TIMELINE FOR TRANSITION TO KINDERGARTEN
(for all children who be 5 years old by Sept. 1 st )
In January, EI will mail the Notice of your Child’s Transition to School Age
Meeting, the Notice of Options for your Child’s Transition, and the immunization letter to all families and retain a copy for the main file. At some point prior to the end of the school year, EI will also issue an EI exit NOREP for all students.
FEBRUARY 1 ST :
EI/School age sharing of information meeting to be held at the PFT. A schedule will be developed for EI teachers to meet with their LEA and psychologist, EI speech therapists to meet with school age speech therapists, and EI OT/PT staff to meet with school age OT/PT staff. Vision and hearing staff will also be included as appropriate.
At the meeting, EI will hand over a copy of the students current ER, IEP, psychological assessment, and current progress monitoring data. The teams will discuss the need for further testing, possible program options, and schedule the
February parent meetings for the week of Feb. 21 st .
In addition, for the students who will be receiving an evaluation, the psychologist will give EI any psych forms that will need to be completed by staff and parents.
FEBRUARY 21 ST -25 TH :
Joint meetings will be held for students with a current disability category other than developmental delay and for students who require a psychological assessment.
School age LEA and Early intervention staff will meet with parents to discuss their intent to register, the transition process, and obtain permission to reevaluate if appropriate. Parents will be informed that the psychologist will call them and then reevaluations will be mailed within 60 days. The May RR/IEP meeting will be scheduled at this time. If appropriate, parents will be given contact information to arrange visits to regional classrooms.
LEA’s will give a copy of the PTR and EI paperwork to the psychologist.
February meetings for children who are currently speech only, will become speech only for school age, or who will be going to regular education without support will be held by the early intervention staff via a direct meeting or phone conversation any time in February.

BEFORE MARCH 25 TH :
EI teachers will complete questions 1-7 of the school age RR for students requiring a reevaluation and submit to the LEA and psychologist. (New RRs and IEP revisions will not be done in Encore).
BY APRIL 15 TH :
EI teachers and EI speech therapists will complete a school age RR (including recommendations, disability category, and signatures) for students who currently receive developmental support and speech, but will qualify for speech only in school age. The RR will be given to the assigned school age speech therapist to complete the process.
BY THE 55 TH DAY:
As much as feasible, psychologists will complete their assessments, enter information into the RR (interpretation of additional data, summary of findings including strengths, needs, and present levels) and have a phone conversation with families. The LEA will complete the recommendation, and if the student qualifies, give to the IEP writer to complete the IEP in Encore. (LEA can give IEP writer information for doing IEP revisions at any time) LEA will also give Felicia a form to enter the RR data into Encore.
For students who qualify, PSE secretaries (Gwen, Randy, and Felicia) will mail parents a cover letter, the RR, and IEP invite.
For students who do not qualify for any services, LEA will contact parents to determine if they would still like to meet in May.
1.
IF THEY DO NOT WANT TO MEET-Felicia will mail a cover letter, the
RR, and a NOREP to families. Signature pages and a return envelope to the secretary will be included in the mailing. If not returned, she will mail again via certified mail. If not returned, she will make a phone call to the family.
A documentation log will be maintained. The file will then be returned to the LEA.
2.
IF THEY STILL WANT TO MEET- Felicia will mail parents a cover letter, the RR, NOREP, and RR meeting invite. The RR and NOREP can be signed at the May meeting.
For students who do not qualify but will continue as speech only, the LEA will give the completed RR and EI paperwork to Kelly Papst for a school age therapist to be assigned. If there are late decisions about qualifying as speech only, the school age therapist will complete in the fall.

