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To: Mr. X, Principal,
George Washington
Elementary School
Anytown, Any State 01234
Dear Mr. X:
We are in the process of adopting the child
from a Russian orphanage. His name is Ryan and he will be
8 years old in June. We are planning to bring him home on
June 21 and to enroll in your school - which is our zoning
school - within a week on his arrival.
We were advised by the orphanage director and
our adoption agency that Ryan is a typical orphanage-raised
child of a normal intelligence who has delays in academic
and language skills. We are concerned that these delays may
have negative impact on Ryan's educational performance and
overall adjustment.
By this letter I am formally requesting that
the school's special education screening process begins on
Ryan's arrival. This assessment for possible special accommodations
and/or services is to be done as soon as possible for the
following reason.
On arrival, Ryan will be a monolingual (Russian
only) child. All tests and other evaluation materials used
to assess Ryan are to be provided and administered in Ryan's
native language which is Russian. It is my understanding that
I have the right to this request as mandated by IDEA 34 CFR
300.532(a)(ii) which says that tests and other evaluation
materials used to assess a child are provided and administered
in the child's native language. Ryan will be living in a monolingual-English
family and attending English language school. We know from
other parents' experience and up-to-date research that within
a very short period of time Ryan will begin to lose his native
language. Therefore, if there is any substantial delay before
assessment, then our capacity to provide relevant information
about Ryan's potential and his present level of functioning
will be severely compromised if not rendered impossible.
I hope that your school has all necessary resources
to accomplish this bilingual psycho-educational evaluation
of a child with "atypical" background in a timely
fashion. Since I do appreciate the challenge of assessing
Ryan, I wish to offer my assistance in helping to find the
needed resources. I am already aware of the availability of
a bilingual licensed psychologist who is specializing in an
assessment of internationally adopted children. His name is
Dr. Z, his office is located in ABC county, and his phone
# is: 000-000-0000. You may learn about his credentials and
experience visiting his website at www.bgcenter.com
In Ryan's case "time is precious."
For that reason, I will be calling you as soon as you receive
this letter so that we may begin coordinating the needed steps
for the assessment plan. I will be leaving for Russia on June
12th. I would like to hear from you before this date about
your proposed steps in evaluation of my son-to-be Ryan. I
truly believe that we can meet this challenge before us and
I look forward to working with you and your staff. You can
contact me by the phone at: 000-000-0000 or e-mail
at:
your_address@aol.com
Sincerely,
Mrs. Y.
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