AEA's philosophy is to include children of all abilities in our classrooms. We believe that all children have something to learn from each other and that inclusive classrooms foster tolerance, acceptance, and personal growth for all students. Your student may have classmates in his/her class or on the playground who look or behave in unexpected ways, who receive additional support from adults, or who use special equipment or technology. You can support our mission of inclusion by modeling acceptance and understanding of others who may initially appear to be different from us, and by having open and honest conversations about the ways in which we are all different, but still very much the same. While we are never able to discuss specific students with anyone other than their own family, we will be having general conversations at school about how to be friends with others who look or act in unexpected ways in order to reduce uncertainty and anxiety about the unknown that most of us feel in novel situations. Thank you for your support!