Leaving High School &
Coming to College:
What You Need to Know and Do
Learning Services
Napa Valley College
McCarthy Library 2nd Floor Room 1766
(707) 256-7442
Our Goals for the Students
•
•
•
•
To become strong self-advocates
To understand their strengths & areas of difficulty
To work to their highest potential
To gain awareness about available campus &
community resources
Comparison between High School and
College Disability Services
High School
College
• The school must identify an
individual’s needs and provide
any regular or special
education and related aids and
services necessary to meet
those needs
• IEP or 504 Plans drive all
services and accommodations,
and involve teachers,
counselors and parents
• The school is required to
provide appropriate academic
adjustments as necessary to
ensure that it does not
discriminate based on
disability
• There are no formal “plans”
and instructors are only
contacted by the student.
Students must provide
consent for parental
involvement (even to view
grades)
Comparison between High School and College
Disability Services
Who is responsible?
High School
College
• Parents or teachers often
initiate disability-related
services
• Students need to initiate
services, rather than
parents
• Students “often times” are not
actively involved in their
educational plan
• Students do not have to
disclose that they have a
disability; however, they
must do so with Learning
Services if they want to
receive academic
accommodations
Comparison between High School and College
Disability Services
Accommodations
High School
College
•
•
•
At the IEP or 504 meeting, classroom
accommodations may be formally
developed.
Some teachers informally agree to
provide accommodations in their
classroom
•
•
A student completes the testing
process and may qualify to receive
accommodations as an LD student
based on the guidelines from the
California Community College
Chancellor’s Office
The Learning Services Department
provides the student with an
accommodation letter outlining
appropriate accommodations for
each class
Student provides accommodation
letter to their instructors
LS Services
All services and accommodations are determined on an
individual basis and will vary from one student to the
next.
Accommodations and services might include:
• Classroom Accommodations
• Priority Registration
• Note-taking
• Assistive Technology & Alternate Media
What to Expect –A Summary
• Students with a learning disability should make an appointment at
the Learning Services office (Room 1766 – McCarthy Bldg) and bring
current disability documentation (an IEP) prepared by an appropriate
professional indicating how the disability impacts academic
performance.
• Once the student completes the assessment at Learning Services and
qualifies, appropriate academic accommodations will be provided by the
school.
• Accommodations should allow students with disabilities to demonstrate
their mastery of the subject matter being tested (level the playing field),
but not lower academic standards or essential requirements of the
course or program
• Students should continue to utilize the LS office to review the status of
accommodations.
To Get Started
• Complete an application to the College through NVC WebAdvisor
http://www.napavalley.edu/WebAdvisor/Pages/default.aspx
• If you have medical documentation for your disability, provide DSPS
with medical documentation on your disability (which meets Napa
Valley Colleges Guidelines) after admission to the college.
• If you have an I.E.P. or 504 Plan, provide Learning Services with this
documentation after admission to the college.
• If you have a learning disability, schedule a testing appointment
with Learning Services room 1766 or call 256-7442.
Learning Disability Testing
Flowchart
Ach. I
testing
Intake
Packet
(1 hr)
(1 hr)
Ach.
Results
Referral to Campus
Resources
No
(½ hr)
Yes
Ach. II
Testing
Nelson
Denny
Testing
(1 hr)
Cognitive
Testing
Final Results
(3 hr)
(1 hr)
(1 hr)
No
Yes
Accommodations
(1 hr)
Referral
to
Campus
Resourc
es