McDowell Plan in Ashburn Meadows by Eastwood Homes, Chesapeake, VA 23322

The school does not have an inclusive philosophy for children with developmental or intellectual delays. They still use self-contained classrooms as the primary placement. Southeastern happened to be our school district, but many of my daughter’s classmates were bussed in from other schools to attend the self-contained class, further separating those students from their peers by not only being in a separate class but also a different school. My daughter was not challenged in this setting, she was not exposed to the same curriculum as her Gen. Ed. peers, even after I obtained the Gen Ed materials from other parents and videoed her doing the work. We eventually pulled her and placed her in a private school where she is 100% included. While the VA DOE does have a published guidebook for inclusion, this school does not follow it. They have not implemented the practices discussed in the guide book such as a written inclusion policy, development of an inclusion advisory team, or universal design learning. I gave this school 2 stars rather than 1 because I believe the teachers did indeed care about my daughter but were not supported by the policies in place, lack of 1:1 aides, and training on inclusive practices. I blame the admin and district rather than the individual teachers.