Beliefs
At South Ridge Elementary School, we believe that every student is able to be a successful learner. Some students need additional support and instruction to be able to access the general curriculum successfully. Classroom teachers, specialists, and interventionists collaborate with students and families to guide and determine instruction and next steps. The team identifies what a student already knows, the student's progress, and the student's needed growth. South Ridge encourages and promotes a more inclusive model of instruction for students with special needs. Interventionists often incorporate their instruction and support into the classroom using a co-teaching model. South Ridge values the individual community of each classroom and the reciprocal benefits of inclusion.
Purpose
Identify students through the MTSS process who need additional support of specialized instruction.
Provide support tailored to each student's individual need
Exit students from the program once students have obtained the ability to access the curriculum independently
Implementation
Exam Program of Inquiry to determine the level of support for individual students, specifically in regards to reading and writing.
Collaborate among classroom teachers and interventionists. Time is built into the master schedule to collaborate on an every other weekly basis.
Maintain consistent communication with parents.
Meet once yearly to reassess/review/develop individual goals with the students, parents, and multidisciplinary team.
Meet with parents two times yearly during parent/teacher conferences.
Prepare IEP progress reports twice a year.
E-mail or phone, as needed.
Collaborate with district experts and external agencies on an as need basis.
Learning specialists loop with students to provide support for students and to provide a long-standing relationship with parents.
Learning specialists, the SSN teacher, and the speech/language pathologist provide support for 6th graders throughout the duration of their Exhibition project.
Special Education Department reinforces use of the language of the Student Profile and Attributes with students.
Special Education Resources
Three full-time Learning Specialists (LS) for students with mild to moderate disabilities
Two full-time Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) for students with speech and/or language impairments
One full-time Significant Support Needs (SSN) teacher for students with severe and profound disabilities
School Educational Assistants
School Social Worker (SW) Five days a week
Itinerant services are provided from District Behavior Specialist, District Autism team, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Vision Specialists, Audiologists, and teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing on an as needed basis
External agencies (i.e., Arapahoe County Mental Health, Court Appointed CASA representatives, etc