Special Education

Special education refers to a range of services that can be provided in different ways and in different settings.   There’s no “one size fits all” approach to special education. It’s tailored to meet the needs of students who have disabilities based upon their individual learning profiles.

Special education focuses on helping students who have disabilities successfully access the general education curriculum and daily school routine.  The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with disabilities  But it doesn’t mean placing students in a special classroom all day long. In fact, federal law says that students who receive special education services should learn in the same classrooms as other students as much as possible. This is known as the least restrictive environment  (or LRE).

The services and supports for one student may be very different from those of another student. It’s all about the individual child and providing them with the resources they need to make meaningful and measurable progress in school.

Students who qualify for special education have an Individualized Education Program (IEP). They receive specialized teaching and other resources at no cost to their families. Specialists work with students on strengths as well as challenges. 

The special education process is designed to be highly collaborative, whereby school staff and parents work together to determine the most important learning domains to target for individual children as well as the most appropriate programming to provide in order to help the child make effective and measurable progress towards the general education curriculum within the classroom.

Since the special education process can often be confusing for families, please feel free to look at the various resources provided below to better understand the different parts of the process and the various participant's roles in the process.