##VIDEO ID:iMWx3Nqgz_4## well good evening everyone thank you so much for uh coming here in person to the little theater and also to our families at home um on the webinar um we are here as a special education department and our Administration is here so I'm going to just do some introductions first we have our interim director Mary Pat publicover here um so uh my name is Ann sud I'm one of the supervisors of special education my roles specifically look at uh the icr classroom the resource center classroom the lld classroom as well as the reading uh program okay and I'm Scott Reb Hol I am the other special ed supervisor uh my specific domain is the par professional staff as well as our self-contained programs our Ava program our equips program 18 to 21 program as well as our alterate program so tonight we're going to talk a little bit about what it means to come to Central and what I think is so cool is that we have two Central graduates here so um welcome again um but also in addition to that um we'll talk a little bit about your student or your child that's coming in um and is going to be the class of 2029 and I don't know about you but when I see that I think like wow so um I feel uh invigorated uh hopeful um but also a little nervous because you know 2029 close to 2030 and you know so on and so forth but those are going to be your students your children coming in in um and uh making their way and and learning all about what they can do here at 100 Central so tonight what we're going to review is we're going to review a Continuum of services essentially um we are um partnering with our sister districts and that's where you're coming from with fem rare or Flemington raron uh Readington uh uh Delaware and Amel Township Schools and um we work work with them to talk about the Continuum of services so what we offer here and how we can have your child transition to hcrhs um in the world of um our large school but also within the world of special education we'll talk the transitional I process that you have been engaging in the ID process for many years this is going to be a little different because you're transitioning from your current districts to a larger Regional District and we are talk about scheduling um is going to be a little different this year than it has been in the past because we were using aent information system which is Genesis uh we're going to talk about high school graduation requirements because um as I said 2029 although it seems like it's far in the distance I can relate as a parent that um time flies and they probably be here before we know it but for sure freshman year is going to be here before we know it um and and after school opportunities so we're going to talk a little bit about all of these things um in relation to hun and Central Regional High School but specifically how um we support students that have IEPs and various different needs um so we'll we'll Dive Right In so when we talk about the Continuum of services we're really talking about what does the classroom for your child look like and because we look at individualized education plans we're looking at what an individual student needs and so I'm going to talk about the general gist of things and just know that every person every child is going to be different and they're going to fit somewhere in this Continuum so in the larger Circle we have general education it really is following our general education CP classroom and the curricula within there uh within those classrooms um we have College Prep but we also have College Prep in class resource which means that you have a general education teacher as well as a special education teacher general education academic assistance is a little bit different and you can see the circles kind of get a bit smaller because what it's really representing is that we're offering a more um uh supportive environment we are looking at some curriculum changes as those circles get smaller and we're going to talk a little bit more about that um in a a little bit um in the future slides so academic assistance is still a rigorous program you're still looking at shadowing the curriculum you're looking at completing um you know various different novels and books in English and um understanding you know uh Earth and environmental science or biology um and so you're really shadowing that curriculum you're exposed to all of those Concepts the difference in academic assistance between that and general education uh College Prep is that we're looking at having less um of the curriculum ex you know uh reviewed in that classroom so for example we may review eight units in a CP class in English or biology and in general uh I'm sorry in the uh academic assistance you might review six the pacing is going to be slower we're going to talk again about that a little bit as we move into the resource setting we're looking at actually changing this structure and so now we're looking at going from a two teacher model which was in icr General Ed if that is the program that is being picked um icr academic assistance those both have two teachers a special ed and a general ed teacher but now in resource room we're looking at a smaller class setting we're looking at a more modified curriculum um and it really is shadowing the curriculum of the General Ed it's small in that um up to nine students um they can have have uh just one special education teacher after nine students we have uh a special ed teacher as well as a pair of professional and so again as that environment shifts the needs of the students are shifting as well like Annie had mentioned earlier we have on-ramps within each of these settings in the spirit of least restrictive we constantly want to challenge students to move into more academically rigorous program so if they are start off in a resource room they have the option if they're do well and they're successful in the child study team agrees that they can move up into those higher levels so there's off