Pine Ridge Secondary School Community News and Information

Welcome to the SPECIAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Department Head: Mrs. A. Cruess

The Special Education Department at Pine Ridge Secondary School serves over 300 formally identified students with special needs. The number of identified students accounts for approximately 16% of Pine Ridge's student population. Students are in five types of placement: withdrawal assistance to the Academic Resource room; indirect support on a teacher consultative basis with the Academic Resource teachers; partial integration through our three regional Multiple Exceptionalities programs; and full time in a Special Education class through our Practical Learning Program.

The Academic Resource room is available full time to student who need clarification, assistance with work completion, use of a computer, an alternate learning environment or extra time to complete tests or assignments. During provincial testing (EQAO) for numeracy (in grade nine) and literacy (in grade ten), Academic Resource provides accommodations such as a small setting, up to double time, use of a scribe and/or CD ROM versions of reading passages.

The Multiple Exceptionalities program offers a small class placement for students to develop social skills, life skills and academics. Students in the Multiple Exceptionalities program have more than one exceptionality whether it be a combination of behavior and a learning disability; physical and behavior; autism and behavior, or mild intellectual disability and behavior. Two of our three Multiple Exceptionalities classes are earning credits towards their Ontario Secondary School Diploma, whereas students in our Multiple Exceptionalities- Life Skills class are working towards either a Certificate of Accomplishment or Education through K-level courses. The Multiple Exceptionalities- Life Skills class focuses literacy, numeracy, the development of independent living skills and employability skills. Students in the Multiple Exceptionalities- Life Skills class do a variety of work experience placements in the community and have participated in the therapeutic riding program through Windreach Farms.

The Practical Learning Program(PLP) provides a small class placement focusing on meeting the individual needs of students through a blend of work experience, integration, partial credits, and K-level courses. In addition, the program has a focus on functional literacy and numeracy. Once a week, the PLP students go to the Education Centre for work placements.

The Special Education Department currently serves students with physical, hearing impairments, learning disabilities, giftedness, behavior, autism, language impairment, developmentally delayed, mild intellectual and multiple exceptionalities. The majority of Pine Ridge's students with special needs are identified as having a Communication-Learning Disability exceptionality.

The Special Education Department staff is comprised of 2.5 full time equivalent Academic Resource teachers, 3.3 Multiple Exceptionalities teachers, 1.3 Practical Learning Program teachers, and 16.5 Educational Assistants. Educational Assistants support either clusters of identified students in a given class, the Learning Strategies program or in some cases, with individual students. Educational Assistants work with classroom teachers to accommodate and/or modify curriculum for students. Educational Assistants also provide scribing support, social skills, note taking and behavior management strategies to students.

The Special Education Department works with a variety of community agencies such as Community Care Access ( occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech and language pathologists), Grandview Treatment Centre, Bloorview MacMillan Centre (includes medical professionals and rehabilitation therapists), Children's Aid Society (CAS) and to school board personnel (social workers, psychological services, hearing resource, vision resource, speech and language pathologists, and Special Education facilitators).

Special Education is a team approach at Pine Ridge. The team includes parents, students, Special Education teachers, Academic Resource teachers; classroom teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, cooperative education teachers, educational assistants, board personal and outside agencies. Special Education permeates through all levels of curriculum at Pine Ridge from enrichment courses for our gifted students to K-level courses for our non-credit bound students. In other words, Special Education is school-wide.