SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Simsbury Public Schools
Department of Special Services
ELEMENTARY LEVEL
Preschool Services: Tootin Hills and Central School Sites
The Special Education Preschool Program serving 3 and 4 year old children is
delivered in the integrated settings of private community-based preschools, offered
through the Simsbury Department of Continuing Education. These settings provide a
desirable balance between students with disabilities and their typical peers. A special
education teacher goes into these community settings to consult with preschool
classroom teachers and day care providers about curriculum and instruction developed
or adapted to meet special learning needs and/or to work directly with special education
students. The other professional members of The Preschool Team, a speech language
pathologist, school psychologist, as well as occupational and physical therapists, also
provide direct and consultative services as needed within the preschools and day care
centers, and, as necessary, on a pullout basis in areas of behavior, social, motor,
sensory and communication development. The preschool special education teacher
and other team members are also available to consult with parents and other
professionals providing services to their children. This program is run at both Tootin’
Hills and Central Schools.
Ready, Set, Go Preschool (RSG-Pre)
Tootin’ Hills School
3 year old program – Monday – Friday - 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM
4 year old program – Mondays - 9:15 AM– 1:30 PM; Tuesday – Friday- 8:30 AM –
2:30 PM
Ready, Set, Go Preschool is a program for three and four year old children whose
developmental deficits form a cluster on the autistic spectrum or who exhibit autistic-like
characteristics. The program is staffed by a team that includes a head teacher, a
speech language pathologist, school psychologist, occupational therapist, physical
therapist, autism consultant and paraprofessionals.
The program’s curriculum and related services components include an Applied
Behavioral Analysis (ABA) model of instruction, discrete trial teaching strategies,
inclusion in typical classrooms, generalization of skills into school and home settings,
adaptation and modification of grade level classroom curriculum, social stories, Picture
Exchange Systems, speech-language therapy and occupational therapy to address
sensory, fine motor and eating skills. Staff record and analyze data on a daily basis in
order to inform instruction. Professional staffs monitor and support student progress in
major areas of instruction: learning skills, pre-academic skills, functional play skills,
social skills and play scripts and ABA inclusion skills. The students are included in the
Simsbury Preschool, a typical preschool operated by the Simsbury Department of
Continuing Education. A parent education/consultation program is an additional
component of the program. The program runs between 22 and 25 3/4 hours per week
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and is based on a child’s individual needs. A psychologist and behavior specialist, with
expertise in autism and educational programming for students with autism, are regular
consultants to all Ready, Set, Go programs.
Ready, Set, Go – Elementary Program
Tootin’ Hills School – 8:15 AM – 2:50 PM
Squadron Line School – 8:45 AM – 3:20 PM
This is a full-day, district-wide program in which kindergarten and elementary grade
students with more significant disabilities on the autistic spectrum are included for part
of the day in a general education class with paraprofessional support and direct
instruction and intervention by RSG special education teachers. During another part of
the day, students return to the RSG classroom to receive individual discrete trial and
intensive academic and social skills instruction as well as in-class or pull-out speechlanguage services, occupational and/or physical therapies. The Ready, Set, Go special
education teachers coordinate the generalization of skills taught in the Ready, Set, Go
class into the general education setting and, conversely, also develop programs of
instruction that reinforce general education curricular skills in the Ready, Set, Go
classroom. Additional consulting and direct service providers include a school
psychologist and behavior specialist. Other independent consultants are available as
necessary.
Learning Lab - Regular hours of individual elementary schools
Each elementary school has one or more Learning Labs, whose professional and
paraprofessional staffs service students with special education needs ranging from mild
to severe levels of learning disability, attention deficit disorder, language disability,
hearing impairment, intellectual disability, social, emotional or behavioral difficulties and
autism. The service may take the form of any combination of the following:
collaborative consultation between special education and general education teachers
about a student’s program; instruction of specialized learning strategies, which will help
students compensate for a learning difficulty; special and general education team
teaching; total subject instruction within the Learning Lab; subject support instruction;
instruction in self-advocacy, life, social and communication skills, and positive behavior
supports. The special education staff and general education staff collaborate to provide
a spectrum of learning options within both general and special education settings, to
meet the wide-ranging needs of their students. Direct services and consultation by the
speech-language pathologist, teacher of the hearing impaired, occupational therapist,
physical therapist, school psychologist, autism consultants and other independent
consultants are available as necessary.
