Untitled Document

The Exceptional Student Education Department is truly exceptional. We presently serve all the elementary age Autistic, Profoundly and Trainable Mentally Handicapped students in the Glades Area. Our Staff is instrumental in bringing many of the services for this population together in order to meet the needs of our students and to support and provide the necessary assistance for their parents. Physical and Occupational Therapy is an important part of many of these students' ability to be successful in accessing the learning environment appropriately.

The Trainable and Profound Mentally Handicapped classrooms received a variety of technology through a district grant. It includes such items as a desktop computer, printer, and scanner. In addition, the computer has a variety of software programs for the students and teachers that address the curriculum needs of the exceptional education students. The technology grant also included switches, adaptive keyboards, voice output devices, and environmental control devices to be used with the students for better access and communication.

Through a collaborative project with our Exceptional Education classes, the school district, Project SOAR (Sharing Our Agricultural Roots), and other community resources, two Reading Gardens have been created on our campus. The gardens serve a multitude of objectives, including an outdoor environment for classes to complete reading, math and science activities. Functional activities such as gardening and campus clean-up are an excellent way to implement community based instruction with our mentally handicapped students. The gardens are both brightly decorated with stepping stones, murals, bird baths, arbors, benches and picnic tables that reflect the importance of reading and caring for the environment.

Our Exceptional Student Education staff has been innovative in implementing many worthwhile and educations programs and projects at school and in the community. In 1997, a group of our Exceptional Education teachers together with other teachers and community members were vital in bringing the VSA (Very Special Arts) West Festival to the Glades Community. Special Education Pre-K through sixth grade students from the mid and far west communities continue to attend the annual VSA West Festival each spring (approximately 400 students each year) along with volunteers from the local high schools and Eagle Academy. The event is held each year at the Dolly Hand Cultural Art Center in Belle Glade.

Other projects sponsored by the Exceptional Student Education department include service projects. Each fall the students recognize the school bus drivers and bus assistants with Thanksgiving goodie bags and in the spring they do the same for the non-instructional staff at the school (i.e. custodians, cafeteria workers, office staff, school police). They also coordinate the Food For Families project. The special education students work collaboratively with a group of regular education students to sort and package the donated food and prepare it for distribution to needy families in the community.

During the winter season, our Exceptional Student Education staff and students collaborate with a local private school, Glades Day School, and they meet during the holidays for a social and gift exchange. Each student is paired with a "buddy" from the private high school and these students bring their buddy gifts from their wish lists. It is a very worthwhile event in which friendships are formed and the private school students gain a better understanding of students with disabilities.

Through the benefits of various grants and donations our Exceptional Student Education department has been able to attend the Wellington Equestrian Horse Show and tour of the Equestrian Village, visit the Wellington Green Mall, perform puppet shows with their non-disabled peers, and participate in a peer buddy project. The Equestrian trip and the visit to the Wellington Mall during the holidays allows the students to participate in activities in a variety of community settings. The ACTion Theatre and Black Light Puppet Show projects give the disabled and non-disabled students of our school the opportunity to improve literacy ,communication and social skills. The Knowledge Through Friendship Project is another project, which focuses on collaboration among disabled and non-disabled students in which peer buddies from the fourth grade class learn about the brain and nervous system in addition to disabilities that effect the brain function. The students meet with students from the Profound and Trainable Mentally Handicapped classes and assist them with learning activities.

When addressing Language and Speech Impairments, our Speech Language Pathologists address the needs of the students in a resource room and in some cases within the classroom. Therapists work on each student's IEP objectives through games, the use of manipulatives and by teaching compensatory strategies, which can later be generalized across a variety of settings. Students are provided with critical thinking skills, learn various writing skills and are encouraged to use oral and expressive language at levels of increasing difficulty.

Our students with learning disabilities have been successful in the resource as well as the inclusion setting while also receiving instruction in our dual language program. It is the ultimate goal of our Exceptional Student Education Department to provide every student with the means and ability to become contributing citizens of our community.

