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Changes Brewing

I can hardly believe it, but the kids have less than a week of school left.

With next year looming on the horizon, I’m keeping my fingers crossed on who Ane will have next year as a teacher (there are two that I know of that would be good for her in the 5th grade).  However, the plan right now is that Tad’s teacher, Mrs. W, will indeed be coming back after maternity leave to teach Tad’s class!

Tad’s class, however, is changing up.  The entire “mid-level CLC” that Tad has been in for the last couple of years has been the focus of a district-wide revamp of special education.  I had a long chat with Principal Cousin (who is leaving us to move closer to her parents, and we will miss her BADLY) about the whole change, which is going to be a very interesting one for the district.

The classes will still be split by grade (1/2/3 and 4/5/6, for now – when the district changes over to a middle school and 4 year high school, the 6th graders will move up and I’m sure those classes will move around a bit as needed for age), but now there will be three different options in the no-longer-called-the-mid-level, and they will be divided by ability.

There will be one group (Level 1 Blended Services) that will deal with kids that can do grade-level work, but need social help and a more forgiving atmosphere to learn in.  The other two groups (Level 2 Sensory and Level 2 Social/Emotional) will be for the kids who aren’t at grade level in their work, and will divide them by diagnosis and intervention needs.  Because Tad is on the autism spectrum, he will be in the Level 2 Sensory class – which is what his current class is turning in to, and Mrs. W is coming back to teach.  Principal Cousin was excited about all the changes, because she believes it will give the kids more focused help.

The Webmaster gets to go to an informational open house tonight (I have to miss it – the kids have swimming lessons, so I will be with them), so I guess we’ll learn even more about it.  But nothing really changes for Tad.  He stays put in the same classroom, with his returning teacher (and beloved para, Ms. J), and will continue to spend time in a gen ed classroom for some academic work (and lunch).

Now, we just have to survive the summer.

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