MAY 9 th -20 th :
LEA will meet with families to review the RR (if new evaluation), hold IEP meeting or IEP revision, and obtain signature on the NOREP. The LEA may invite the EI teacher, psychologist, and/or related service providers as needed. If parents do not show, the early intervention teacher will attempt to obtain parent signatures. If EI is unable to obtain signatures by June 10 th , the LEA will attempt over the summer.
SCENARIO CHECKLIST
A. CHILD ALREADY HAS A PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION AND ER
INDICATING A DISABILITY OTHER THAN DEVELOPMENTAL DELAY
(such as, autism, MR, OHI, ED, etc.)-SCHOOL AGE ACCEPTS PAPERWORK
UNLESS IEP IS DUE IN SEPTEMBER
___LEA and EI meet with family in February to discuss programming for next
year
___EI gets Intent to Register signed at the meeting
___LEA reviews Notice of Options for Transition at the meeting
___IEP writer will revise IEP or write new IEP if due in September
___LEA meets with family in May to review revisions, obtain signature on ACCESS
billing, and issue NOREP for programming in school age-NO SCHOOL
INDICATED, however should indicate that accepting EI paperwork and/or
revised IEP (this could also occur at the February meeting if LEA willing to do
revisions)
___LEA obtains updated immunization records if going to a regional classroom
___LEA completes a Penn Data sheet, including related services, and turns file
into Tracy at meeting in June
(file must include a complete set of paperwork including EI RR with appropriate
disability category)
(IEP date on Penn Data sheet is original date on IEP, not revision date)
___Program officer will issue a letter in the summer indicating the school
assignment for regional classrooms (Information must be in RTI prior to
August 1 st )
B. REFERRAL TO SPECIAL EDUCATION FOR KINDERGARTEN AND A
REEVALUATION WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL IS NEEDED
___LEA and EI meet with family in February to discuss programming for next
year

___EI gets Intent to Register signed at the meeting
___LEA reviews Notice of Options for Transition and gets Permission to Reevaluate
signed at the meeting
___LEA gives copy of PTR and EI paperwork to psychologist
___EI completes Items 1-7 of the school age RR and gives to LEA by March 25 th
___EI gives any psychological rating forms to the psychologist by March 25th
___ By April 22 nd , LEA and psychologist complete remainder of RR and mail to the
family after the psychologist has reviewed their results by phone
___LEA gives information to IEP writer
___LEA holds IEP meeting in May to complete paperwork process, including invite
(already sent by secretary), signatures on RR and IEP, and Access billing
permission
___LEA issues NOREP for programming in school age-NO SCHOOL
INDICATED
___LEA obtains updated immunization records if going to a regional classroom
___LEA completes a Penn Data sheet, including related services, and turns file
in to Tracy at meeting in June
___Program officer will issue a letter in the summer indicating the school
assignment for regional classrooms (Information must be in RTI prior to
August 1 st )
C. CHILD CURRENTLY RECEIVES DEVELOPMENTAL SUPPORT AND
SPEECH, BUT WILL QUALIFY FOR SPEECH ONLY IN SCHOOL AGE.
___School age speech therapist and EI staff will discuss on Feb. 1 st whether or not
continued speech eligibility is appropriate and continue below if yes, go to
scenario E if no
___EI will get Intent to Register signed and give parent a notice from school age
that a review of existing data and information will be conducted
___Both EI and school age therapist will need to be certain that parents understand
they will only be receiving speech services in kindergarten as their child does not
meet the school age criteria for having a disability such as MR, autism, ED, etc.
___EI will complete a school age RR without additional data (including
recommendations, disability category, and signatures) and give to school age
therapist by April 15th
___School age therapist will write IEP in Encore and complete paperwork process
including invite, signatures on RR and IEP, NOREP and Access billing
permission
___If student currently receives related services (OT/PT/etc.), EI goals and times
will be transferred to the school age paperwork by the speech therapist
___Copy of RR, and signature pages of IEP, NOREP and ACCESS will be given to
Kelly in June with a Penn Data tracking sheet also indicating any related
services

D. CHILD CURRENTLY QUALIFIES FOR SPEECH ONLY
___School age speech therapist and EI therapist will discuss on Feb. 1st whether or
not continued speech eligibility is appropriate
___EI will get Intent to Register signed
___If no longer qualifying for speech, EI will do one page EI reevaluation and EI
exit NOREP (file will go to inactive in EI unless family signs a release requesting
that records go on to school age)
___If continues to qualifies, EI will give the school age therapist a copy of the EI ER
and IEP and the school age therapist will issue a NOREP indicating that speech
will continue on EI paperwork (if a new EI RR and/or IEP will be written by the
end of the school year, EI therapist will forward to school age therapist after completed, the RR can be an Agreement to Waive Reevaluation)
___Copy of EI paperwork and signed NOREP will be given to
Kelly in June with a Penn Data tracking sheet also indicating any related
services
E. CHILDREN WHO WILL BE ATTENDING REGULAR KINDERGARTEN
AND PROBABLY DO NOT QUALIFY FOR ANY SCHOOL-AGE SERVICES
___ EI will get Intent to Register and release of information signed (LEA may be
invited to a meeting if parents are in disagreement or have difficult questions)
___ EI will do one page EI reevaluation indicating student no longer qualifies and
issue EI exit NOREP
___If student may qualify for a 504/Chapter 15 plan, EI will do a referral form and
obtain a release of information to be turned in with the file at the Exit Meeting.
Below is further information regarding 504/Chapter 15 plans:

