August 11, 2014
Dear Parents and Community Members:
We are pleased to present the Annual Education Report (AER), which provides key information
on the 2013-2014 educational progress for the Karl Richter Campus. The AER addresses the
complex reporting information required by federal and state laws. The school’s report contains
information about student assessment, accountability and teacher quality. If you have any
questions about the AER, please contact the Special Specials office at (248) 328-3170 for assistance.
The AER is available for review electronically by clicking here. A paper copy is available for
review in the Karl Richter Campus, Special Services office.
The state identifies some schools with the status of Reward, Focus or Priority. A Reward school is
one that is outperforming other schools in achievement growth, or is performing better than
other schools with similar student populations. A Focus school is one that has a large
achievement gap in 30% of its student achievement scores. A Priority school is one whose
achievement and growth is in the lowest 5% of all schools in the state.
The Karl Richter Campus has not been given one of these ratings.
The Karl Richter Campus has a small student population so our data from State assessments is
limited. All of the students take district and State alternate assessments. Data from our
assessments will be found in the attached report. All of the students that attend Karl Richter
Campus have unique educational needs that are addressed through the Individualized Education
Planning process. The individualized education plans address the instructional needs of the
students. The Karl Richter Campus houses programs that provide special education to Severely
Multiply Impaired (SXI), Severely Cognitively Impaired (SCI), and a Post-Secondary program.
The classrooms all have sound fields, and adaptive equipment including medical and therapy
equipment, to meet the physical and intellectual needs of the students.
One area of school improvement is to utilize technology to deliver curriculum and engage
students in the learning process. The Unique Learning System (ULS) curriculum incorporates
technology to help students gain independence in their skill development. The School
Improvement goals will address both the curricular needs and technology competencies needed
to improve the student’s independence. The goal is to improve the independence and
communication skills of the students. The staff is also working on improving math proficiencies
through real life math experiences that will apply to the student’s post-secondary outcomes. The
collaboration between the family and the school is imperative to the Karl Richter classrooms.
Staff is striving to improve communication with the families, addressing both educational and
health needs.
The Karl Richter staff communicates at least weekly with the parents through a notebook system.
Much of the communication is daily due to the student’s needs. Staff and parents meet at least
two times a year at conferences, as well as, during the student’s annual Individualized Education
Plan meeting. The staff will be hosting a parent Open House to review the Unique Learning
Systems and update families on MI-Access and classroom assessments.
The assessments tools used with the population of students attending Karl Richter Campus are
individualized assessments focused on daily living skills, communication, transitional and work
skills. The Unique Learning System curriculum and transition assessments are embedded in the
program. The data helps the staff monitor student progress and adjust learning goals.
Instructional targets are structured to link the standards and curriculum content for students
with disabilities. The instructional targets, Essential Elements, are aligned to the Common Core
Standards in English language arts and mathematics. The 2013-14 school year was the first year
the staff fully implemented this curriculum.
Parent contact with the school staff is frequent due to the nature of the student’s educational and
medical needs. The parent participation rate at conferences and IEP Team meetings during the
2012-13 school year was 100%. In 2013-14, the conference attendance rate was 100% in the
SCI/SXI classrooms. The IEP attendance across all buildings was 100%. The post-secondary
program works with adult students so some of the students are their own guardians. The postsecondary program hosted an Open House in the fall of 2013 with eight families in attendance.
We appreciate the continued support of parents, staff and the community in supporting our
students. We plan to incorporate more parent supports through our Parent Advisory Committee
(PAC). While we are pleased with our student’s progress, we continue strive to improve our
instruction. Our goal is to continue to maintain a safe and welcoming school environment while
working toward increasing the number of our students meeting the proficiency targets and
independent skills that will increase positive student outcomes beyond our school community.
Sincerely,
Ellen Lounds
Director of Special Services