As we wrap up another school year, the Special Education DPF Team wants to take a moment to thank you for your dedication, compassion, and unwavering commitment to our students and families. The work you do every day makes a meaningful difference in the lives of Minneapolis children.

This year brought its share of challenges from the tragedy at Annunciation to Operation Metro Surge, and through it all, you continued to support one another and provide exceptional care and instruction to your students. Your efforts do not go unnoticed, and we are grateful for all that you have contributed to our community.

Take time this summer to rest, recharge, and enjoy time with family and friends. You have earned a well-deserved break. Thank you for everything you do, and we wish you a relaxing, joyful, and rejuvenating summer vacation.

Congratulations on a successful school year!

With appreciation,

💌 Your Special Education DPF Team

🎉 Special Education Curriculum Pilot Update: 2026–27 Adoption Decisions

Thank you to the many educators who participated in this year’s curriculum pilots and provided thoughtful feedback throughout the process. Your survey responses and implementation experiences directly informed curriculum decisions for the 2026–27 school year.

Based on pilot feedback and alignment to student and instructional needs, we are excited to share the following adoption decisions:

🗣️ Everyday Speech: Broad Adoption (K–8 + High School ASD/DCD)
Everyday Speech will be adopted across special education settings for kindergarten through grade 8, as well as high school ASD and DCD programming.

Pilot feedback highlighted strong alignment with social-emotional learning instruction, particularly for students benefiting from explicit instruction, visual supports, and IEP-aligned skill development. Staff reported particularly strong alignment across elementary and middle school programming.

🎵 Flocabulary: EBD Programming K–12
Flocabulary will be adopted across all EBD classrooms K–12.

Educators consistently reported high student engagement, strong support for vocabulary and literacy development, and appreciation for the platform’s adaptability to modify and scaffold content, helping make instruction more accessible for diverse learners.

🧠 RethinkEd: Targeted High School Implementation
RethinkEd will move forward as a targeted implementation for high school SERT and EBD settings.

While feedback was more mixed overall, staff supporting high school students in less restrictive settings reported stronger alignment and noted that the content felt more developmentally appropriate for older students. Educators in specialized ASD and DCD settings generally did not recommend it as a primary SEL resource aligned to IEP goals.

💬 Thank You
These decisions reflect overall themes from pilot feedback regarding where each resource appears to best support students and staff. Thank you again for your time, honesty, and partnership throughout this process. Additional information regarding implementation supports and professional development will be shared in the coming months.

🟢🔵🟡 Zones of Regulation Implementation Survey: We Want Your Feedback!

As we continue implementing The Zones of Regulation Digital Curriculum and add SEL resources for next school year, we want to better understand your experience so we can strengthen supports and plan effectively for next school year.

📝 Please Take Our Short Survey
We’ve created a brief survey to gather feedback on implementation, training, and overall use of the curriculum. Your input will directly inform future professional development, resources, and implementation supports.

Even if you have not yet used the curriculum, your feedback is especially important. We want to better understand potential barriers to implementation and identify ways we can better support staff moving forward.

📅 Survey Deadline: June 12
🔗 Complete the survey here: Zones of Regulation Implementation Survey

💬 Thank You for Your Feedback
We sincerely appreciate your time and insights. Your feedback plays an important role in helping us ensure this work is both meaningful and manageable for staff while supporting students’ social-emotional development and regulation skills.

‼️Reminder: Quarter 4 Progress Reports Due – June 11th

As we approach the progress report deadline, please review the following guidance for IEP progress reports.

Key Points for IEP Progress Reports

• Frequency: Progress reports must be provided at least as often as general education report cards, though they may not always align with report card schedules.

• Timing: Reports should reflect meaningful data—issued only if there are at least 30 calendar days (or 20 school days) of data available.

• Four Reports Per Year: This refers to four written progress reports per IEP year, starting 30 days after IEP services begin.

Thank you for your attention to this important process. By issuing meaningful, data-driven reports, we ensure parents receive valuable updates on their child's progress toward meeting individualized goals.

Need a tutorial? Click below for a demonstration on how to enter a progress report in EdPlan. You can also click here if you'd like to learn how to do batch progress reports. 

Transition Reminder for Staff Moving Buildings Next Fall ❗

As we begin planning for next fall, we want to share an important reminder for staff transitioning to new buildings:

Staff who will be moving to a new building will receive access to their new students in August. To ensure a smooth transition, please do not add yourselves to teams on EdPlan for next year’s classes at the end of the current school year.

Thank you for your attention to this process and for helping us keep everything organized for a successful start to the new school year!

✅ Green Means Go! Wrap Up Your End-of-Year Compliance Tasks

As we enter our final days of the 2025-2026 school year, please do a compliance check with your caseload and ensure the following: 

• Evaluations are completed, with early fall evaluation timelines scheduled

• IEPs are finalized and all responses are marked

• Extended School Year (ESY) plans are finalized

• Conference summary notes from all meetings are completed

• Due process contacts are logged accurately

• Progress reports are up to date and finalized

✅ Pro tip: Completing these items now will reduce back-to-school stress and ensure your caseload is fully compliant and ready for the new year.

Need some help with a process in EdPlan? Check-out the Step-by-Step EdPlan Tutorials here to help you along. 

Frequently Used Sped Tools & Resources in One Place

💻 EdPlan Video Tutorials

📊 WJ-V One-Stop Shop Link

🔧 A Helpful Tool: The MPS Evaluation Planning Guide Link

📘 Curriculum Guidance Links

🧾 Sped Consumables Request Form (PIC)

🛠️ EdPlan Request Help Form

📁Due Process Notebook

FAQ: Extracurricular Activities and Nonactivities for Students with IEPs

📅 Elementary and ECSE 30-Day Calendar Link (Updated March 25)

📅 Secondary 30-Day Calendar (1/9 Version)