Overview of Programs/Services: 2023/2024

Special Education Program Descriptions

Program:  Integrated Preschool

Setting: H. Olive Day School

Staff: 5 PK Special Education/Early Childhood Teachers, Instructional Assistants,
ABA tutors as determined by IEPs

Preschool Programming: 

• 2 Day/3 Day Morning Integrated Class, 3 year olds

• 4 Day Afternoon Integrated 4 year olds

• 5 Day Extended Day Program (Integrated 5 Mornings/Sub-Separate 4 Afternoons), 3 and 4 year olds

• 5 Day Full Day Integrated Preschool Program, 4 - 5 year  olds

• 5 Day Extended Day Substantially Separate Program, 3 – 5 years old

The Norfolk Public Schools Preschool offers a wide range of diagnostic, educational, and support services for children ages 3 – 5. The integrated preschool classrooms have typically enrolled a total of fifteen (15) children, up to seven who have moderate to severe special needs and eight (8) who are typically developing in each of the classes. The primary focus of the Norfolk Public Schools preschool is to develop students’ cognitive, academic readiness, language, motor, and social-emotional skills within a structured learning environment. The students with special needs are supported both individually and in small groups, and can also receive Speech/Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Music Therapy, Augmentative Communication Consultation, and ABA methods f identified within their individual education programs.

Program: Full Inclusion/Partial Inclusion Academic Support/Resource Room Model

Setting:  H. Olive Day Elementary School (Grades K – 2)
               Freeman Kennedy Elementary School (Grades 3 – 6)

Students with special needs who have full inclusion placements in grades K  - 6 receive less than 21% or 21 - 60% of their specialized instruction/related services outside of the general education classroom setting.  These students typically have low to moderate levels of need and require specific accommodations, modifications, or organizational support in order to make effective progress accessing grade level curriculum.

Special education teachers and instructional assistants provide support for reading, writing, and math, content area curriculum, and study/organizational skills.  Special educators collaborate closely with the general education teachers to develop comprehensive, integrated services that may include flexible grouping, or co-teaching, to support differentiated instruction for all students.  Inclusion support or pull-out services may be provided by related service therapists, school adjustment counselors, or school psychologists.  Based on students’ Individualized Education Programs, direct instruction by the special education teachers outside of the general education classroom may include specialized programs for phonics, reading fluency, comprehension, written language, math, or executive functioning either individually or within small groups.  Academic support may also be provided as needed for students who require preview/review of skills and concepts, organizational strategies, or use of assistive technology tools.

Program: Language-Based Learning

Setting: H. Olive Day School (Grade 2)
Freeman Kennedy School (Grades 3 and 4)
Freeman Kennedy (Grades 5 and 6)

This structured language-based program provides intensive, specially designed instruction that is individualized based on student needs.  Pacing and presentation of the instruction, curriculum materials, and approaches are highly specialized to meet the needs of students with language-based learning disabilities. In addition to providing academic instruction, the development of a positive attitude, self-esteem, and self-confidence are important goals for each student.  Providing students with opportunities for success academically, socially, and emotionally are all essential components of this program.  Students who receive services within this program most often have moderate to high levels of needs and are deemed appropriate by their IEP Teams.  Students also receive services in the areas of S/L, OT, PT, or counseling as identified in their IEPs.  The special educators and therapists collaborate regularly and provide integrated service whenever possible. 

The following are general characteristics of the program:

• Provides intensive instruction using a systematic, multi-sensory approach to reading, writing and math in a small group setting.

• Includes pre-teaching and repetition/review of material to support mastery of skills.

• Instructional groupings consist of students who have similar abilities and learning needs.

• Instruction and methodology places heavy emphasis on visual and auditory paring of information with an approach that is direct and explicit.

• Content areas are often modified with emphasis placed on key concepts and main ideas.

• Supportive academic services provide a flexible inclusion approach in social studies and science.