ramps on all of these things like Annie said you can kind of mix and match depending on your uh child's individual learning profile yeah and it's really important to us to treat your um child as an individual and so we'll talk a little bit about that in the least restrictive environment and being able to really grow their strengths identify weaknesses and through their IE as well as the program give them the supports that they need to Scott Point uh as we go into different a different direction um there's also something called Learning Center it's also uh referenced in in some of your districts as the lldd classroom uh it's shadowing the general education and um the resource curriculum but we're looking at the pacing being much slower the individualization being um far greater we're looking at a smaller teacher to student ratio often um and uh again after nine we usually have a pair of professional with one special education teacher after Learning Center we're looking at self-contained programs and so these programs are highly individualized because we are absolutely looking at again the needs of the child um and it's a low student to teacher per ratio um and this self-contained programs all let SC just uh review a little bit because he oversees those and this process is going to look very different because with the self-contained students we are doing a lot more observation of the student interacting a lot more with the child study team to ensure that we absolutely get it correct so generally speaking students in this program there is there's an academic component but there's also a life skills component as well so a lot of these students they'll start off in our equips program um and they'll move into our 18 to 21 program where they are out in the community we have about 40 to 45 Community Partners so once you are 18 years old you gradu you graduate high school you're entitled to educ ation to you're up to 21 uh so what the way that looks like is you are doing life skills in the morning and in the afternoon you are out in the community with everything from restaurants to retailers to nonprofits um getting valuable work experience our equips program is designed to get them there so we typically have the academics in the morning and then we have uh life skills and work skills in the afternoon and then I'll get into it later but we also have a really robust inclusionary program we also have our able program which runs runs discreet trials in the ABA room this is highly highly individualized if you've never seen ABA and discreet teaching it is unlike anything you've ever seen some of the most talented people um in education end up in in that room and then we have our alternate program project rust this is not something we typically recommend for freshmen simply because uh when you end up in Project rust it's because we've exhausted every other options it's basically an alternate program that really soes on focuses on the social emotional before as well as the acade academics um again before anyone enters into a program like that there are extensive conversations with child study team the parents um Etc and so I I we offer the profiles just to give you an idea sometimes when and by the way we're going to share these um slides I believe they're going to be shared to our website along with the webinar um recording um so you can go back and reference this so I'm going to just go over this I won't read the but it kind of gives you an idea of what a general education student in icr or unsupported in General Ed um what some attributes look like often they're very um motivated they can do things independently they understand the rigor of homework their comprehension um is a solid strength I often talk about the learning profile of all of our children um are unique and so students in this kind of setting often have processing speed that is average or above um and because we're going through things at a very good clip in these classrooms that processing speed and working memory and that learning profile when you talk about your your child or when you go back to the district and you talk about um you know the strengths and the needs of your your child you're looking at some of these specifics um so that a student in this classroom are they're often finding success because they're learning profile lens that to them now don't get me wrong there can be your child can have splintered skills or some um areas of strength let's say in English and may not need support but math is an area of challenge it might have a specific learning disability so at all times we can e and flow and give supports um where those strengths and weaknesses are academic assistance students those students just need more support they need um their processing speed their working memory might be below average but just a little bit below average they have comprehension um they have solid comprehension uh abilities but they make things at a slower pace and because of that that is such a perfect classroom their academic um I guess focus is one that they um aren't quite there yet with understanding the seriousness of homework and they need a lot more help and a lot more more scaffolding from the teachers in the resource room we're looking at a student that really needs a specialized uh curriculum and so yes we're following the curriculum that is taught in the General Ed and the academic assistance but just know that we are be in this environment we're able to meet the students where they are um offer them less of the scope that is in that larger curriculum and really work on the skills and Concepts that they need but again with that smaller student to teacher ratio which is specific to that um and also processing for a student in this classroom might be a challenge it might not be um you know your child best so when you go back to the district and you talk about uh your child during their uh transition IEP meeting you can talk about you know what we've