. Both of my sons attend there and have drastically improved. Below please find the URL:
http://www.unitedsrvcs.org/
Hi L. - St. Louis County is unique in that we have a Special School District that erves children in all 26 county school districts. St. Louis City Schools have their own Special services. No matter where your son goes to school, he will be entitled to Special Services. Especially if he has been in Early Childhood Special Education and has a current Individual Education Plan (IEP) Having been a special education speech & language therapist in numerous school districts - here are my favorites. Parkway (west St. Louis County) pricey area. Rockwood (in the Fenton/Eureka area). Lindbergh School district (south county). Kirkwood (Central but high real estate prices).
All special services are free within your local school. Let me know if you would like more information. Write me privately. Sincerely, G.
please Call Kirk Day School...it is a Christian school with classes for learning differences. I have worked there 10 years. Financial assistance available. ###-###-####)
Some of the better school districts are Kirkwood, Ladue Clayton, Parkway and Rockwood. When you move, check into Parents as Teachers-it's a free program that works with kids birth-5 in your home. They can usually set up services for your child before they get to kindergarten. Just call the early childhood center in whatever district you move into. They all have early childhood centers that offer speech and language services.
L.-
We live in a wonderful area, with easy access to both Hwy 40 and 70 (two of the main interstates around town), O'Fallon, Missouri. It has actually been voted as one of the best places to live in MO and I have to agree. Our entire neighborhood is kid friendly, lots of great activities and great schools. My son is in preschool this year at First Baptist Christian Academy and they teach the Beka program. Our neighbors son actually attends school near Winghaven and it is a school that caters to those children who need the extra assistance. The school bus picks him up at his house and brings him home everyday and I don't believe that there is a cost for it. If you are interested I can get the name of the school for you or pass along some Parents as Teachers local information so that you could call yourself and find out about the different type of programs that you may need and qualify for!!
Happy hunting.
T.
