School district’s Special Education program expands
Seven Highland Falls-Fort Montgomery Central School District special education educators stood before the Board of Education on January 30 to talk about how they are empowering students to help plan their own education and future.
Under the leadership of Director of Pupil Personnel Services Beth Hordines, and led in the presentation by Nicole Glennon, teachers Bridget Smith, Cecelia Taylor, Christie Shields-Pla, Ken Kirschner and Kelly Doering talked about how using ‘Student Driven Individual Education Plans (IEPs)’, many students from seventh grade up are taking part in their annual meetings with their parents and school officials, as well as having one-on-one sessions with their teachers about their progress.
The district began using the student-driven plan model just about a year ago. The board was not only impressed with the positive feedback they’ve received from families and other teachers, but with the number of students who are participating. The number of students participating in the program has doubled since it was created last year, it was noted.
“Parents are surprised at what their students are doing,” Glennon said.
The team of teachers each spoke.
“With this process, our students are becoming more educated about their disabilities,” Smith said. “They’re figuring out where they struggle and what helps them and then setting goals for themselves.”
Those goals can be big or small, Kirschner said, but once obtained, help students see what they are capable of accomplishing.
“It really has helped us,” their teachers, Shields-Pla said, “get to know them on an individual level. We’ve learned the things they like in and out of the classroom, and what they don’t like.”
Smith added that giving students that voice to express themselves is so important because it helps them set goals for once they get out of school — “they’re taking ownership of their lives”.
Board of Education President Anne Lawless praised the educators, noting that the work they are doing with the students “seems about ten steps beyond just having them help develop their own IEPs”.
“It’s very exciting to watch you help them have a voice in the education you are giving them,” Lawless said.