talked about this evening with the learning profile and maybe how um he or she may interact with some of these classrooms or the curriculum Within these classrooms in the Learning Center um again we're looking at having students that need much more scaffolding their processing speed and working memory their learning profile overall lends itself to needing more specialized instruction so we're following some of the curriculum but we're following it at the students level so we're resource room we're following it more towards the Middle School via or the on grade level in The Learning Center we really sometimes scaffolding Concepts based on your child's needs um at their level so it could be very well that um again they have strengths in English and they're in a higher level maybe a resource English class but their needs are really um showing and demonstrating that they need some support scaffolded um instruction as well as modified instruction um in the Learning Center and then in self-contained it's very individualized and so um for a variety of reasons right so everybody can show their strengths and um their needs through a variety of different ways what I'm talking about right now is specifically through a a psychological evaluation um usually it's the the Whisk um at the at the middle school level um or uh the educ and the educational evaluation which is often the WJ um currently the WJ for and so those two evaluations help us kind of determine learning profile but just know that this gives us a pinpoint of information and helps us know where to start it doesn't tell your child's whole story and that's why you and the case manager are such um excellent Partners in this so you want to talk a little bit about um the curriculum and how it's modified in in various different ways yeah so generally speaking we try and follow the curriculum but in the selfcontained program the state testing requirements are very individualized for the students so we call we follow What's called the um Essential Elements we try and find that balance where we have really individualized instruction but at the same time we're providing those on ramps for the students who are going to move up levels so again highly individualized but we do try and follow the same content as their um their General ads so um maybe I'm question yeah so I know that's a lot to to digest um thus far that's kind of the the macro View we kind of narrow down but any questions um about what this looks like in practice anything that we need to explain in in Greater detail and if the answer is no we can continue going and then you can ask questions at the end email us call us and the reason we do we do this is especially with some of the smaller sending districts they don't have the level of or the the number of levels that we have so when we go to these transitional meetings often times you'll have a case manager there from 100 in Central and it's really to provide guidance for those questions of a student who might be in between some of those levels so we are not part of the child study team when we attend those meetings but we are there as kind kind of to provide some guidance so the transitional process experience this year um you will attend your um son or daughter's um IEP meeting with uh the case manager in your district and they will talk about the uh schedule the program that the uh that the student or your child is currently in and talking about that Continuum of services again kind of what we reviewed with from that CP environment all the way to those self-contained environments um you will probably be invited to these meetings in January February and March the partners here at 100 and Central which are the case managers are going to do their very best to attend every one of those transitional meetings um there are s that there's a conflict with schedules and that can't happen but note that there's articulation in other ways um through phone calls um and then also there are times that Scott and I um will talk to sending District families as well as teachers um and case managers uh so at this meeting you're going to obviously talk about how this your child's doing at the at the current time but also about what's going to come uh as they transition to the high school you're going to R new teacher course recommend and this is a very Salient point or important point you are going to want to walk away with the course suggestions from your IEP meeting from your child's IEP meeting um and the reason why that's important and especially for the core academic areas is that they're going to make again a lot of suggestions and I did a lot of review we did a lot of review of what kind of programs there are but your the case managers are going to say oh yeah no your son or daughter might need the equipped program or your son or daughter really sounds like they more icr um supports and so it's important that when you sit down you write down the course codes they're making that suggestion and not to worry I have a course code cheat sheet and I also have a cheat sheet for you um or a parent uh kind of like uh I guess dictionary of some of these terms I'm throwing at you because it might be overwhelming so I will absolutely be sharing this information whether it's through our website or through your emails um review the program of studies uh what is kind of fun and exciting is I can tell you that in January our uh principal along with some of our staff here are going to be holding uh a parent uh like a eighth grade transition night so I really encourage you to come that night because we're going to talk about electives um and really you know give you a little bit more of the scope and sequence of what it's like so bring um your uh you know upcoming ninth graders along with you um for that evening and I want to say it's January 16th but to be determined um that will be put on our web page so you're going to get um directions from the counseling department here um