No Drop in Policy at Preschool

I think you're right to be concerned. Especially when children are very young, or otherwise unable to tell you what's going on, you should be able to drop in at any time unannounced. How else will you know how they are interacting with your child? I was shocked to drop by my youngest child's daycare when she was about 4 months old, to discover her teacher in the next room SMOKING (!!!), and the babies left unattended in swings. Needless to say, that was the last day we attended that daycare. How would I have found out that information if I had made an appointment first?

Given that your son is autistic, it may be a bit more difficult for you just to change preschools, since I'm sure a good program is hard to come by. In that case, maybe you can still drop in anyway, by bringing items that you "forgot" to send with him to school. (a sweater or his snack or whatever.)

That is absolutely ridiculous. A parent should always have access to their child, PERIOD! No administration of any school district should not think for one second that it is healthy for a family to not be able to come see their child or drop in, especially in preschool. If more parents were able to drop in and check out the school during the day, maybe we wouldn't have as many problems as we do with the education system. You should be able to visit your child whenever you want in preschool. I would look into possibly having him attend a different preschool.

I would just do it - period - this is a rule that is not OK and needs to be pushed. Just causually sans attitude do what you feel you need to do to be a good mom - no one may even challenge you - often rules are made as a 'just in case measure' you know.

It is important to have that access in any circumstance but if my child had any diffiulties verbalizing what their out of home experiances were I would be even more concerned.
Good Luck R.

Have you asked them for their reasoning in this request? When I worked with intensive instruction for learning disabled children, some autistic, we wouldn't have let parents drop in. The kids worked with teachers for four hour sessions at a time, essentially. If they stayed for the second session, we asked that parents not even visit on the breaks. But it was, like I said, intensive instruction for functional & cognitive literacy, NOT a traditional preschool. For younger kids, we'd recommend that they only do half days, and the youngest we ever took was 4 1/2 (we took him on a 3 hour group because that was all he could handle). We kind of had to strongly request that the parents not be present at the very brief breaks each hour, because it's hard to tear parents away from wanting to check on their children, but once they acquiesced it was so much easier to get him going and learning. The program was very successful, markedly so for this particular young boy.

Though, If it's not for a specific reason that a company can justify, I personally wouldn't be too happy with it in a preschool. The preschool I took my son to had 2-way mirrors, so I could see what they were doing at anytime without distracting him, making him want to leave with me or to be sad, or interrupting a process.

Consider getting references for this school, or meeting some of the parents.

REGARDLESS, in my opinion, that is a huge red flag! I understand the point of when children are in instruction, especially children with autism, that it can disrupt their process, but I strongly disagree with the no drop in policy. Like the other "mamas" I would question why...

Hi V.. My first question has nothing to do with the drop in policy. My question is if he is 5 1/2, why are they putting him in preschool? At 5 1/2, autistic or not, he should be in an elementary school program. Preschools offered by the district should only be for 3 and 4 y.o.'s with the 5+ crowd in the elementary school programs. Now if the district is paying for a private school placement and that private school calls their under 6 crowd preschool that's different. Kindergarten isn't mandatory so I can understand that.

If your son is in a public school program, you can come by the school anytime. If this is a private school placement they can have their own rules. Part of the reason they would limit the drop ins at a school or classroom for kids with autism is because it interupts their routine. Anything that changes the routine in an autistic child's life (as I'm sure you know) can be extremely disruptive and can take a long time to get things back on track. If you have a whole room of autistic children, I can see how that would just be over the top.

I have two kids on the spectrum myself (both Asperger's with multiple other diagnoses) so I understand how this can be scary too. You are turning your child who doesn't understand social situation and may not have the communication skills to let you know if something is wrong. All you can do is go with your gut feeling and talk with other parents of kids in the school.

Dont let anyone tell you you cant have free access to your child I ran a day care/ preschool for 14 yrs our door was open to parents and grandparents and anyone else the parents authorized to pop in

If you dont have free access you dont know what they are really doing with your child policy or not drop in often to be sure your child is safe

I think this violates your parents rights- I run a licensed preschool/daycare and my parents have to be given a copy of their rights at time of enrollment- I would definately question this policy.

I would be very concerned about this policy. I have worked in special needs and mainstream classrooms and they always had open-door policies. Is this a special needs class only? Are the teachers concerned that parents visiting may disrupt the classroom?
Have you ever left you lil'guy before? And if so, what happens when you return? Would he be ok if you dropped in and left again or would that make him upset? Maybe this is why the district has these policies? I would ask more questions for sure.

I am a mother of a soon to be 4 year old who has special needs. He is in Preschool and we can drop in at anytime. I would be very concerned if I couldn't. My son goes to an Inclusion preschool which is an awesome program. Is this a Public School? If so I would go to the Principal and voice my concerns.