Looking for a Special Needs High School.

We are in Chicago so I don't have an specific suggestions for you. However, our son is 14 and we have many, many years of experience with finding schools which will accommodate his ADHD and language processing disorders. We had, consistently, the best success with Catholic educational institutions. We are a Jewish family, so we had some hesitation, but Catholic schools in our area allow for plenty of accomodations for nonCatholic families. If you call the Archdiocese in your city, there should be someone on staff who is a coordinator for schools who can tell you 1) what schools have accommodations 2) whether or not they are fully enrolled. Take care.

We formerly lived in Colorado Springs.

Colorado has great virtual "cyber" schools, such as K-12 and COVA and many others, which might be an option for you.

Also, when we lived there, I had a friend who had adopted a child who was the biological daughter of an abusive, alcoholic, drug-addicted, neglectful mother who eventually permanently lost custody. My friend tried her best to help this child but she grew to be a young teen with lots of processing disorders, ADHD, some psychiatric issues, and a LOT of behavioral issues. In the regular public school, she was failing miserably, not acting appropriately in social situations, causing fights, etc. She was, at heart, a sweet girl, but was having troubles overcoming her difficult early years prior to the adoption.

Anyway, after too many suspensions, police calls, etc, her parents enrolled her in Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs. They had a program for behavior and learning differences. I don't know what it was called but my friend told me that it was very different from any of the other high schools that she had either looked into, or that her daughter had been kicked out of. Her daughter finally found peace and a solid learning situation with the services she needed.

I know, in some way, what you're going through. We have moved to accommodate our daughter's very complicated medical issues. It is tough sometimes, but we either needed to be near specialists, or at a lower elevation due to her heart condition, or in a drier environment. It's always something. But worth it when you finally see them smile.

Oh, and Colorado has awesome seasons.

Dallas Texas area has the most special needs school per metro area per D magazine. We've been able to work with our public school to date but many are not as fortunate. Im sure my DS would do better in a private school that could offer smaller classrooms. Here's a list from D magazine.,

http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2004/mar...

Have you thought of home schooling with the option to dual enroll or a homeschool sports league? My oldest was barely in K when we lived in TX so I don't remember much about the rules down there but I know some friends had a child in Grace Prep & really enjoyed that (it's kinda like a dual enrollment system), and some of my cousins were homeschooled but their area had a hs football team as well as other sports.
Up here in IA, we get all the seasons as well as the ability to dual enroll in the local school system. Many of our friends sendd their kiddo(s) to the local ps for a couple classes or electives & then do the rest at home.
Just throwing that out there. :-)
Grace & peace in abundace.

I have a professional relationship (limited basis) with a specialized private school in Massachusetts that caters to kids like your son. It's a boarding school in a rural area but about 30 minutes from a city with a lot of colleges, restaurants, "culture" and so on. We also have seasons! I'm not an expert on the school but if you want the info, let me know.

Summit Academy in Ohio. They have several locations but not all go through high school. The one in Dayton does.

Maybe look into the Groves Academy in the Minneapolis/St. Paul (Twin Cities) area. I think it is in the St. Louis Park area. I don't know much about it, but I've heard good things. You would definitely get to experience all four seasons. The Tein Cities are a great place to live. I have lots of family and friends there and we go up there at least once a month. Minnesota consistently ranks high in school quality and best places to live.

If you want a smaller city and a smaller school setting, you might check out Beacon Academy in Rochester, MN. It is a small charter school that opened a couple of years ago. I don't know much about it except that it is for students who have a difficult time in the public high schools. I was just overhearing a conversation at the coffee shop yesterday between two moms who have students there. They both were speaking very highly of the school. Rochester is an extremely helpful and friendly little city. With Mayo Clinic here there are tons of resources!

Good luck!