A Guide to Special Education

 Programs and Services

Every student in the Fairfield Area School District will be offered an educational program that meets his/her individual needs and is suited to his/her unique abilities. Specific programs and services are provided for students who are in need of :

• Autistic Support - For students identified as autistic.
• Gifted Support - For students identified as gifted.
• Learning Support - For students where the primary need is academic learning.
• Life Skills Support - For students where the class is focused primarily on the needs of the students for independent living.
• Emotional Support - For students whose primary need is for emotional support.
• Deaf or Hearing Impaired Support - For students who are deaf or hearing impaired.
• Blind or Visually Impaired Support - For students who are blind or visually impaired.
• Speech and Language Support - For students who are speech and language impaired.
• Physical Support - For students who are physically disabled.
• Multi-Disabilities Support - For students who are multi-handicapped.

Special Education

Educational programs (itinerant, resource rooms, part-time, or full-time) are available in the District or by contract with support agencies for students with a disability. Your child may be eligible for Special Education if he/she:

• Has a physical, sensory, mental or emotional disability and
• Needs special education as determined by an evaluation team

Your child must meet both qualifications in order to be eligible for special education.

Gifted Support

Mentally gifted is defined as outstanding intellectual and creative ability the development of which requires specially designed programs or support services, or both, not ordinarily provided in the regular education program. (22 Pa. Code 116.1)

The gifted program is designed for students (K-12) whose exceptional academic skills require special education activities to challenge their intellectual abilities. Services are based on individual student need and may vary from student to student and grade level to grade level. Services range from a pull-out / itinerant program in the elementary grades, resource room services at the middle school and continuing through accelerated, honors or advanced placement programs and independent study projects at the high schools. Students in grades K-12 are eligible to participate in the gifted program.

Protected Handicapped

Children who have disabilities which substantially limit their participation in or access to school programs, but who do not need special education, may qualify for reasonable accommodations in the regular classroom under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and other Pennsylvania education regulations.

For further information or answers to questions regarding the evaluation process or specific special education programs and services, contact your child's building principal.

 

Related links:

• PA Dept. of Education
  The department of education's web site has a wealth of information pertaining to special education. 
• PA Training & Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN)
  The mission of PaTTAN is to support the efforts of the Bureau of Special Education and its initiatives and to build the capacity of local educational agencies to provide appropriate services to students who receive special education services.