Special Education & Interventions
Syringa Mountain School may conduct annual hearing and vision testing. In addition, we participate in the federally mandated Child Find program, designed to identify children who may be in need of special education services.
The school’s small size, student-staff ratios, and looping model allow educators to develop special sensitivity towards individual student needs and backgrounds. This translates into a nurturing learning environment with low-stress levels and maximizes success. However, some students will invariably need additional individual support. Our goal is to meet the needs of all our students through the use of a three-tiered system of support.
Tier I: Prevention
Tier I includes high-quality classroom instruction delivered by qualified teachers and regular assessments of all students to monitor their progress toward reaching grade-level benchmarks. Teachers are trained to address different learning styles of their students and the classroom teachers work closely with the specials teachers to ensure a unified, supportive learning approach for all of our students.
Tier II: Identification and Selected Interventions
Beyond academic performance, teachers look for other signals of need as we recognize that there are many factors that affect a student’s performance. Selected interventions are implemented by teachers for students who are not experiencing success in any of SMS’s offerings. The teacher will work closely with staff, parents and the child to intervene on their behalf.
Tier III: Student Study Team Intensive Interventions
If there is minimal or limited success or no improvement during the first two tiers of support, the student will likely be referred to the Student Study Team (SST), for further assessment. The school will follow the state SST processes with appropriate documentation and referral to special education assessment for services when indicated. Assistance will be requested/contracted when needed.
RTI: To ensure that no student “falls through the cracks” a rotating committee known as the Response To Intervention(RTI)—comprised of staff members, the SpEd Teacher, and the classroom teacher meet regularly to monitor all students’ progress and to advocate for students. The RTI uses a systematic problem-solving approach to assist students with any concerns that are interfering with success. Parent input may be solicited for the RTI process.