	Welcome to the ESE Department
The Exceptional Student Education Department is truly exceptional. We presently serve all the elementary age Autistic, Profoundly and Trainable Mentally Handicapped students in the Glades Area. Our Staff is instrumental in bringing many of the services for this population together in order to meet the needs of our students and to support and provide the necessary assistance for their parents. Physical and Occupational Therapy is an important part of many of these students' ability to be successful in accessing the learning environment appropriately. The Trainable and Profound Mentally Handicapped classrooms received a variety of technology through a district grant. It includes such items as a desktop computer, printer, and scanner. In addition, the computer has a variety of software programs for the students and teachers that address the curriculum needs of the exceptional education students. The technology grant also included switches, adaptive keyboards, voice output devices, and environmental control devices to be used with the students for better access and communication. Through a collaborative project with our Exceptional Education classes, the school district, Project SOAR (Sharing Our Agricultural Roots), and other community resources, two Reading Gardens have been created on our campus. The gardens serve a multitude of objectives, including an outdoor environment for classes to complete reading, math and science activities. Functional activities such as gardening and campus clean-up are an excellent way to implement community based instruction with our mentally handicapped students. The gardens are both brightly decorated with stepping stones, murals, bird baths, arbors, benches and picnic tables that reflect the importance of reading and caring for the environment. Our Exceptional Student Education staff has been innovative in implementing many worthwhile and educations programs and projects at school and in the community. In 1997, a group of our Exceptional Education teachers together with other teachers and community members were vital in bringing the VSA (Very Special Arts) West Festival to the Glades Community. Special Education Pre-K through sixth grade students from the mid and far west communities continue to attend the annual VSA West Festival each spring (approximately 400 students each year) along with volunteers from the local high schools and Eagle Academy. The event is held each year at the Dolly Hand Cultural Art Center in Belle Glade. Other projects sponsored by the Exceptional Student Education department include service projects. Each fall the students recognize the school bus drivers and bus assistants with Thanksgiving goodie bags and in the spring they do the same for the non-instructional staff at the school (i.e. custodians, cafeteria workers, office staff, school police). They also coordinate the Food For Families project. The special education students work collaboratively with a group of regular education students to sort and package the donated food and prepare it for distribution to needy families in the community. During the winter season, our Exceptional Student Education staff and students collaborate with a local private school, Glades Day School, and they meet during the holidays for a social and gift exchange. Each student is paired with a "buddy" from the private high school and these students bring their buddy gifts from their wish lists. It is a very worthwhile event in which friendships are formed and the private school students gain a better understanding of students with disabilities. Through the benefits of various grants and donations our Exceptional Student Education department has been able to attend the Wellington Equestrian Horse Show and tour of the Equestrian Village, visit the Wellington Green Mall, perform puppet shows with their non-disabled peers, and participate in a peer buddy project. The Equestrian trip and the visit to the Wellington Mall during the holidays allows the students to participate in activities in a variety of community settings. The ACTion Theatre and Black Light Puppet Show projects give the disabled and non-disabled students of our school the opportunity to improve literacy ,communication and social skills. The Knowledge Through Friendship Project is another project, which focuses on collaboration among disabled and non-disabled students in which peer buddies from the fourth grade class learn about the brain and nervous system in addition to disabilities that effect the brain function. The students meet with students from the Profound and Trainable Mentally Handicapped classes and assist them with learning activities. When addressing Language and Speech Impairments, our Speech Language Pathologists address the needs of the students in a resource room and in some cases within the classroom. Therapists work on each student's IEP objectives through games, the use of manipulatives and by teaching compensatory strategies, which can later be generalized across a variety of settings. Students are provided with critical thinking skills, learn various writing skills and are encouraged to use oral and expressive language at levels of increasing difficulty. Our students with learning disabilities have been successful in the resource as well as the inclusion setting while also receiving instruction in our dual language program. It is the ultimate goal of our Exceptional Student Education Department to provide every student with the means and ability to become contributing citizens of our community.

Welcome to the ESE Department