Some children may need special accommodations in school but do not meet the criteria for special education services. For example, in the absence of an exceptionality enabling the team to recommend a child as eligible for special education services in school age (autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment), the need for Occupational or Physical Therapy alone does not constitute eligibility for school age special education programs. Other examples may include children with epilepsy, asthma, diabetes, muscular dystrophy, ADHD, etc. The school district is still required to provide reasonable modifications, accommodations, and services that the child needs to participate successfully in school. For example, the district might make changes to a child’s schedule, dispense medication, provide equipment that has been modified, or provide assistance to the child for toileting. In a nutshell, to qualify for a service plan, the child must have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits learning or another major

life activity. The developmental advisor in the school is responsible for this procedure.
F. CHILD REMAINING IN EARLY INTERVENTION FOR KINDERGARTEN
YEAR
___Transition meeting is not necessary unless the parents are undecided, but Intent
to Register must be signed
___Demographic information only will be provided to school age
___Child will remain on EI paperwork with evaluation reflecting that the team will
be providing an additional year of EI at the request of the parents
To discourage families from choosing this option, you may say:
1.
“We really encourage children to move on with their same age peers. We may have children age 2 years, 9 months in the class who will not be the best role models for a child who is going to be 6 years old.”
2.
“This will be considered your child’s kindergarten year and they will go to 1 st grade next year or repeat kindergarten.”
3.
“Kindergarten offers a full-day program”
4.
“Federal mandates do not allow children to remain in Pre-K (Head Start/Early
Childhood classrooms) when they are eligible for kindergarten. Therefore, it is not an option to remain in these classrooms next year. Children would need to be enrolled in private preschools to receive EI services in their K year”
5.
If the parents are concerned about their child functioning below level-“That is why we have special education services. A program will be put into place to support your child.”
6.
What if my child does not qualify for school age special education services?-
“There is a response to intervention process in every elementary school that can be implemented if your child is struggling.”
G. STUDENTS WHO ENTER EI AFTER APRIL 15 TH
___If they have a disability category other than developmental delay, follow
scenario A minus the February meeting (or scenario D for speech only)
___If the student requires a psychological evaluation, the LEA will issue a
permission to evaluate at the end of May and the process will be completed in
September
___If they need a reevaluation to make speech only, provide with letter indicating a
review of data will occur and the process will be completed in September
___If they will not qualify for any school age services, follow scenario E

Other Key Points:
*If parents are registered in a Charter School for kindergarten, the Charter School is responsible for the transition to kindergarten process.
*If parents are choosing a private/nonpublic school, the district remains responsible. Parents can either indicate on the intent to register that they do not want an evaluation as they are attending a private school (file will go to inactive in
EI or release signed for school age) or they can indicate that they do want an evaluation. If they want an evaluation, follow the same procedures with the exception of writing or revising the IEP. Only a NOREP needs to be issued and the parents should check “I approve this recommendation”, and write, “However, I am enrolling my child in ________.” The file will be given to school age.
*If parents are interested in visiting a regional classroom, the LEA or EI teacher will give them a list of programs to contact for a visit. They should be reminded that they are visiting a program and are not guaranteed any particular site.
* On a case by case basis, students may enter Pioneer early or attend extended school year prior to September enrollment.
*If a student is currently receiving only itinerant vision or hearing services, but may require learning support in kindergarten, a psychological assessment will need to be completed.
*Related services (speech, OT, PT, etc.) need to be transferred from the EI paperwork by the IEP writer (or speech therapist for students changing from DD to speech only or for speech only students who also receive OT, PT, etc.) onto the new
IEP and indicated on the data tracking sheet. Related service providers from both programs will talk at the Feb. 1 st meeting, or another convenient time, and will need to relay any changes to goals and/or frequency to the team. They may also be invited to the May meeting.
*Kindergarten teacher information forms will no longer be used.
*If parents have questions related to school age programming, they should contact their LEA. They can also contact Tracy Brezicki (412-323-4089) or the appropriate
PSE contact below (412-323-3950):
Noel Hustwit-learning support
Paulette Colonna or Susan Asti-life skills support, autism support, multiple disability support
Lillian Wright-emotional support
Sylbia Kunst (412-571-7405)-Pioneer
Rudley Mrvos (412-323-3105)-Conroy

(Conroy or Pioneer should also be considered for students currently in
Approved Private Schools)