Jim Tangeman Center (formerly Fir Grove), Vancouver | Fees, Rankings, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Hmmmm. Firgrove…where do I start…i guess I’lll start with the farthest I have a seriously disabled child who has to be sedated at home on a regular basis. He started at Firgrove in First grade. He first went to Kindergarten at Harney Elementary, they told us they couldn’t handle him after three weeks. In fact, the first day of school, they sent him home. He then attended Franklin Elementary School for a few months, he went into their special ed. program and then was “released” from that school a few months later. He didn’t attend school for the rest of his Kindergarten year. We thought we were going to have to homeschool, and we really felt like the Vancouver School District had failed us. We put our son on the waiting list for the school and a few months into what would become his 1st grade year, they had a spot for him. Signing all the forms for Firgrove made us apprehensive when we understood that the school practiced “holds” on the children when they were being dangerous. I wasn’t very keen on so”meone physically holding my child down. My wife and I decided to give them a chance..
The first thing we noticed with this school, is that they understand that they have students with sometimes violent and serious behavioral problems. They are very caring with our son and right away we found that they listened to how parenting our son at home worked. They quickly rewrote his IEP (individualized education plan) to include minor details, like allowing him small snacks, taking his shoes off, having a hiding place and so many little incremental changes they allowed us to change in his IEP that really allowed him to be successful. He is in 4th grade now.
I can’t really express how much I like his school. The staff listen; the staff are patient; the staff are professional. They see through the violence and cussing fits he has and love him for who he really is. I wish they had a playground, I wish that they weren’t this secret little school for last chance kids like mine. I wish they got better funding and more well trained staff. My sons teacher is amazing but not formally trained. We have to sign waivers to allow his teacher to be his teacher because they have issues with finding qualified staff, probably because of their budget. I know that occasionally we provide the school with different things, like snacks for his classmates and a fan for him to stay cool because the teachers have to buy those things out of pocket. I wish all schools were better funded.
I’m m glad this school is here. We don’t know what we would do without them. And as far as the physical restraining goes, they don’t use any mechanical restraints, it’s all staff holding the student, and only when it’s vital. Mostly, they patiently clear out the classroom and let the student calm down and then get back to business. My son through a chair through a big window once… Most schools would have expelled a student for that, Firgrove gave him suspension for a couple days and we tried again. Time and time again they show patience and understanding for my whole family. They provided us with emergency gift cards when I lost my housing and never judged out family. They aren’t perfect, they have made some mistakes along my sons journey, but they always listen and take our concerns to heart. We owe them many thanks..

Fir Grove is what we called an alternative school when I grew up in Seattle. It was where the surrounding schools in the area placed children that had behavioral issues, and the inability to function in a traditional public school setting. When our school district suggested our special needs child be placed at Fir Grove, it was with the belief that this school and their staff were best prepared to educate our son. Unfortunately, we’ve learned the hard way that this school has a stigma in the community and with law enforcement. If your child has any propensity to become violent because of their mental disability, I would highly advise that you consider other means of educating your child before you allow your school district to place them at Fir Grove. This school WILL be a gateway of introducing your child to the juvenile justice court system, and you will wish you had been warned.