actually I think it's actually it Our IT department um and that'll be the online Genesis portal instructions and they'll be emailed to you and you'll get online you know your yeah login and password you want to identify at some point prior to the scheduling process what the electives are and so you definitely want to talk about that with your child and that's why coming on the 16th would be really a neat experience for everyone because then you can kind of get more of a um a bird's eye view of what it really um all the electives we have because we have so many and they're they're excellent and so at some point you're going to be getting those directions and then you're going to schedule your trials online now when we talk about scheduling you're basically putting in your course preferences so with the high school scheduling it is incredibly complicated so you'll put in your top three or four preferences and basically the computer will do its work and and do its best to match um but the nice thing is you've got four years to take a lot of these courses um so it always it all comes out in the wash normally but again you're putting in the especially for the electives the courses that that are preferred and again the guidance counselors do their best to kind of make it work with the schedule and this is just an overview of what we talked about if you need assistance we're here for you so um always go back to your district and see if the case manager C are going to help you um identify any of those um you know solutions to roadblocks but there's also a scheduling at hs.org email that you can send um and it goes to our our um counseling department and the counseling department will helps uh decipher and figure out what what the needs are through those emails um so there's a lot of help and we're here to support you uh this talks a little bit about selecting classes selection with a indic icr in class resource you're G get that from the case manager a selection with s prefix is going to be a resource class and again I have a course for you so don't worry um I'm thrown a lot of um letters and numbers at you um but you'll have that they will literally once you decide on the fores that that your child is going to be in they'll hand you a selite a sheet saying specifically what to select so you can Mom memorize these now but there's no need there's lots ofers and letters um this goes over the four-year uh plan for each child so each child that comes through our doors uh has credit requirements and order to receive a diploma and this is really important information for you I'm not going to go through all of it but it's something that you should definitely take a look at and the reason why it's very important is that essentially just to know that your son or daughter needs four years of English and three years of Science and three years of math and um by state we'll talk a little bit about World Language um but our requirement it for a world language is two years the state requirement is one year we can get into that um a little bit later but this kind of gives you an overview of what it what the requirements are so that your child can have a diploma at the end of his or her time here at 100 in central again this is what the um counselors actually build with your child so they'll actually have a uh visual chart for the graduation requirements and here's another uh way a platform if you will um for them to also build a four-year plan as I talked about language World Language really has um many offerings uh the Chinese French German and Latin classes are all in the general education CP environment we do have inclass resource for Spanish uh that is for Spanish stairs uh we have uh travel as well as careers Spanish stairs is a 2-year sequence but depending on what the needs are of your child if they need one year because they might be Polytech bound it's a conversation you can have with your case manager when you're here um at 100 and Central if your child is College Bound then you might have the conversation that they need four years of college or of World Language I'm sorry um and so it really is very individualized to your child and what his or her needs are in the special education self-contain programs some of these World Language requirements are actually embedded and so it's a little different for those students um in the equips and the a program all exceptions are made for the IAP so this just kind of gives you an overview of the alternatives to requirements and so yes there's tons of requirements that you just saw on that screen but at the end of the day um we are here to make sure that we're meeting your child where they are and so again having a conversation about what is necessary and needed for your child to be successful um and what is needed to be put into the IP if there are Alterna alternative requirements the high school case managers they're going to be assigned over the summer and so you're going to get a letter um and um well hopefully there sound a little bit before the summer but you will get a letter in the summer describing who your uh child's case manager is it's going to come from our special services department um and uh also be a counselor assigned to you uh at the start of each school year and it's a separate mailing the case manager that attends the transitional meeting is often if not usually the case manager you'll have throughout high school but that's not always the case um so you know don't be alarmed if you do see someone different but we try and do that as best as possible yeah and they'll tell you we're very transparent we're wanting to sure that you know hey we're I'm here as a representative but I might not be your child um case manager uh we have tons and tons of supports here um and I can't say it enough just in terms of the levels that we have for um our classes but also what we uh offer our students after school during school um and so there is something called tutorial if you've