Special Education

At Kailua Intermediate School our goal is to make sure that students who receive special education services are included in the general education classroom as often as possible. We implement a system designed to provide appropriate supports for all students within the general education setting. When this is not possible we have other options for students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). Our goal is to design our programming each year with student needs in mind. This means that we are always able and willing to shift and tailor services to each incoming student.

General Education Classroom With Support

Your child spends the entire day in a general education class. He or she receives supports and services like a tutor or aide, assistive technology, related services, accommodations, modifications or any combination of these.

    • Co-Teaching Team - Kailua Intermediate has one seventh and one eighth grade team with a full co-teaching model. In this environment students on IEPs are included with their grade level peers for their core content classes (math, science, language arts, and social studies) with the support of a special education trained professional in the room. This means the teacher to student ratio is half that of a traditional classroom. The teachers share responsibility of the classroom and design their curriculum with all learner needs in mind. This environment also provides for small-group centered instruction, when necessary.

    • Other Teams - Kailua Intermediate also includes students on IEPs in the other teams at our school. We have an Honors program and other general education programs that can accommodate students on IEPs who do not need all day support of a special education teacher. These students still receive their IEP accommodations and modifications but they are provided by the general education teacher without the support of a special education professional. This environment is ideal for students who are more able to complete their school work without a lot of individual support or excel academically.

Special Education Classroom

The special education classroom is a program with specialized instruction for students with similar learning needs.

When students require a higher level of intervention for any of their core content classes they can be placed in a special education setting. In this setting there is a low teacher to student ratio. The teacher is a highly qualified teacher in the content they teach, and in specially designed, common-core aligned instruction. This environment is more restrictive than the inclusion environment for many students as the teacher is a special education teacher teaching exclusively special education students. The classes address grade-level standards but are conducted at a slower pace and in a different mode of instruction to accommodate lower-level learners. This setting tends to be best for students who fall significantly below grade level or require large amounts of accommodation and modification.

Partial Mainstream/Inclusion Classroom

This programming is a mixture between the above programs. Your child spends part of the day in a general education class. He gets some individual or small-group instruction in a special education class, or is pulled out of class for some services. This allows students to be in the best classroom for them according to their strengths and needs in particular areas. For example, if a child struggles with math we are able to provide them small group instruction in just this area but allow them to be in the general education setting for all other contents.

The above gives a general description of programming that can fit the needs of most students in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Other settings and programming are designed with individual student needs in mind as those situations arise.

UDATED: September, 2018