Author: Wendy Wilson

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is pleased to announce that the 2015 – 2016 Parent Involvement Survey for the Anuual Perfomance Report, Indicator 8 is ready for dissemination and and collection.

The collection window for the survey can begin immediately and extend until September 30, 2015.  During the collection window VDOE will engage in a number of technical assistance outreach efforts to parents and parent organizations to ensure that every parent of a child with a disability in the Commonwealth has the opportunity to participate in the survey. VDOE has set a goal of significantly increasing the responses from families who have children with disabilities in Virginia.

Parents will be given a postcard to mail in to VDOE.  If desired, a more detailed survey is available online at the following link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VDOE2016

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to ensure that we involve each parent in his/her child’s special education program.  If you have questions or need assistance concerning this survey process, please contact Hank Millward at (804) 371-0525, (hank.millward@doe.virginia.gov).

Survey links:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VDOE2016

Please join us at the April 11, 2016 School Board meeting at 5:30 at Caroline Middle School.  Students will have the opportunity to personally invite the school board members to our April 15, (Rain date, April 29),Special Olympics Meet in the Middle event.  Wear your Special Olympics t-shirts!

Additionally, we will recognize April as Autism Awareness month.  Ms. Kessler and Ms. Kuykendall, Caroline Middle School teachers, will share a presentation on services available for students with Autism.

At the October 12, 2015 School Board meeting, several students shared their stories of success.  Josh Lindamood was selected to take the SATs in the 6^th grade and won first prize in Art at the State Fair.  Joey Frye was voted Prom Prince and won first prize in Art at last year’s State Fair.  Austin Nelson was elected freshman class president.  Alan Rivera was selected for the SEARCH program for the gifted and talented.  Corran Hale is active in Boy Scouts of America and youth missions.  He has attended Mountain Man camp and has served in mission projects in Richmond, Washington, DC, Charlotte, NC and Haiti.  We are so proud of the accomplishments of our students and for the support staff, parents and classmates provide.

For more information on programs supporting student achievement, visit websites such as Project Inclusion, the Center on Transition Innovations, and I’m Determined.

Services for Students Identified as Hearing or Visually Impaired

 

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) provides information on services for students with hearing and vision impairments at its Web site.  The following links to information and resources are excerpted from the VDOE’s Web page, Specific Disabilities-Sensory Disabilities.  School divisions are required to annually post this information on their Web sites and inform the parents of students who are identified as hearing impaired or visually impaired of its availability.  Packets of this information are also required to be available in an accessible format for parents who do not have Internet access.

 

Guidance Documents

• Guidelines for Working With Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in Virginia Public Schools
• Guidelines for Working With Students Who are Blind or Visually Impaired in Virginia Public Schools

Resources

• Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind (VSDB) -The VSDB is located in Staunton, Virginia and provides a day program and outreach services, as well as a residential setting exclusively to students who are deaf or hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired, or deaf-blind.  The VSDB Outreach Services assist early intervention providers, local school divisions, and families in meeting the needs of children in the Commonwealth.  VSDB’s admission policy is available at the above Web site.
• Virginia Department for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (VDDHH)-The VDDHH provides standards for educational interpreting services and other services to reduce the communication barriers between persons who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families and the professionals who serve them.
• Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired (DBVI) – The DBVI’s primary focus is to assist Virginians who are blind in achieving quality employment outcomes. Vocational evaluation, job training, job development, placement, follow-up and other services are provided to assist consumers in obtaining jobs in the public and private sectors.  DBVI’s education services program provides services to early intervention providers, school personnel, and families to help children to be successful in school and the community, and to prepare for the future.  The Virginia Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Vision Impaired offers training in the skills of blindness to blind and vision-impaired Virginians and encourages people to develop positive attitudes about blindness.  The Library and Resource Center provides services to local school divisions to support the education of children who are blind or visually impaired.  Library services are also offered to persons who are print disabled.
• Virginia Project for Children and Young Adults With Deaf-Blindness – This office provides technical assistance, training, distance education and networking information to families, service providers and individuals who are deaf-blind/dual sensory impaired.
• Technical Assistance Center for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and VNOC -This center provides training and technical assistance in the area of deafness/hard of hearing. Assistance is available to local public school systems as well as early intervention and preschool programs through the Virginia Network of Consultants for Professionals Working with Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (VNOC).
• Accessible Instructional Materials Center-VA (AIM-VA)-AIM-VA’s extensive library has developed an alternative system of providing accessible educational media under standards set by federal law (NIMAS) to students who meet the federal requirements for print disabilities and who are eligible for accessing educational media under individual IEPs, as required under Part B of IDEA.  AIM-VA, in conjunction with partnering agencies, provides required accessible educational materials to students with an IEP and training for staff, at no cost to Local Education Agencies.

Revised August 2015

 

We’re looking forward to an exciting new school year!

EQUAL ACCESS TO THE CURRICULUM FOR ALL STUDENTS
IN THE LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT

“Special education” means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent(s), to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in a classroom, in the home, in hospitals, in institutions, and in other settings and instruction in physical education. The term includes each of the following if it meets the requirements of the definition of special education: (§ 22.1-213 of the Code of Virginia; 34 CFR 300.39)
“Specially designed instruction” means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible

child, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction: (34 CFR 300.39(b)(3))
1. To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child’s disability; and
2. To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards that apply to all children within the jurisdiction of the local educational agency.

-Excerpt from VA DOE site

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