Overview

Each of our 10 schools provides special education services for students. The students receiving special education have been identified as exceptional within the PA Special Education Regulations and Standards through a multidisciplinary team evaluation. Some of the individuals who may participate on the multidisciplinary team include the building principal, classroom teachers, learning support teachers, guidance counselors, nurse, speech and language therapists, and school psychologist.The following exceptionalities are recognized under the Pennsylvania State Regulations governing special education:

• Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder
• Other Health Impairments
• Blindness/Visual Impairment
• Physical Disability
• Deafness/Hearing Impairment
• Serious Emotional Disturbance
• Mental Retardation
• Speech/Language Impairment
• Mentally Gifted
• Specific Learning Disability
• Multi-handicapped
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Neurological Impairments

 Special education teachers and special education paraprofessionals are on staff in every Parkland school. These personnel support the participation of the students with disabilities in the regular curriculum through modifications and adaptations. The supportive services are provided within the regular education classroom to the maximum extent appropriate to the individual student’s needs. Specially designed instruction is created to address the needs of each student to foster academic and social success.

Because the Parkland school district develops programs to meet the individual needs of students, there are some children whose goals are for developing life skills. The learning support teacher is responsible for delivery of the services. Usually another special education staff member will assist the special education teacher. Our special education staff works collaboratively with the general education staff to provide programs for the pupils within the school community.

Children with learning disabilities generally possess average intelligence, but exhibit a discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability in the areas of reading, writing, and/or math. Some of these learners require instruction to be delivered through different materials or levels than their grade level or chronologically aged peers. Some of our students with disabilities participate in regular education environments with different goals than their peers. These environments can provide opportunities for communication and socialization which may be designated on the student’s Individualized Educational Program (IEP). The IEP is developed by a team, which includes the parents, to determine the program for each child.

If parents have a question regarding their child’s progress, they may contact the guidance counselor to discuss their concerns.