Special Education
Program Update
January 2010
Current Teachers and Staff
• Rio
– Theresa Wheeler, Special
Education Teacher
– Jennifer Garcia, Special
Education Teacher
– Shana Kinsman, Special
Education Paraprofessional
– Diane Rosellini, Special
Education Paraprofessional
– Rupi Rai, Special Education
Paraprofessional
– Janeen Marquez, Special
Education Paraprofessional
Current Teachers and Staff
• Cobblestone
– Tara Worthington, Special
Education Teacher
– Alles Reis, Special Education
Paraprofessional
– Juli Watri, Special Education
Paraprofessional
– Teresa Drake, Special
Education Paraprofessional
Current Teachers and Staff
• Riverside Meadows
– Paige Milgate, Special
Education Teacher
– Debbie Delaney, Special
Education Paraprofessional
– Marci Cuff, Special
Education Paraprofessional
– Rhonda Ledford, Special
Education Paraprofessional
– Ellen Foley, Special
Education Paraprofessional
Current Teachers and Staff
• Plumas Lake Charter
School
– Theresa Wheeler, Special
Education Teacher
Specialists Contracted with Yuba
County Office of Education
• Adapted P.E. Services
– Diane Freitas
• Speech and Language
Services
– Lisa Squires and Teresa Root
Specialist Contracted with Sutter
County Office of Education
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Teacher (DHH)
Specialists Contracted by PLESD
• Steps Therapy Inc.
– Tara Delaney, Jesus Carrillo
and Rebekah Fox
• Occupational Therapy
• Together Behavior Services
– Eve and Danny Dineen
• Behavior Support Plans,
Behavior System Development,
Social Skills and Interaction
support
History
• Before 2004
– All Services
were provided
by the Yuba
County Office
of Education
– 12/2002: three
students with
IEP’s
– 12/2003: five
students
• 2004-2005
– 1 special
education
teacher
– All other
services
provided by
the Yuba
County Office
of Education
– 12/2004: 29
students with
IEP’s
– 12/2005: 51
students with
IEP’s
History
• 2006-2007
– 12/06: 64 students with IEP’s
– 4 Special Education Teachersspecial education services and
intervention support
• 2 Special Day Classrooms
• 2 Resource Specialists
• Special Education
Paraprofessionals-special
education services and
intervention support
History
• 2007-2008
– 12/07: 70 students with IEP’s
– 4 Special Education
Teachers-special education
services and intervention
support
• 2 Special Day Classrooms
• 2 Resource Specialists
*mid year transitioning to
Learning Center Model
Special Education Paraprofessionals special education services and
intervention support
History
• 2008-2009
– 12/08 61 students with IEP’s.
– 4 Special Education Teachers
• 3 Learning Centers-serving a
variety of student needs and
continuing to have an Special Day
Classroom structure if needed and
intervention support
• 1 Special Day Classroom, focus on
serving students with Autism and
Severe Speech and Language
Impairments
• Special Education
Paraprofessionals-special
education services and
intervention support
Current
• 2009-2010
– 12/09: 56 students 1/21/10: 61 students
receiving PLESD special education
services
– 4 Special Education Teachers
• 3 Learning Centers providing
Special Education Services and
intervention support
• 1 Special Day Classroom, focus
on serving students with Autism and
Severe Speech and Language
Impairments
• Special Education
Paraprofessionals-special
education services and intervention
support
Learning Center Service Model
• Idea began in 2000 with the
introduction of collaborative models
of instruction
• Learning Centers started to be put in
to place in school around 2004
– Part of a tiered system of
instruction
• Support in the core classroom
• Support/instruction in the
learning center
• Instruction in a special
education classroom only
Learning Center Service Model
• Pros
– Allows students to spend the most time
possible in their classroom with core
instruction
• Students are part of the school
population
• They have a homeroom classroom
– Allows students the most amount of
time possible with nondisabled peers
– Allows for flexible grouping based on
student needs
• More support or less
• Specific explicit instruction in a skill
area
Learning Center Service Model
Pros cont.
– Allows for ongoing progress
monitoring by two teachers or
more
– Creates an environment where all
students feel welcome not just
those who receive special
education services and begins to
dissolve the social stigma
attached to “being a special
education student”.
Learning Center Service Model
• Challenges
– Scheduling
– Collaboration
– Communication
– Parent/Caregiver concerns
– Requires more staff management
skills
– Staff Training
– Understanding-staff, students and
community
Goals for the Future
• That the services PLESD is able to offer
continue to grow. (Long Term)
– 2 Learning Centers per site
• Expanded levels of student and
teacher support
– Ability provide Speech and Language
Services
• The County does a spectacular job
but there are limits to how we can
integrate their staff into our support
schedules.
– Increase support for students on the
Autism Spectrum
• Support at each school site
Goals for the Future
• Increased training for teachers and
paraprofessional (Short Term)
• That staff and the community will
have a greater understanding of
what Special Education Services are
and how they affect students. (Short
Term)
• They are not Special Education
Students.
– They are PLUMAS LAKE ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL DISTRICT STUDENTS who
receive special education services.
Questions
• Any questions that I can
answer?