Lake Shore Central School District

Related services such as Speech/Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, or Counseling services are provided to students with disabilities as identified on their Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Related service providers may implement services in individualized, small group, general education, or special education settings.

Special Education teachers generally provide a daily period of support to students who have been identified as Students with Disabilities through the district Committee on Special Education. Students who receive resource room services are enrolled in general education academic classes, and are provided pre-teaching and re-teaching of essential information as part of the resource room model. These students meet the same performance standards as their non-disabled peers. Students who receive resource room services at the high school are enrolled in Regents classes. Students work individually or in small groups to develop and strengthen skills in specific areas identified in their Individual Education Plan (IEP). Students participating in this program are working toward a Regents diploma or Regents diploma with distinction.

Special Education teachers team teach with general education teachers at each of the school buildings. Special Education teachers are working in selected academic classrooms on a daily basis. The Special Education teacher’s role in the classroom is to support and help students meet their Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals, but they also innately support the class as a whole by adding to the instructional support available to all students. In addition to consultant teacher support in the general education classroom, students may also receive one period of instructional support daily at all levels.

Special Education teachers are also available to support students either directly or indirectly, through consultation with general education teachers, throughout the school day or when prescribed by their Individual Education Plan (IEP). Some students requiring consultant teacher support do not necessarily need direct academic intervention on a daily basis.

Special classes address either academic and behavioral, or functional needs of some of our students who have not found success in the inclusion general education setting. These programs were developed to maintain placement of our students in our buildings as opposed to looking to agency settings outside of the district. Once students find success here, many are then appropriately re-integrated into the general education classrooms with support of the staff, often in our integrated or co-taught classrooms.