Student Services
The School of St. Mary is committed to providing an inclusive educational setting for our children to the extent possible with the resources available. We are dedicated to serve students with diverse learning needs in a Catholic community of learners. Our department is comprised of a Student Services Coordinator, a full time Resource Teacher at the Primary Grade Center and one at the Upper Grade Center.
Our school administrators, general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals, along with the parents of each of our students, form a partnership to develop a supportive team for students with special needs. Our mission is to maximize positive student growth in academics, emotional development, and Christian values. Together we develop plans to appropriately program for student success. The School of St. Mary is determined to educate and inform parents about the resources available including access to federal, state and local "Child Find" procedures.
Student Services is first and foremost dedicated to support students who have already been identified with Learning Disabilities or other special education eligibilities and have an IEP (Individual Education Plan). It also creates Individual Catholic Education Plans for students with health concerns who need accommodations in the school setting.
The Student Services Department is based on the RTI model (Response to Intervention), which is used to identify students who have not been formally receiving special education services. This model is currently being implemented in the public schools as best practice in education. This data-driven model includes a screening and referral process in which we identify, monitor, and assess student needs and progress to provide interventions and support where needed. The AIMSWeb benchmark reading tests are administered in the fall, winter, and spring. These assessments indicate whether students are reading at their grade level, if they are improving each year, and if they are making the expected reading gains.
Based on the results, teacher recommendations, or parent concerns, students can be referred to Student Services to receive interventions and accommodations. Interventions are provided to students who need extra support with reading as well as enrichment for those students who need to be challenged. These students are then placed in groups based on their instructional needs. All aspects of reading, including phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension are the areas of focus. Progress monitoring of students in reading interventions is done between the benchmark assessment dates.
Student Services gives early interventions in reading and writing to the primary age students who need extra support outside of the classroom. Interventions continue to be given and data is collected to determine if there is the possibility of a learning disability, or if there are other factors that are contributing to the students’ academic struggles. A case study evaluation may be recommended if a child is not responding to interventions. A District 67 (Lake Forest) psychologist would do the case study for any St. Mary’s student.
The curriculum used for interventions is very structured and research based with a systematic and explicit approach. The following programs are currently being used with students: Wilson Fundations, Wilson Reading System, Read Naturally, Rewards, and SRA Corrective Reading. These programs are used with students based on their level and area of need for instruction. Along with these researched-based programs, teachers supplement material through leveled books, listening centers, and computer software such as Lexia Phonics and Earobics.
Collaboration with the classroom teachers is an ongoing process to ensure that the needs of all students are being met. The Resource Room teachers support students in both the general education classroom as a push-in model or a pull- out model in the Resource Room to provide them with the extra attention, accommodations and modifications that are necessary. The staff of the School of St. Mary continues to attend professional development workshops in order to refine their skills to meet the needs of both the struggling and the accelerated student. Classroom-level strategies include differentiated instruction, cooperative learning, and specific interventions. Collaboration and communication with teachers and parents are key to supporting our goal to try to meet the needs of our students.