Special Education Services

How Do We Service Your Child?

If you are a parent who has a child with receives Special Education services, you may be wondering what does this mean? Every child who comes to Desert Meadows with an IEP is in the good hands of our school psychologist, resource teachers, speech pathologists, counselor, and occupational therapists. As a team, we review the academic, social-emotional, communicative, and behavioral needs of the students to best determine how we can help set them up for success. Here is a breakdown of how we help your child succeed in the educational setting!

School Psychologist

School psychologists work With students, families, and educators to improve academic achievement through collecting and interpreting student and classroom data, consulting about student and classroom behavior, and conducting psychological assessments. At Desert Meadows, we are fortunate enough to have the amazing Mrs. Davies on campus to support our students, families, and staff in all elements of Special Education.

Counselor

School counselors support all students in the areas of academic achievement, personal/social development, and career development, ensuring today’s students become the productive, well-adjusted adults of tomorrow. School counselors can advocate for the social-emotional needs of our students and help them become in-tuned with their mental health and how to ask for help. We have the incredible Mrs. McSwain on our campus who is adored by all and has proven to be a major asset to our students. She helps our school through our mentoring program, No Place for Hate, and teaches SEL lessons through our Second Step curriculum.

Resource Teachers

As resource teachers, we are responsible for providing curriculum support systems for students, teachers, and administrators. We assist the classroom teachers by providing additional support for their children with moderate learning difficulties such as interventions to use in daily instruction, accommodation recommendations, and even modified grades for the students. We evaluate a student’s academic progress through grade-level standards and provide instruction to students based on the need of their exceptionalities. This may include academic support in all areas daily, or sometimes one or two academic areas scattered throughout the week. We progress monitor students’ progress and hold meetings with teachers and families to determine the appropriate support for all students. At Desert Meadows, we have me as the K-4 Resource Teacher, Ms. Butler as the 5th-grade Resource Teacher, and Mr. Gutierrez as the 6th-8th grade Resource Teacher.

Speech Pathologists

A speech-language pathologist is responsible for assessing, diagnosing, treating, and developing plans of care to help improve, maintain and restore certain skills and functions in their students. Such functions include:

Occupational Therapists

Occupational therapy addresses the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, and sensory components of performance. In schools, occupational therapy practitioners focus on academics, play and leisure, social participation, self-care skills (ADLs or Activities of Daily Living), and transition/ work skills. We have several occupational therapists who travel throughout the LESD to provide this crucial support to our students. Mr. Molina. Ms. Tori and Mrs. Edwards are our rocks when it comes to occupational therapy in the district.