HENRY JAMES MEMORIAL SCHOOL
Hours: 7:30 AM – 2:10 PM
Resource Room (RR)
The Resource Room, through its special education staff of teachers and
paraprofessionals, provides services to students who have special education needs
based on having one or more of the following disabilities in the mild to severe range:
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learning disability, attention deficit disorder, language disability, hearing impairment,
autism and social/emotional or behavioral difficulty. The majority of the students take
all their academic classes in the general education setting. Students receive Resource
Room assistance through: support to the student in applying learning strategies to
subjects taught to him/her in the general education class; instruction in compensatory
skills and self-advocacy; team teaching by general and special education teachers in
the general education classroom. Collaborative consultation between special educators
and subject area teachers in curriculum modification, strategy application and behavior
management is an ongoing process. In a small number of cases, resource room
professional staff provides total instruction in one or more subjects to individual
students or small groups of students. District consultant staff, as well as independent
consultants, is made available as necessary.
Specialized Resource Room (SRR) – Secondary Level
This resource room program provides specialized support for students with autism
spectrum disorders who require more substantial adult support to navigate the social
and educational complexities of the secondary school environment. Students receive
most of their educational program within general education. On-going adult support
and individualized assistance, and small group instruction are provided as indicated by
student need. Collaborative consultation among special education teachers and
general education teachers, school administration and parents, as well as independent
service providers, is a critical component of this program.
Intensive I
The Intensive I program is a specialized learning model for students with moderate to
severe disabilities, multiple disabilities, or who have autism spectrum disorders paired
with intellectual, cognitive disabilities. This program provides specialized and
individualized educational programming in academic, behavioral, social, communication
and daily living areas of curriculum. Students are included in homerooms, academic
and special subject classes in general education where appropriate accommodations,
modifications and supports are provided and as determined by the PPT. The special
services team includes a special education teacher and program paraprofessionals.
Additional supports and services are provided by the school’s psychologist, speechlanguage pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist and a district-wide
consulting behavioral specialist. Each of these professionals provides either direct
instruction or therapy to students and/or consultative services to special and general
education staff and parents. Independent consultants are made available as necessary.
SIMSBURY HIGH SCHOOL
Hours: 7:30 A.M. - 2:10 P.M.
Resource Room (RR)
The Resource Room program provides services to students in grades 9-12 who have
been identified as having special education needs including one or more of the
following: learning disability, attention deficit disorder, language disability, and hearing
impairment, social/emotional or behavioral difficulty. These students take all their
classes in general education, and receive direct specialized instruction in learning
strategies, compensatory skills, and self-advocacy skills during their free or study hall
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periods. The emphasis of the services is developing independent learners who will be
prepared for post-secondary academic demands. Collaborative consultation between
special educators and mainstream teachers in the areas of curriculum modification,
strategy application, and behavior management is an ongoing process.
Specialized Resource Room (SRR) – Secondary Level
This resource room program provides specialized support for high school students with
autism spectrum disorders who require more substantial adult support to navigate the
social and educational complexities of the secondary school environment. Students
receive most of their educational program within general education. On-going adult
support and individualized assistance, and small group instruction are provided as
indicated by student need. Collaborative consultation among special education
teachers and general education teachers, school administration and parents, as well as
independent service providers, is a critical component of this program. Independent
consultants are made available as necessary.
Adjusted Curriculum
The purpose of this program is to service high school students who have been
identified as having special education needs due to deficits in one or more of the
following areas: cognition, processing, language, and/or adaptive behavior. The
unique degree of the students’ learning profiles creates the need for small-group or
individualized instruction, with modified curriculum, materials, and/or methods that
frequently differ from the general education classroom curriculum and instruction. All
content courses required for graduation are provided within the program. Students take
one or more adjusted courses, as determined through the PPT. Consultation with
general education teachers is ongoing and co-teaching with mainstream staff is
provided in some cases. Counseling services are available through the school social
worker and the school psychologists. Students are offered pragmatic and functional
language services through the speech-language pathologist on an as-needed basis.
The school’s special education career specialist provides a wide range of vocational
classes and work experiences. The emphasis of the Adjusted Curriculum program is
preparation for post-secondary life.
Pathways Program
The Pathways program is designed to meet the needs of students whose primary
difficulties are in the social and emotional area. Depending on their individual needs,
students can receive total instruction in specific academic subjects, instruction in
learning strategies, and support in applying learning strategies to facilitate subject
mastery in the mainstream classes. The special education transition specialist offers
instruction in vocational skills on a regular basis.
