Special Ed

Last Updated on Sunday, 05 February 2012 21:43 Written by Ena Fowles

There is a valuable program at PS 9, one that benefits our entire school community, and yet some people might not be fully aware of: our Special Education program. This program includes our SETSS professionals, CTT classes and the staff in our support programs: Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy.

When posited that our Special Education program is a vital piece of our PS 9 family you might have had one of two responses:

My response as a parent is to feel validated. If you have a child that has ever had need of support services you might be interested to read that almost 12% of us have had children receive services of some kind. You are not alone and shouldn’t feel isolated; shouldn’t feel like you’re a humble guest here; should not feel like there are three tiers with G&T being the highest and CTT/child with IEP being the lowest. If anything you should know and feel that you and your child have benefited our entire community.

When I helped with a PS 9 tour last year the volunteer parents were all instructed to introduce ourselves to those on the tour and include the grade(s) of our child(ren) so parents would have a sense of our experience-base to direct questions accordingly. Some parents mentioned whether their child was in “Gen Ed” or “G&T.” Working our way around our loose circle, one volunteer said his son had an IEP. As the words left his mouth I watched the instantaneous reaction of the woman positioned across from me – her shoulders dropped a few inches and her face totally relaxed and brightened. She, and another mom on the other side of the circle both ran to that father to ask him questions about the resources we have at PS9. I was, and continue to be impressed by that moment of openness that led to an opportunity to be inclusive and supportive.

The other response might have been:

How exactly does the special ed program impact or benefit my child(ren)?

Here’s how:

1. When we talk about the benefits of diversity – the main benefit being our children learning to succeed in and appreciate a world with people who have differences – it should not stop at diversity of country of origin or skin color or physical features. Or socioeconomics. Or even beliefs, traditions, experiences. It should include diversity in capabilities. Diversity of how the world is interpreted. Diversity of needs. This complete and authentic diversity is what is beautiful and powerful about public schools in general, and PS 9 specifically.

2. Less idealistic and more pragmatic: because of our well developed special education program – a program that out of zone families vie to become a part of – we have resources and staff that are on hand to benefit ALL children. Response to Intervention (RTI) meetings occur weekly for all classroom teachers (general and gifted) across the grade levels. The expertise of staff trained to assess and suggest learning strategies benefits all; teachers work together to incorporate strategies into their daily planning to remediate and support students before any IEP referral is made. This RTI system is something that all schools are expected to have in the future, but PS9 has already implemented it because it was so similar to what was already happening here.

We all know that bumps can actually be turning points. If the bump is handled with grace, which again, our school is able to do, the turning point can be positive. Any child can hit a bump at any time due individual development (sometimes something doesn’t click at the same time it does for the rest of the class), or external reasons (i.e. stress from folks divorcing, tonsillitis, etc. – the list of unexpected external things that can impact a child’s school performance is vast).   PS 9 has a collective goal to assist all children all the time.

Also, children from both Gen Ed and G&T have benefited from the Saturday Academy. This is a class held on Saturdays for children who need additional assistance before the state tests. The Saturday Academy is paid for in part by funds received because of our special education program. The program supports any student in jeopardy of not achieving the grade-level standard on the state tests.

Every child, every human has a special need. Some need to be challenged, some need to be instructed with more visuals, some need hearing assistance, some need to learn patience, some need emotional scaffolding, some need to learn compassion, some need help with social skills. PS 9 is a school that works hard to provide a stellar and equitable education for our kiddos.