The Foreign Service Journal, June 2008

J U N E 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 91 S CHOOLS S UPPLEMENT the school directly to make sure it has space available and still offers the ser- vices required. In many cases, the school may want detailed test reports to be e-mailed or faxed to assure a good fit. Misconception 3: All the infor- mation available in Washington is outdated. All of the offices mentioned above have good sources of information on schools and services and are working continually to improve the quantity and accessibility of that information. The Office of Overseas Schools is staffed with five experienced interna- tional educators, who serve as Re- gional Education Officers and spend much of the year traveling abroad and visiting schools. In addition to the OS- assisted schools, they visit other schools used by U.S. families and any facility that might provide a quality special-needs program. The office also collects information from schools directly through ques- tionnaires and through Community Liaison Office coordinators. At times, OS sends consultants to a certain country or region to evaluate the spe- cial needs resources. The information gathered is avail- able at any time from the office or from the REO responsible for that area. REOs can be contacted by e- mail, even when they are on the road. ECS also has extensive information on resources at various posts. And the Overseas Briefing Center, part of the Transition Center at the Foreign Service Institute, has a range of mate- rials, including some with comments from individuals serving at posts in Personal Post Insights. All that said, sometimes things change quickly. A therapist may move away or a school may eliminate a pro- gram. That is the reason for the requirement that a family make real- time contact with the school before an assignment is confirmed. Misconception 4: If a school abroad can meet a child’s educa- tional needs, it will also be able to provide other services such as