Concord Carlisle Regional School
District is committed to maximizing
each
student's opportunities for intellectual and personal development.
Whether
served under regular education or special education, each student
receives
highly-personalized support from a coalition of dedicated regular
education
teachers, support staff, special educators and administrators to
maximize
his/her potential.
Collaboration for Student Support
One of the most positive qualities of
Concord Carlisle Regional High
School is
the strong cooperative alliance among the Guidance Department, Special
Education Department and School Administration in their service of
students and
their families. Encouraged by sharing the same suite in the CCHS "H"
(Humanities) Wing, guidance counselors, adjustment counselors,
psychologists,
nurses, ESL staff and special educators collaborate regularly about
student
needs. In addition to student support work with students and parents,
administrators regularly participate in student meetings, strategizing
individual student needs and reinforcing the decisions of Student
Reviews and
Team meetings. Weekly staffing meetings, which include members of
guidance,
special education and administration, focus on high-risk students.
Additionally
quarterly guidance, special education and administration meetings
address more
global issues involving student life in the building. As a result of
strong
administrative support and the well-developed relationships of support
staff
with regular education faculty, student reviews and IEP meetings are
well-attended by regular education teachers, whose input is highly
respected as
an essential component in planning for students.
Pathways Inclusion Program
A positive extension of the
cooperative efforts of all faculty and
staff is the
recently developed Pathways Program at CCHS. Deliberately
home-based in
the Student Support Services suite because of it's high "traffic” of
both
regular education and special education students, the Pathways Program
provides
an array of supports and accommodations for 9 -12 students with
significant
disabilities. While students in the Pathways Program attend regular
education
classes (often with tutor or teacher support) for the majority of the
school
day, Pathways meets in its home-based classroom for the first class
each day in
order to provide for individual related services and small group
social/pre-vocational activities. Most Pathways students also return to
the program
during the last period of the day for tutorial support and
communication with
parents, when needed. Some of the services available to students in the
Pathways Program based on need include: · Scheduling
flexibility of graduation
requirements over 4 -8
years · Support of
head teacher, .5 additional
special education
teacher, social worker, and three tutors · Social
skills training · Supported
involvement in co-curricular
activities and
sports · Opportunity
for part-time vocational
training/work
experience · Range of
related services (OT, PT, Speech,
etc) paid
participation in the “Patriot Canteen” (school store) ·
Highly-individualized programming while
maintaining
Pathways social community · Strong
parent involvement and communication · Summer
program: 5 weeks/3 full days per week
including
academics, recreation, community experiences · Active
integration of "typical" students
into
Pathways activities · “Women's” group
and “men's” group · Parent
support around transition planning · Individual
student therapy/parent support as
needed · Opportunity
for maximum participation in
regular education
classroom and school life.
Supports for All Students
As the Curriculum Accommodation Plan
suggests, CCHS has worked for ten
years to
establish a broad array of supports available to students with
disabilities in
both regular education and special education. Initially developed in
order to
reduce the number of referrals for special education services, regular
education
tutorials, and numerous other non-special education student supports
have
greatly reduced the number of students needing IEP’s (presently 11%)and
simultaneously provided regular education teachers with ~experiences
and
training in working with diverse learners, which has benefited
everyone.
After almost ten years of working in
close cooperation, regular
education
teachers and special educators have developed strong cooperative
relationships
allowing for numerous special education/regular education co-teaching
opportunities (US History, English, Algebra, Earth Science, Biology,
etc) and
multiple courses where regular education teachers work cooperatively
with
special education tutors. The Special Education and Guidance
Department
staff enjoys a highly-integrated presence in the larger school
environment that
has greatly facilitated opportunities to include disabled students in
the core
of the CCHS culture.
Staff Professional Tutoring
In addition to the generic special
education training that each special
educator brings to the department, each teacher has been encouraged to
identify
an area of interest in which they would like to develop an expertise.
Such
specialization has allowed for the development of more state-of-the-art
programming in order to better respond to student needs in the public
schoo1
setting. As a result of a comprehensive training, CCHS special
education staff
is well-equipped to provide student Support in: · Behavior
Modification · Functional
Behavioral Assessment (FBA) · Non Verbal
Learning Disabilities · Asperger's
Syndrome · Lindamood
Bell · Wilson
Reading · "LANGUAGE!"
