Special Education » Special Education Department

Special Education Department

Here at I.S. 349, we are committed to ensuring our students with disabilities receive specialized instruction and intervention in the least restrictive environment. Special education is not a class or a place but a wide range of services offered to meet your child’s individual needs. We value inclusive education in which diverse students learn, play, socialize and grow side by side. Our culture of acceptance and support creates a safe learning environment for all students where we focus on each student’s strengths, talents and interests. Our highly skilled teachers and therapists provide quality instruction and intervention guided by your child’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP) which will be reviewed annually with input from you and your child. We encourage self-advocacy and empower our students to use the tools they have been given to help make decisions about their academic and personal futures.  

 

PROGRAMS
 

General Education with Related Services

Your child will be educated in the same classroom as peers without disabilities.  Related services are provided in the classroom or in a separate location.
 

General Education with Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS)

Your child will be educated in the same classroom as peers without disabilities.  Specially designed instruction from a special education teacher will be provided part-time in a group of up to eight students. This may be in the general education classroom or a separate location.
 

Integrated Collaborative Teaching (ICT)

Classrooms with Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) services include students with IEPs and students without IEPs. No more than 12 (or 40 percent) of the students in the class can have IEPs. There are two teachers—a general education teacher and a special education teacher. The teachers work together to adapt materials and modify instruction to make sure the entire class can participate.

 

Special Class 12:1:1

Special class services are provided in a self-contained classroom. All of the children in the class have IEPs with needs that cannot be met in a general education classroom. They are taught by special education teachers who provide specialized instruction with support from an in-class paraprofessional.
 
RELATED SERVICES
 

Counseling (monolingual and bilingual)

Helps students improve their social, emotional, and coping skills. Goals may address appropriate school behavior and self-control, peer relationships, conflict resolution, and low self-esteem.

 

Speech-Language Therapy (monolingual and bilingual)

Helps students develop listening and speaking skills. Goals may address: Auditory processing (understanding and using sounds of language), Phonological skills (organizing speech sounds), Comprehension (understanding language), Articulation (forming clear sounds in speech) and Social language skills.

 

Occupational Therapy

Helps students develop eye and hand control and use information from the senses and attention to improve life skills such as eating, self-care, problem-solving, and social skills.

 

Physical Therapy

Gives students independence in classrooms, the gym, the playground, bathrooms, hallways and staircases. Therapists will help students develop physical skills such as large –muscle movement control, moving from place to place, balance and coordination.

 

Vision Education Services

Helps students who are blind or have visual impairments successfully access the school curriculum and to be as independent as possible in the school environment.

 

Hearing Education Services

Helps students who are deaf or hard of hearing improve their communication skills. Goals may focus on speech-reading (also known as lip-reading), auditory training, and language development.

Conducts all school-based evaluations
Members include:
  • Bilingual Psychologist
  • Bilingual Social Worker
  • Family Worker