Down Syndrome Child In Need Of Schoolmates

Q.: My 14-year-old son, who has Down syndrome, is in seventh grade and has been mainstreamed since kindergarten. My concern is that he has no peers and no friends. While the majority of students are accepting and understanding, they are not really "friends" that can be developed into longer-term relationships. There are only two other children with Down in the system, neither in the same school. I would like to locate a school in the Seattle metropolitan area with a larger population of Down-syndrome students. Do you know of a way to search for this kind of information?

- D.M., via Internet

A.: First, it can be difficult to enroll your son in a public school outside his home district, as space is tight at many schools and funds are often limited. Call districts in your area and ask about their special-needs programs.

A few other organizations may be able to help find a school, public or private, compatible with the needs of students who have Down syndrome:

-- The Washington Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities in Seattle has a specialist who handles issues surrounding Down syndrome. For more information, call 461-4550.

-- The Learning Disabilities Association of Washington can offer referrals, although the Redmond-based organization may not be able to locate a compatible school directly. The number is 882-0820.

-- The University of Washington's Center on Human Development and Disability also may be of help. Call 685-3205 during business hours, Monday through Friday.

Q.: I'm a junior at Gig Harbor High School and have recently heard about new admission requirements for the University of Washington. Can you please explain them and why they are being put into effect? Who will benefit? I would appreciate your speedy response as time is rapidly approaching when college applications must be sent out. - C.A., Gig Harbor

A.: The University of Washington has made substantial changes to its admissions system. They will affect about 12,500 people who apply for freshman admission and about 5,000 students who want to transfer to the UW from community colleges.

"We may expect slightly lower GPAs and test scores from students who have been involved in, perhaps, more things," said Tim Washburn, UW director of admissions and records, "but not to the extent that it's going to affect these students' ability to be academically successful."

Briefly, these are the changes:

-- An essay is now required with the undergraduate application; students are encouraged to submit additional personal information as well.

-- The UW will now consider every resident applicant who achieves the minimum "index score" of 28, established by the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board for admission to a state research university. In the past, those below 43 were denied. (The index is a number from 1 to 100, derived by combining high-school grades with admission-test scores, giving 75 percent weight to the grade-point average. A 3.42 GPA and combined SAT score of about 1,000 would produce an index of 58, for example.)

-- Finally, the UW no longer separately considers applications for the Educational Opportunity Program or the Honors Program; a single application will now be used by all applicants.

The essay will be read and scored for quality and content, states a recent UW admissions newsletter. It's a chance for students to elaborate about themselves, their special talents, unusual educational experiences, cultural diversity or personal hardships.

It's possible that a student with high grades and test scores but an essay of extremely poor quality will not be admitted or will be asked to take an English-as-a-second-language course as a condition of admission. The only exception to the essay requirement will be transfers who have earned an associate degree and are admissible under the state's direct-transfer agreement.

The way the UW is treating index scores is a big change; it means large numbers of applicants - those with an index between 28 and 43 - who didn't get considered before now have some chance at admission. An index of 28 is approximately equivalent to a combined SAT score of 900 and a GPA of 2.84.

Applicants in the bottom third of index scores will go through what's now called the Freshman Admissions Review. This process will tally up about 40 possible points based on a list of specific criteria, including the quality of the essay, stringency of their high schools' grading, average academic-course load, quality of courses, rigor of senior year, GPA re-calculated to reflect only core courses, grade trends and any documented exceptional talent.

The University projects that 90 percent of resident applicants with scores above 57 will be admitted and about 50 percent of those with scores in the 28-57 range will be admitted.

The deadline is Feb. 1 for freshman applicants, but the UW may keep admissions open beyond the deadline if space is available.

Education Q&A is a regular Sunday feature in The Seattle Times prepared by Times education reporters. Call in your questions to our Education Hotline at 464-3339, or write to Education Q&A c/o The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111; FAX to Education Q&A at 464-2261 or e-mail at schools@seatimes.com.

Coming up in education:

Travel Career Training will be offered by Green River Community College's continuing-education program, beginning in January. An orientation to the 10-week certificate program will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Registration: 833-9111, ext. 2535.

Additional education calendar listings appear Mondays in The Times inside the Local News section.