Program: Global Developmental Delay/Autism Programs

Setting:   H. Olive Day Elementary School (Grades PreK and K - 2)
                Freeman Kennedy School (Grades 3 - 6)

The substantially separate resource rooms (PreK and K - 2) provide ABA-based, intensive programs to students who have been diagnosed on the autism spectrum, or with other significant communication or developmental delays within a partial inclusion to sub-separate classroom setting at the H. Olive Day School. Each student is supported with a 1:1 ABA trained tutor or shared assistant who is supervised and supported by the Special Educator and District BCBA. Students are provided with individualized curriculum, instruction, and related services specific to their IEPs, and are included with their same age peers within the general education setting to the greatest extent possible.

The special educators collaborate regularly with the district behaviorist, with professionals from other disciplines (OT, S/L, PT), with outside consultants (Augmentative Communication, Vision, Mobility), and with family members to promote consistent interventions and to maximize outcomes.  Regularly scheduled parent consultation for students with more significant behavioral needs is often part of their Individualized Education Programs, as well as consultation with home-based service providers.

Program: Social/Emotional/Behavioral Support Program

Setting:   H. Olive Day Elementary School (Grades K – 2)
                Freeman Kennedy Elementary School (Grades 3 – 6)

Many students who have significant social, emotional, or behavioral health needs may require emotional support such as counseling, social skills instruction, or behavioral plans with data to inform instruction, in order to access the curriculum. Each student’s program is individualized to his/her social, behavioral, and academic needs, with varying amounts of inclusion, social skills practice, behavioral support, and or intensive instruction within the school day.  The general education curriculum is modified when needed to ensure student success. 

Inclusion opportunities are based on each student’s strengths and behavioral challenges; the goal of providing adult support in inclusion is to increase the student’s independence with behavioral regulation and social, emotional, academic abilities, while fading out the additional support.  Social skills instruction is necessary for many students with this profile; teaching socially appropriate skills is key to replacing challenging behaviors and ensuring a more successful inclusion experience.  Students’ challenging behaviors are managed using positive behavior support plans, which require staff training in correct implementation.  The program also offers support for academic instruction in a sub-separate classroom for those students who cannot make effective progress in the general education setting due to their social/emotional/behavioral challenges.  This classroom space is also available for any of the students in the program, as a quiet place to calm down and regain behavioral control before returning to the general education setting.

The special educators collaborate regularly with the district behaviorist, with professionals from other disciplines (OT, S/L, PT) and with family members to promote consistent interventions and to maximize outcomes.  IEP teams have access to consultants such as a doctoral level psychologist and consulting psychiatrist. Regularly scheduled parent communication and consultation for students with more significant behavioral needs is often part of their Individualized Education Programs.

Related Services

Counseling and Behavioral Support: A variety of counseling and behavioral support services are provided across general special education and are invaluable to students, teachers, and administrators.  The school psychologists, adjustment counselors, and district behaviorists are proactive in their approach to supporting students who experience social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties, which reduces the amount of disciplinary referrals to the school principals.  These services include consultation with teachers, parents, and outside therapists, student observations, classroom lessons, behavioral assessments and individual intervention plans.  Weekly groups are also available for students that focus on topics such as developing social skills, coping with anxiety, dealing with grief and loss, and family change. Through partnership with Bi-County Collaborative, our school based teams have access to a doctoral level psychologist and consulting psychiatrist. 

Audiology, Vision, Orientation and Mobility Consultation: Norfolk contracts with an educational audiologist Kym Meyer, from The Outreach Partnership Program (TOPP) at The Learning Center for the Deaf, who addresses the specific needs of students with hearing aids and cochlear implants at the Freeman Kennedy School.  She provides a support system for monitoring deaf and hard of hearing students’ academic and developmental progress, consults and trains teachers and specialists, and administers assessments/student observations, and attends Team meetings as needed.

Through a partnership with the Clarke School/Hearing and Speech Education, the district has access to a teacher for the deaf. 

A Vision Specialist and Orientation and Mobility Specialist is contracted as needed for students who have visual impairments through Perkins School For The Blind.  This is a support system for monitoring these students’ academic and developmental progress, consults with teachers and specialists, and observes students, and attends Team meetings as needed.

