District 70 to Expand Special Education Elementary Level in Fall

The success of a special education classroom created this year is making room for a similar classroom to serve older elementary students at this fall.  

will create a second instructional classroom next year to house up to ten students requiring special education, said Marilynn Menuey, the district’s Director of Special Education. 

The current program, completing its first year at the elementary level at Rockland School, and has been “highly successful,” Menuey said. 

By running the program, the district can hire and oversee teachers, provide Board approved curriculum and see first-hand the progress students are making, said Supt. Guy Schumacher. It also allows students to stay in the district instead of being transported outside the district to another school.

“This is what parents want,” School Board President Maryann Ovassapian said. “They want to stay in their home district.”

Three years ago, a similar program was created at to allow ten students in special education to remain in their home school and be integrated with their peers in selected academics, physical education and fine arts classes.

“The middle school program has been extremely successful and is working beautifully,” Menuey said. “We can now provide a broader continuum of services with expansion of the program on the elementary school level. The class at Rockland has been highly successful for first, second and third graders. As some of those students will be in fourth grade, we can continue their current level of service by expanding the program.

“Creating a similar classroom for fourth- and fifth-graders is a natural step in the program, allowing students to easily transition from the elementary level to the middle school level,” she added.

The Rockland classroom next year will  serve kindergarten through second grade.  

Currently, Special Education teams are considering several students who could move from the district’s Early Childhood program into the new kindergarten setting. The program is interrelated, serving children under a variety of categories that include developmental delays, learning disabilities, language and processing impairments.  All of their needs can be met by District 70 staff, rather than having to attend a special classroom outside of District 70 or receive piece-meal help within the district, she added.

Menuey expects to hire an additional teacher and to assign two of the District's paraeducators to the new classroom.

By educating the children locally, Menuey said it allows student to stay with their peers and neighbors, provides more focused instruction and allows the district to provide a curriculum that is designed to meet District goals.   It also saves the district money by not having to pay tuition and transportation when students are placed in specialized schools or classrooms outside of the district. However, the district fully expects to continue to keep a child’s needs as a top priority and when a child’s needs are beyond the scope of the district, they will continue to be placed in specialized schools that meet their needs.

“This could allow more of our students who need more focused instruction to stay at their home school and that’s always a plus,” Dr. Schumacher said. “Rather than pulling them out of class for individually focused sessions, they would remain in class and learn as a group, and still be with the other students for selected academics, art, music and physical education classes.”

Information provided by Libertyville Elementary School District 70.