Parent Information

Special Education is special instruction provided to students with exceptional needs, such as students with learning disabilities or mental challenges. Each of these students has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).  The purpose of Special Education is to provide equal access to education for children ages birth through 21 by providing specialized services that will lead to school success in the general curriculum. It may include:

• • • • Resource Pull out services (student comes to Resource classroom for supplemental supports)

      • Resource Inclusion services (Resource teacher goes into General Education classroom to co-teach and support students in homeroom class)

      • Self-Contained services (Students are in a classroom with the Special Education teacher for most of the day)

      • Speech / Language services (Students receive services from a Speech Pathologist)

      • Accommodations (changes HOW the student learns)

      • Modifications (changes WHAT the student learns)

• IEP is an Individualized Education Plan.  We will develop a plan to help your student learn with support such as goals, accommodations, services, and a Contingency plan for eLearning days.  We provide services in ELA, Math, and Behavior.

• The IEP is developed by an IEP team consisting of Parents, LEA (administration), General Education Teacher, Special Education Teacher, and other service providers.

• If your child has gone through an evaluation and the school psychologist determines that the child has weaknesses in any area then the school psychologist proposes that the student qualifies for special education services.  This does not mean that the student automatically qualifies for special education services, the whole team has to agree that the student needs special education services.

• If your student qualifies and the whole IEP team agrees to special education services then the initial IEP will be developed.

• There will be an annual IEP meeting to update the IEP.

• Every three years the a Reevaluation Review meeting will be held to determine if the student still requires special education services.

• If you have ANY questions please contact your student's special education!

• At any time you can call an amendment meeting to go over or amend the IEP.

As a Resource teacher for the School District of Greenville County, I provide support services to students in grades K5-5th grade who have been identified as having a disability in one of the following areas: Learning Disabled, Other Health Impaired, Autism, or Developmental Delay.  These students follow an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) developed just for them based on their area(s) of weakness.  Students with Learning Disabilities, Other Health Impaired, Autism, or Developmental Delays have deficits in one or more of the following areas: Basic Reading skills, Reading Comprehension, Written Expression, Math Calculation, Math Reasoning, and Social and Emotional skills.

• I explicitly teach Reading through a program called Reading Horizons.  Reading Horizons is a foundational reading instruction with a software program that students work on independently, while special education explicitly teaches the foundations of reading.  Reading Horizons is aligned with the science of reading with evidence-based teaching methods to prevent reading difficulties.

• I integrate the curriculum of Making Connections into reading.  Making Connections is a reading comprehension curriculum that connects background knowledge and understanding with the students' reading.

• I teach grade-level math standards while supporting and explicitly teaching basic skills that students struggle with in order to succeed in the general education math curriculum.

• I teach Zones of Regulation, a social-emotional curriculum to help students recognize and regulate their emotions.  Students gain skills to help them control their emotions.

• I will periodically assess the students formally (Progress Monitoring) and informally using the standard grading scale.  I will progress in monitoring my students on their IEP goals.

• My students will be graded on the work accomplished at their instructional level in the general education classroom.  All students in my classroom will participate in district and state assessments.  

• Reporting to parents will be done quarterly through progress reports, report cards, parent communications, and conferences.  Progress monitoring will be given based on the goals and objectives of the IEP, and parents/guardians will be notified of the progress monitoring results quarterly.