Assistive Technology/Augmentative Communication: Assistive Technology is “any item, piece of equipment or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified or customized, that is used to increase, maintain or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities.”  (IDEA 2004) The members of the Assistive Technology Team assist the IEP/504 Teams in determining if a student needs assistive technology devices and or services to receive FAPE.  They observe the student, and consult with the student’s liaison and general education teacher to select appropriate low-tech, mid-tech, or high tech tools that may reduce/remove a barrier caused by the student’s disability.

An Augmentative Communication Consultant is available to the district on a monthly basis and provides direct consultation with teams of teachers, in order to assist with implementing augmentative communication devices. This consultant observes students, consults with student’s liaisons and Teams, in order to assist in implementing augmentative communication.

Physical Therapy: Physical Therapy interventions are designed to enable the student to travel throughout the school environment; participate in the classroom; as well as manage stairs, restrooms, and the cafeteria.  Interventions may be provided in the following manner:

• Consult to classroom staff and/or family:

• Direct Service in the classroom or motor room

• Accommodations within the classroom, gym or playground

Occupational Therapy: Occupational Therapy services include evaluation of children/students to determine if they are in need of direct services to assist them in meeting the curriculum of the school setting.   Occupational therapy addresses the areas of fine motor skills, sensory processing skills, attention, gross motor coordination and the management of the body in space, and functional life skills.

Services may be delivered in a variety of ways including the following:  direct service within the classroom, direct service in a separate setting, and consultation services for the staff that works with the student.

• Direct Services in the classroom:  Services provided by the occupational therapist within the classroom setting.  Services may be delivered in 1:1 setting or within a small group to address the student’s area of need. 

• Direct Services in a separate setting:  Services provided by the occupational therapist within a separate setting; usually a therapeutic treatment room.  Such services are usually delivered outside of the inclusion setting as specific equipment may be needed, or the student often becomes distracted in the large classroom setting. 

• Consultation Services:  Services provided by the occupational therapist and the staff to address and discuss accommodations to be carried out within the classroom.  Such meetings may also include brainstorming sessions to further support the staff and educate them on the occupational therapy needs of the student.

Speech/Language Therapy: Speech-Language pathologists conduct evaluation as part of the team process to identify students’ strengths and areas of need and to assist in determining eligibility for special education and related services.  They develop Individualized Education Programs to address students’ needs and provide accommodations to help students access the curriculum.

Speech-language pathologists also provide short-term interventions to general education students who require specific skill instruction. Indirect services include consultation with teachers, special educators, audiologists, counselors, and parents.  Home programs may be developed for parents to promote carryover of skills.  Direct speech and language services may be provided to students in their classroom setting.  Students are typically seen in small groups but may be seen individually as well.

Speech-language services are provided to improve:

• Oral motor skills, developmental verbal apraxia

• Articulation, overall intelligibility of speech

• Fluency, stuttering

• Receptive and expressive language skills

• Comprehension

• Vocabulary, word retrieval

• Pragmatic skills, use of social language

• Literacy skills

• Classroom acoustics using accommodations and amplification systems

Alternative Placements: When the above programs are not suitable for a student, the Teams at Norfolk Public Schools will consider placement at an out-of-district program.  Alternatives to be considered would be programs provided by Bi-County collaborative or a DOE approved private special education programs.  Prior to a program selection, the Team will identify the necessary components the student needs in his/her next program placement.  The Special Education Office will send referral packets to appropriate programs with parent’s written consent.   Team selected staff will visit, if necessary, appropriate programs with the parents and report back to the team in order for the team to make an appropriate placement decision for the student.

Specialized Transportation: Specialized transportation is provided between the home and the school for students when the child requires this type of transportation as a result of his or her disability in order to benefit from special education.  All students enrolled in out-of-district placements are provided with transportation, unless their parents have opted to drive them and receive mileage reimbursement.