Support Services to Help Your Child in School
School Counselor
The school counselor meets with every kindergarten child at the start of the school year to introduce herself to him/her. She works with each child to create the start of their career portfolio. In their kindergarten year, they complete simple information and draw a picture of themselves. Our school counselors also offer weekly whole class lessons around community, personal safety, problem solving, self esteem, cooperation, making friends, and early career exploration.
The school counselor is also available to assist students who struggle with feeling comfortable at the start of kindergarten and who have some trouble separating from parents. She is also available throughout the year to help any child who needs support with coping skills and understanding and dealing with feelings. If your child needs ongoing support with the school counselor, she will contact you to request your permission.
Instructional Support and Reading Specialists
The instructional support teacher who met with your child during the August summer assessment is available to work with small groups of children who need additional support to learn beginning reading skills. In addition, students may also work with their reading specialist to support emerging literacy skills. Children receiving this support are assessed every month to monitor progress and determine the best intervention for them. The instructional support team process is also available to support children with other areas as well. If your child needs this support, your child's teacher will contact you so you can be a part of the support we put in place.
Speech and Language Support
The speech and language therapist in each school is available to support children who need additional help with articulation and/or language skills. Sometimes the speech and language therapist will work with children on an informal basis to help them more consistently make a particular sound correctly. Other times she will work with children who have an individualized education program with specific speech and language goals and objectives. If your child needs either of these levels of support, the speech and language therapist will be in touch with you.
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapists work closely with kindergarten teachers to bserve and assess students who need additional support with learning fine motor skills such as buttoning, zipping, pencil grip, writing, cutting, etc. The occupational therapist may make suggestions to your child's teacher and/or complete additional assessments, which may result in a child working directly with the occupational therapist. If your child needs direct services with with the occupational therapist, your child's teacher and/or the occupational therapist will be in touch with you.
Special Education through an Individualized Education Program (IEP)
Children who need support beyond the regular classroom may be eligible for special education services. Most times children who need an IEP transition to kindergarten from preschool with an IEP. The school faculty with meet with you to review the IEP and possibly conduct a re-evaluation. Children who do not already have an IEP but may need additional intensive support may be referred to the school's instructional support team for interventions and possible referral for a psycho-educational evaluation with the school psychologist. Parents are a significant part of this process.
English Language Learning (ELL)
Children who do not speak English or who are just beginning to learn English receive additional instruction to assist them with their language development. These children gradually learn the language through their classroom experiences and their time working with the English Language teacher. Students who receive ESL are assessed and monitored throughout the year to determine the level of English Language support they need.
Gifted Support
Teachers differentiate their instruction to support the learning needs of all students and embed enrichment activities into their instruction. Students who may qualify for gifted education services are referred for an evaluation to determine if additional support is needed.