5026 Iroquois St
College Park, MD 20740

Perfect just so safe I recommend it

I want to give fair warning to parents who are considering placement here for the autism program. I didn’t have a problem with the special educators themselves, but the assistants were variable in quality; some are gems, and some do not belong in a setting with vulnerable children. In retrospect, my child was communicating that they did not like one of them. I wish I had fully understood at the time.This school’s biggest challenge is its administration – don’t underestimate their ability to make your life hard! If you bring up more than a small issue or two, you become branded a problem parent and they display a wagon-circling attitude towards you - lots of denial, blame, ignoring, and gaslighting. My kid was having real challenges in the classroom environment. Because of admin attitude, many interactions were needlessly confrontational. It was hard to collaborate because I was constantly hitting brick walls and treated as an adversary. The special education coordinator bullied me but only when she wasn't observable by people above her. She made basic errors in her knowledge of special education law, but she also made sure she used phone calls rather than emails to communicate when she knew she was skirting the law.My kid has a speech delay and cannot tell me about their day. I often wonder what they encountered there that bothered them but they cannot tell me. Not just through how they treated me, but sickening specifics that I am keeping vague for this public forum. My kid is now done with this school! At the school my child attends now, *everyone* is kind, professional, and treats me as an important member of the team. It is so much easier to problem solve when issues pop up. My child is flourishing because of the new environment, and they have made so much progress since leaving PBES. It's night and day.If you absolutely must send your kid to this autism program, I recommend making sure you are knowledgeable about special education regulations. It’s good to know regardless, but you will need it here - you cannot trust the administration to do the right thing. It would be worth reading over your procedural safeguards again and getting some support, you will need it if/when things aren't smooth. Make sure you’re paying attention to your child’s communication and take their concerns seriously, however they communicate. And finally, always send follow-up email summaries of your phone conversations! Document everything!

Parkdale's staff, administration specifically doesn't have any respect for students or parents. The school as a whole is anti parent engagement and anti student experience. I remain forever shock that it is still actively running under the current leadership.