uh had children attend here before that is uh between the uh our of 2 and 250 uh that is done on a Monday Wednesday Thursday uh rotation during block five we call it um there's late bus availability um and you know again manager your child need supports during the after time and and practices are often held between 3 and 5 but it's going to be dependent on field availability and all that fun stuff you can imagine in a big um Regional school there is some summer or are some summer opportunities there will be freshman orientation uh a week before school starts typically um and it's often the Wednesday before school starts but that often changes or can change uh you can meet the principals the VPS nurses counselors and learn about the layout of the school ID uh get your uh son or daughter's ID picture um and walk uh in schol staff but also walk the schedule which I realize is probably one of the most important things that's it one one of the things I would like to add is the non-negotiable that we have in our special ed department is this notion of inclusion we talk about the after school activities one of the things we really take pride in is our connect club and this is where you have General Ed peers serving as mentors for some of our students in our self-contained programs the group meets every Friday at lunch we go out about 20 to 25 times a year whether it's football games or plays or movie Nights it's very very active very very engaged we have unified electives where again you have uh General Ed peers and even in students in the um in class support and academic studies they're serving as mentors for our students in our self-contained programs in music art cooking uh wood shop and next year like a technology class in addition we've got a very successful uh Unified sports program for both soccer and basketball we also have cheerleading and jump rope that participates at the basketball halftime shows um and we did win the state championship last year for basketball where we got to play at Ruckers University which was an incredible experience for the kids something that we're really really proud of here yeah so uh any uh questions uh or any thoughts that you have um we can feel them this way or we can um you know just hang back a little bit if you'd like to take um a tour it's not a three-hour tour but if You' like to take a tour um you absolutely can stick around and we can take a walk and we can show you some of our facilities um and we you can get a little bit of an idea of what our school looks like um at night I guess so um any questions that I can that we can answer for you uh it's going to be a 100 Central web page um but if you signed in on the signing sheet I'll make sure that I send it to you the email as well and then I'll send um there's a little um definitions page along with many links the links take you to the course cheat sheeet that I talked about um and will'll take you to a variety of different things I didn't want to print it out because I had a bunch of links on there that you wouldn't be able to access um on the print out obviously music [Music] is I'm sorry what chorus oh yeah I think we've got like three or four different types of chorus uh so that's a very very popular offering um and like I said you'll work through that with the guidance counselor but they'll definitely be able to to set them up with that it'll be one of the electives correct yep the question for uh the people at home was um just so you know that um a parent had asked of course wasn't option and we accept that course is absolutely an option um and we have a variety of different uh chorus classes and so that's something that you can talk about uh with your uh the case manager as well I will also add the elected sheet if I can find our updated 2025 2026 school year um it doesn't always align updated um with our meeting so I might have to wait for a little bit but I'll make sure that you get it or your case manager gets it yeah so so one of the things I really want to emphasize is the sheer size of the building it's 2400 kids 72 acre campus one of the things we take a lot of pride in in special ed is really creating an intimate environment the your son or daughter is going to be so incredibly supported with a guidance counselor case manager and a VP that will follow them all four years we have two behaviorists on staff two speech pathologists on staff case manager who they're not in the in the suite at that time there's someone else who can pick up the slack Annie and I are very very involved with all the students that walk through that office so as as overwhelming and as intimidating as the school is we really do a good job of making it feel small and quite frankly the students pick up the schedule and the location of the buildings twice as fast as any bu in the building yeah it just it just there's a natural flow to it it just takes a week or two to figure out all four years yep as well as the guidance counselor and the vice principal the vice principal actually we have two campuses the 910 building and the 1112 the vice principal and the guidance counselor will actually switch offices when they transition to 11th and uh 11th grade just to stay with them and being close proximity than course like I said Annie and I will stick around for more individualized questions um and then if you hang tight for about five 10 minutes we'll do a tour of the uh General overview of what the school would look like um we're just really excited to welcome your kids to the school um I can't say enough about our staff um our Administration and our teachers um they're just fantastic human beings that really care about kids um and to me as a parent that's what I need to know is um is there going to be a caring kind person on the other end um making sure that your child is taken care of um during the times that they're here and believe me um we are absolutely here for your kids and um can't wait to meet them all right thank you so much