Student Services

Educational Placement of Students with Special Needs

Services to students with Special Needs continue to be a priority for our School Division. We believe:

• that all children can learn and reach their full potential given opportunity, effective teaching and appropriate resources. Instruction, rather than setting, is the key to success and decisions related to the placement of students are best made on an individual basis in a manner that maximizes their opportunity to participate fully in the experience of schooling.
• educating students with special needs in inclusive settings is the first placement option considered by the Division in consultation with parents and, when appropriate, students. Inclusion, by definition, refers not merely to setting but to specially designed instruction and support for students with special education needs in regular classrooms and neighborhood schools. Special education programs can be provided in a variety of settings ranging from adapted programs in regular classrooms to specially designed programs in segregated classrooms.
• the student's strengths, abilities and educational needs shall be the deciding factors in programming and the recommended placement shall be made in consultation with the learning team including the student's parent(s) or guardian(s).

Alberta Education's definition of STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS refers to students with mild, moderate, or severe disabilities and those who are gifted and talented. Once a student is identified as having special needs, we develop and deliver an education program that reflects individual needs and provides the student with a valuable learning experience. An Individual Program Plan (IPP) is developed for each and every child identified to ensure appropriate programming and to establish measurable goals and objectives for an appropriate program.

Early identification is our key focus. The earlier the identification, the more expediently the program can be differentiated to provide appropriate learning experiences. Child Development Check-ups are implemented annually in each of our elementary schools for children ages 2 1/2 to 5. Children are assessed in the areas of speech/language, fine motor, gross motor, and social development and self-help skills. Kindergarten teachers' participation provides a chance for parents to make initial contact with the school regarding their children.

"The work of Catholic Education is always linked to inclusivity. Our Catholic Schools have practiced inclusivity throughout their history. We have worked diligently to include the laity in the family of the Church. We included the destitute in the family of caring, the ignorant in the family of learning, the sick in the family of healing. We desire to teach all the children that pass through our doors that they are not forgotten, that they are not expunged from the communal memory of our people or purged from the communal register of our hearts."