(Carroll School) Reading/Writing · Women's
Issues/Dating Violence · Eating
Disorders · ADD/ADHD ·
Inclusionary Practices · Executive
Function Disorders · Functions
of the Brain in Learning ·
Transition/Post 22 for Disabled Students
An example of the benefits of such
training efforts is the Integrated
English
Course where three teachers blend their individual training in
Lindamood,
Wilson, "LANGUAGE!", and Stevenson Techniques to offer a
well-coordinated remedial reading program (2 sections) which strongly
addresses
the needs of approximately 20 students.
Transition – Leaving CCHS
CCHS Special education and guidance
staff are intensely aware of the
importance
of post-secondary planning. While all efforts are made to avoid
drop-outs
earlier in student careers, students who are threatening to leave high
school
are highly-encouraged to meet with a coalition of guidance, sped and
administrative staff in order to explore the array of services
available
outside of CCHS which can help them pull together their high school
diploma.
Accordingly, many have returned for advice and support at later points
in order
to complete GED or diploma programs.
Students with college preparatory
programs enjoy an extensive planning
program
within guidance that begins two years before graduation. Guidance
staff
is well trained in college profiling and placement, including schools
that
provide services for students with disabilities. Additionally,
evening
programs are provided to parents in post secondary transitioning and
financial
aid planning. CCHS Guidance offers a comprehensive website that
is
constantly updated with a wide variety of resources for the whole
spectrum of
the student body.
Parents of students with significant
disabilities are encouraged by
their case
managers to make connections with local agencies (MRC, DMR, DMH, etc.)
to begin
to plan for post high school needs. Representatives from these
agencies
regularly attend meeting at CCHS in order to connect with students and
families
and to coordinate planning efforts. Additionally, the Pathways
social
worker assists parents in filing for Chapter 688 services, assistance
SSI, exploring
post secondary housing options and vocational programming in order to
assure
that as much preparation as possible is completed before leaving CCHS.
Entering from Grade 8
Within the transitioning spectrum,
CCHS staff is also sensitive to the
transition
needs of students entering freshman year at CCHS. Guidance staff
provides a
comprehensive 8th grade orientation programs involving staff, students,
and
parents each year. For example, student programs are run in each
of the
middle schools, acquainting students with programs, activities and
expectations
at the high school. When needed, the Guidance Chair and Special
Education
Coordinator meet with middle school support services and administrative
staff
to review high risk eighth grade students. Each middle school student
visits
CCHS for a morning where they meet with representatives of each of the
academic
departments. Lastly, all freshmen begin the school year one day earlier
than
other students, in order to provide them a day to acclimate and grow
comfortable before the general student body returns.
Special education students enjoy
individual transition meetings to plan
for the
transition of services from middle schools to high school. The TEAM
Chair from
CCHS meets individually with the student, his parent and middle school
teachers
to develop a relationship and respond to any individual concerns they
might
have about the move to CCHS. For students with more complex
disabilities,
meetings are held during the last weeks of summer with their teachers
at CCHS
in order to familiarize all with the needed accommodations and
instructional
modifications before the start of school. Additionally, a student with
summer
services in their IEP’s attend the “CCHS Pathways Summer Program”,
allowing
them comfort with the building and with their homeroom teacher before
the
pressures of the full school year begins.
Parent Involvement
CCHS parents are very actively
involved in the life of the high school
in a
positive and productive way. Each class has its own parent
association
that supports student and faculty activities. The parents
association
conducts professional workshops and fundraisers, and awards grants to
faculty
for innovation ideas and instructional products. Additionally,
the
principal offers regular parent coffees and opportunities to discuss
life at
CCHS, augmenting the regular parent input she receives from the Parent
Advisory
Council.
Crises Intervention
CCHS has a comprehensive approach to
student crisis intervention. Each
year,
all students and faculty receive crisis intervention handbooks outline
what to
do and how to help in a crisis situation. All student crises are
resolved
through a Team approach involving administration, guidance, and other
Professional staff. Staff training for crisis intervention
procedure
occurs every fall, and non-professional staff regularly receives crises
information through their supervisors in order to provide the most
sensitive
and comprehensive response possible to students in high-risk situations.
Summary
In summary, CCHS faculty, staff,
parents and administration are highly
committed to providing the supports necessary for each student to reach
his/her
maximum academic and personal potential. With strong respect for
human
differences infused within its policies and procedures, Concord
Carlisle
Regional High School strives to include all students in the fiber of
student
life, creating a rich and diverse culture, which benefits by the
contributions
of all.
