There are two certain facts about children with special needs: they are all children, and they all have special needs. First because children with special needs are children, they have needs shared by all children. These include physical needs for shelter, rest, and nourishment and psychological needs to be nurtured, safe, and accepted. Second, children with disabilities have needs that are not shared by other children.

Your child is entitled to full participation in all procedures and activities that are provided through your local school. The Special Services program is designed to provide support to your local school for meeting the additional needs that your child has.

Each school publishes a parent handbook on an annual basis. The directory of staff, procedures for attendance, the school calendar, discipline, district health policies, information on the lunch program etc. can all be found in your school handbook. Any needs that your child has that require attention above and beyond the local school policies will be facilitated by special education.

Questions or concerns that you may have about the day to day school activities should follow this chain of command:

• Your child's regular education teacher
• Your child's special education teacher
• The school principal
• The Special Education Consulting Teacher
• The Special Education Supervisor
• The Special Education Director

REMEMBER:
The Joint School District #2 believes that it is a shared responsibility between  parent and school to guide, nurture, and to be responsive to the needs of each child. Your child's local school is primarily responsible for meeting your child's needs that are the same as all children. Special education will support the local school in meeting any additional needs.