Student Support Services
- CIP Program
- Cultural Family Advocate
- Developmental Adapted Phy-ed
- English Language Learner
- Occupational Therapy
- Gifted and Talented
- Paraprofessional Support
- Psychologist
- Reading Recovery
- Social Worker
- Special Ed Resource
- Speech and Language
CIP Program
The Communication Interaction Program (CIP) is a center-based program for students with special needs, primarily providing services for students with autism spectrum disorder in grades K-12. The CIP program provides a small classroom environment along with access to the mainstream classroom. Students in the program receive individualized academic and social skills instruction, as well as support in speech and language, adapted physical education, and occupational therapy.
Each teacher has his/her own voicemail number and an email which allows you to leave messages throughout the day and evening. For voicemail, dial 651-683-6969 and enter the correct extension. Please report any absences by e-mailing sp.attendance@district196.org or by calling the school attendance voicemail at 651-683-6969 ext. 85095.
Cultural Family Advocate
Cultural Family Advocates (CFA) support the Achievement and Integration Plan by working with culturally and ethnically diverse students, to increase and support over all participation and academic achievement. These staff members advise school staff in understanding the culture and expectations of diverse families, and serve as a liaison between the school district and diverse families in facilitating an understanding of school culture and expectations.
Developmental Adapted Phy-ed
Developmental Adapted Physical Education (DAPE) is a special education service that provides educational support for students with disabilities who cannot safely or successfully participate in the general physical education program. Students ages 3-21 who have a substantial delay or disorder in gross-motor development and who meet Minnesota State Developmental Adapted Physical Education criteria may receive this service.
English Language Learner
The English Learner (EL) program supports multilingual learners in acquiring the English they need in order to succeed in the classroom and beyond, in accordance with the State of Minnesota Guidelines and English Language Proficiency Standards. Incoming students are tested for English proficiency when entering District 196 schools, as well as periodically throughout the school year to determine progress and eligibility for continued instruction.
In EL settings, English learners are part of an English language learning experience where students engage in content study and English learning simultaneously. Students are grouped by proficiency level at the elementary through high school level and may or may not share the same native language.
Occupational Therapy
Gifted and Talented
The primary purpose of the Gifted and Talented Program is to serve the academically gifted and talented students of our school district. Students are identified for this program by assessment on a standardized cognitive test, achievement tests, in combination with teacher recommendation scores. Identified elementary students receive some pull out services as well as some in class services. ISD 196 has selected the CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) to measure cognitive ability. The test is administered to all 2nd and 4th grade students in December and January. If a child qualifies for gifted and talented services, a letter of notification and permission to participate is sent home to the child's parents.
"One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."
- Andre Gide
The GT curriculum includes units in creative thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, invention, research, and selected special topics. The GT curriculum also includes some enrichment activities that relate to the classroom curriculum, supporting the classroom teacher whenever possible. Core curriculum enrichment may include ability grouping for certain subject areas. Flexible grouping techniques are also used within the regular classroom and outside the classroom, to meet the needs of high ability students.
"Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself." -Robert Collier
GT Resource Links
Student Resource Links
Parent Information Links
Additional Parent Information
Do you know about the Minnesota Council For the Gifted and Talented? It is a nonprofit organization of parents and professionals dedicated to promoting better understanding of, and curriculum for, gifted and talented children. The MCGT office is an important source of information on gifted and talented topics in Minnesota. In addition to providing bimonthly newsletter; participates in a national network through its affiliation with the National Association for Gifted Children and other organizations; sponsors and annual state conference with a special children's program; offers information, literature and referral services; and is active in legislative efforts on the state level in collaboration with the Minnesota Educators of the Gifted and Talented (MEGT).
You can receive information about membership to MCGT by writing to:
Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented, Membership Chairman
5701 Normandale Road,rm.345
Minneapolis, MN 55424
Paraprofessional Support
Psychologist
Reading Recovery
Reading Recovery is a one time, short term reading and writing intervention for selected (*) first grade students that can run from 12 to 20 weeks. Students in this program meet daily with a specially trained Reading Recovery teacher for a one-on-one 30 minute lesson which includes reading, writing and letter/word work.
The Reading Recovery teacher models various procedures to teach and support each student’s use of strategic behaviors to help him/her problem solve text. The goal is for each child to be able to work independently and successfully within grade level reading and writing expectations.
(*) Students are identified for Reading Recovery support based on early student assessment and District 196 guideline qualifying scores.
Parents are welcomed and encouraged to observe one or more of their child’s lessons. When parents observe a lesson they are able to see how all the components fit together to support and stretch their child’s new learning. To find out more about this program please contact Shannon Park’s Reading Recovery teacher and/or go to www.readingrecovery.org
Reading Recovery Lesson Format
Every child’s lesson is individually planned to help meet his/her specific needs. However, all lessons consist of the same components each day which are:
Reading Familiar Books
Letter and/or word work with magnetic letter
Composing and writing a story
Cut-up Sentence
Introduction and reading of the new book
Social Worker
As a school social worker, my primary role is to partner directly with parents, students and teachers to assist children in reaching their full potential.
Through confidential consultation I am available to assist our families in the following areas:
Crisis Intervention-Provide support to families when locating housing, employment, food, financial and mental health resources as needs arise.
Individual Counseling-I will often meet with children to provide emotional support when they are experiencing stress in a specific area. This could stem from family, school, or a specific life event. I can assist parents and teachers to understand why the child is feeling these stressors and develop a plan to immediately help. Some examples of why I meet with children include
- Work completion
- Support military families experiencing deployment
- Child development
- Fear or anxiety regarding school
- Recent crisis at home (injury, illness, death, divorce, etc.)
- Mental health concerns
- Develop healthy friendships
- Social skill development
Group Counseling-I also provide group counseling to assist children both academically and socially. The primary goal of group intervention is that through shared experiences, peer support, and effective modeling, children can learn positive coping strategies to immediately provide assistance. Throughout the school year I often host the following educational support groups:
Social skills-The propose of this group is to help children develop appropriate social contacts and friendships.
- Grief and Loss-To help children understand and endure a death or significant loss within their family
- Family Change-For students who have experienced parental divorce or separation.
If you would like to arrange a confidential consultation, or if you have any questions, please call me at your convenience.
Special Ed Resource
Resource teachers teach students who have been identified through the child study process and meet state criteria for the following categories: Specific Learning Disability, Other Health Disorder, Autism Spectrum. In addition we are consultants to both classroom teachers and parents. We are also members of the Child Study team working with the District evaluation team on initial evaluations. We work with students in small groups to provided systematic, direct instruction of academic or social thinking skills.
Speech and Language
The Speech Clinicians work with students who have been assessed and diagnosed as having the following communication disorders, which interfere academically in some manner:
- articulation (sound production errors)
- language comprehension
- language expression
- fluency (stuttering)
- voice quality
- pragmatics (social language)
Our goal is to improve the speech-language skills of our students in order to enhance their academic and social-emotional growth.