The school social worker leads peer groups and provides individual and family
counseling. The counseling staff also consults with outside agencies and professionals
to develop a systems approach to meeting the needs of students. Ongoing
collaboration occurs between the special and general education staff in order to provide
the appropriate external structure and emotional support to the students in their
mainstream classes.
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Intensive II: Ages 15 - 21
The Intensive II program is a specialized learning model for high school students with
moderate to severe disabilities, multiple disabilities, or who have autism spectrum
disorders paired with intellectual, cognitive disabilities. This program provides
specialized and individualized educational programming in academic, behavioral,
social, communication and daily living areas of curriculum. Students are included in
homerooms, academic and special subject classes in general education where
appropriate accommodations, modifications and supports are provided and as
determined by the PPT. Students in this program have access to the services of a
transdisciplinary team which includes the special education teacher, general education
teacher(s), school psychologist, speech pathologist and may include the occupational
and/or physical therapist. Program paraprofessionals also support the students. Peer
tutoring is an important aspect of this program and typical high school students
participate in a variety of settings with their classmates who have specialized learning
needs. Independent consultants are made available as necessary. The program
emphasizes the development of functional academic, language, social, life and
vocational skills, while also addressing the needs of cognition, fine and gross motor
skills, and alternative or augmentative communication.
Farmington Valley Transition Academy at the University of Hartford – Ages 18-21
The Transition Academy is a collaborative program supported by the Farmington and
Simsbury Public schools. It addresses the needs of Intensive-level students who have
earned the necessary credits for graduation, demonstrate some level of independence
and are deemed by the PPT to require further preparation in order to successfully
transition from the school environment to adult living. Instruction will focus on selfadvocacy, vocational, daily living, functional-academic, and social skills. The program
is located on the campus of the University of Hartford. It incorporates inclusive
opportunities with the students and staff at U. of H. as well as inclusion in the valley
communities to the fullest extent possible.
OTHER SERVICES - SYSTEMWIDE
Speech, Language and Hearing Services are provided on an individual and small
group basis in the areas of articulation, language, voice and fluency, pragmatic
language and alternative/augmentative communication devices as appropriate for
individual students.
School Psychological/Social Work/Consulting Psychiatric Services are provided in
the following areas: psychological testing, individual and small group counseling
services, crisis interventions, developmental family assessments, home-school
collaboration, school-based psychiatric consultations and family meetings, teacher
consultations and liaisons with outside mental health services.
Deaf/Hearing Impaired Services are provided to students by a district-wide teacher of
the hearing impaired. This teacher services students directly according to hours
identified on each IEP. Additionally, this teacher collaborates with general and special
educators regarding students’ audiological equipment and specialized learning needs.
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Visually Impaired Services are provided to students through itinerant staff from the
State Board of Education and Services for the Blind and from the Capitol Region
Education Council (CREC).
Physical Therapy and/or Occupational Therapy Services are provided to students
with disabilities when fine motor/ sensory motor/ gross motor difficulties impact their
learning in a school setting.
The Farmington Valley Diagnostic Center (Gr. 7-12) located in Avon is a regional
program which provides an opportunity for parents and school staff to obtain a fresh
perspective for students who are having serious social/emotional problems in school.
The program consists of core academic instruction, individual, group and family
counseling. FVDC staff work closely with parents and school staff to analyze the
nature of the student’s problem through a comprehensive functional assessment.
Students enrolled in the Center usually stay about 4-6 weeks with discharge planning
occurring together with sending school’s PPT Team.
Autism Consulting Teacher (District-Wide)
This role supports district-wide special education staff as well as general education
teachers regarding the education of students who have autism spectrum disorders. A
primary focus of the work is the successful inclusion of students with ASD in general
education classrooms. As a teacher leader position, this person also provides on-going
support for teachers who teach in the Ready, Set, Go program and provides direct
behavioral and functional behavior analysis supports for the district. This person is a
key member of the ASD diagnostic team, having been trained in the ADOS assessment
tool for determining educational eligibility classified under the ASD eligibility
determination category.
Inclusion Consulting Teacher (District-Wide)
This role supports the successful inclusion of students with significant cognitive and
development disabilities. The Inclusion Consulting teacher participates in PPTs,
transition planning, program development and family planning meetings. In addition, a
major emphasis is placed on increasing extra-curricular opportunities and assisting
school teams in providing quality services in the LRE.
Mrs. Helen T. Donaher, Director of Special Services
Mrs. Dorothy Norman, Supervisor of Special Services
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