| Site: |
Special Education Home |
||||||||||
| Articles | Page:
About Special Ed |
||||||||||
| Procedural Safeguards | |||||||||||
| Programs | |||||||||||
| Resources | |||||||||||
| Special Ed Staff | |||||||||||
|
For more information or involvement, please contact: Linda Potter, Director of Special Education 106 Hancock Road, Peterborough, NH 03458 Phone 603-924-7503 ext. 2027 Website maintained by Peter Monether Last Updated 9/17/08
|
The Special Education Department of the ConVal School District consists of highly trained and experienced professionals in the field of education, psychology, assessment, social work, orientation and mobility and occupational, physical, vision and speech/language therapy. This staff collaborates with other educators, administrators, families and area agencies to meet the educational needs of those children who are experiencing difficulties in our schools. We help to identify individual student strengths and needs using formal and informal assessment techniques, observations and interviews. We engage in creative problem solving with multidisciplinary teams to develop effective strategies for intervention. We assist with program development and implementation.
Numerous special education programs exist within the ConVal School District to provide a continuum of placement and support options for students. In the elementary school, the Education Support Team Program provides early intervention, pre-referral intervention and specialized instruction to children. This program puts highly trained and experienced special educators in each building. The Educational Support Teachers are the team leaders and "go-to" people for each student with special needs enrolled in the respective buildings. The Educational Support Teacher can be the child's advocate, assessor, instructor, resource coordinator and case manager. The purpose of the Educational Support Team is to provide needed and authentic evaluation and intervention as early and as quickly as possible to meet the needs of the children. Modified regular and resource room special education programs are available to identified students in all eleven ConVal schools. Additionally Life Skills Programs are offered at Peterborough Elementary School, South Meadow School and ConVal High School and Emotional Support/Alternative Programs are available to students at Great Brook School, South Meadow School and the High School. Each of these highly specialized programs is aimed at providing intensive support services to students with very significant educational needs. Additionally, the Special Education Department operates two integrated preschool programs called First Friends. The preschools, located at the elementary schools in Antrim and Greenfield, provide extremely high quality programming and low staff to student ratios for both children with special needs and those who are developing typically. Emphasis is placed on developmentally appropriate teaching practices and learning activities, pre-academic and social development, citizenship, tolerance and appreciation to differences. Additionally, preschoolers with special needs are placed throughout the district in community preschool programs, as appropriate, with special education supports and services provided as needed. Parents, teachers and administrators continue to examine the scope and purpose of special education, with an eye toward improving its effectiveness, efficiency and consistency. A crucial goal for our department is to establish and continually strengthen effective communication, collaboration, trust, understanding and team process among educators and between home, school and area agencies to better meet the needs of our students. |
||||||||||
A committee was formed in October, 1995, to establish a mission statement for special education in the ConVal School District which upholds the Educational Philosophy statement adopted by the School Board dated April 2, 1991.
"The Contoocook Valley School Board believes that education should be shaped by purposes rather than by forces.
Therefore, the education system of this district, while maintaining flexibility in adapting to an ever-changing society, will be dedicated to the total personal development of each student to the limits of his or her abilities and interests in a sequentially coordinated curriculum which allows for individual differences.
To this end, staff members will strive to aid in each student's intellectual, physical, moral, emotional, aesthetic, and social growth so that eh or she may become a useful and responsible member of home, community, and society while leading a personally rewarding life.
The School Board believes that the ultimate goal of an education in the district schools should be to prepare the student for a world of rapid change and unforeseeable demands."
The Committee recognizes that students with disabilities may require individualized evaluations, programs and placements. The Committee believes that the School District must strive toward actualizing the spirit in which mandates have been written and that the School District must work toward minimizing the duality of special/regular educational programs while providing quality education for all.
It is the Conval District's philosophy that all students be educated according to their individual needs. All students will be included to the maximum extent appropriate for each student and each classroom in an effort to provide them with the skills necessary to enjoy full membership in the school community and the community at large.
The Conval District defines inclusion as the integration of students with special educational needs into the regular education setting. The Conval School District believes children should be integrated to the maximum extent appropriate to meet their needs with consideration given to protecting the integrity of the regular curriculum for all students. This integration will be accomplished through an individualized program. In order to support students' success, we recognize the importance of creativity and flexibility in developing programs and services, and the importance of having the appropriate modifications and supports in place.
1. What is special education? Special education is specially designed instruction provided to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.
2. What is specially designed instruction? Specially designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of the child that result from the child's disability.
3. Who is eligible for special education? In order to be eligible for special education a child must satisfy both elements of a two prong test: the child must have one (or more) of the specific disabilities listed in the IDEA; and, the child must, as a result of that disability need special education.
4. How do you determine if a child needs special education? Ask, is the child without special education making progress and receiving passing grades? If so, then the child does not need special education in order to make progress in school and in order to receive benefit from the educational program. A child needs special education if it is determined that he/she will not make adequate progress in school without it.
5. What are the specific disabilities listed in IDEA? There are 13 specific educational disabilities listed in IDEA. They are as follows: Autism, Deaf-Blindness, Deafness, Emotional Disturbance, Hearing Impairment, Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury, Visual Impairment.
6. What is IDEA? IDEA stands for the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. It is a federal law originally enacted in 1975, effective September 1, 1978, as Public Law 94-142. It was re-authorized in 1997, with final regulations published March 12, 1999 and effective May 11, 1999. This federal law requires that participating states, meaning states that apply for federal IDEA funds, offer every disabled child a free appropriate public education (FAPE). The law included elaborate procedures for identifying, on an individualized basis, the educational services that are appropriate for each child with a disability.
