Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE)

Students can begin as early as their third birthday. Parents are encouraged to be active participants in all phases of the educational process. Instruction is based on an Individual Education Plan (IEP) that is determined after evaluation has been completed.

There may be several instructional personnel working together for the benefit of the student.  These staff members may include, but are not limited to, an educational diagnostician, speech language pathologist, nurse, special education teacher, instructional aide, occupational and/or physical therapist. Early Childhood Special Education services are based on evaluation, eligibility and the student’s IEP. Children 3-5 years of age with an identified disability and a need for special education services may receive services in one of the following options dependent upon the unique needs of the child. ECSE services are located at the Early Childhood School (ECS) and at Pre-Kindergarten elementary campuses. ECSE services will be provided at the designated Pre-K campus, unless the IEP indicates a need for services that are only available at the ECS.

Walk-In Speech Therapy Services

The Walk-In Speech Therapy is a group-based Speech Therapy program for early childhood aged children, not yet enrolled in kindergarten, who have articulation, moderate syntax, voice or fluency delays. Therapy is delivered in a small group setting (1-4 students). The child typically attends 1-2 times per week for 30 minutes. The curriculum is IEP-driven. Walk-In Therapy is provided at the student’s home campus..

Preschool Language Program

The Preschool Language Program (PLP) is a group-based Speech Therapy program for early childhood aged children, not yet enrolled in kindergarten, who exhibit moderate expressive language delays. These children may also present with a mild receptive language delay, but have otherwise developmentally appropriate motor, cognitive, pre-academic, adaptive, social, and behavioral skills. This therapy program is facilitated by a Speech-Language Pathologist and includes direct therapy and language/literacy enrichment. Currently, PLP is a centralized speech therapy program offered only at the Early Childhood School.

Preschool Speech Program

The Preschool Speech Program (PSP) is a group-based Speech Therapy program for early childhood aged children, not yet enrolled in kindergarten, who exhibit severe phonological processing delays (i.e., multiple phonological processes to be addressed) resulting in poor intelligibility. Phonological processing difficulties may be impacting expressive language skills, as well. These children exhibit developmentally appropriate receptive language, motor, cognitive, pre-academic, adaptive, social, and behavioral skills. This therapy program is facilitated by a Speech-Language Pathologist and includes direct therapy and language/literacy enrichment. Currently, PSP is a centralized speech therapy program offered only at the Early Childhood School.

Preschool Stuttering Intervention

The Preschool Stuttering Intervention (PSI) is a group-based Speech Therapy program for early childhood aged children, not yet enrolled in kindergarten, who exhibit severe speech fluency delays. These children exhibit developmentally appropriate language, motor, cognitive, pre-academic, adaptive, social, and behavioral skills. This therapy program is facilitated by a Speech-Language Pathologist. Currently, PSI is a centralized speech therapy program offered only at the Early Childhood School.

Classroom-Based Instruction

Classroom-Based Instruction are services for early childhood aged children, not yet enrolled in kindergarten. These programs address all areas of early childhood development and the child exhibits the need for specialized instruction from a special education teacher in the area(s) of communication, pre-academic, cognitive, daily living, fine/gross motor, and/or social/behavior.  These classrooms may be integrated with pre-kindergarten classes in order to provide a fully-included environment, or a child may spend some time in both special education and pre-kindergarten classrooms. Some students may spend their full amount of instructional time in a special education classroom. The amount of time in a special education setting is determined by the ARD/IEP Committee. Some special education services are currently centralized and offered only at the Early Childhood School, while others are provided at Pre-K campuses per district Pre-K Attendance Zones.

Structured Learning Classes (SLC) and Active Learning Classes (ALC) are also provided at the early childhood level as determined by the ARD/IEP Committee. Currently, these programs are centralized and are offered only at the Early Childhood School.