Providing our kids with the proper attention
The Special Programs team provides resources, training, and support for all campuses that service students who are English Language Learners (ELL) and/or receive 504, Homebound, Dyslexia, or Special Education services. Additionally, we provide resources, training, and support for the Response to Intervention (RtI) process and for campuses that service students who receive a specialized remedial curriculum for additional academic support.
The Special Programs team’s mission is to train and support campuses in extending and improving learning opportunities for diverse learners and/or students with disabilities in accordance with state, federal, and local policies and procedures. As a result of these efforts, students are able to participate in a broader number of activities and achieve the highest of expectations.
Special Programs collaborates with district and campus staff and parents to develop and implement programs and activities that will meet the needs of all students and ensure that all students receiving special services are fully included in campuses’ instructional and extracurricular programs in accordance with least restrictive environment (LRE).
Click the button below to learn more about job opportunities we have across all of our IDEA campuses in Texas and Southern Louisiana. Campuses in Tampa Bay, Florida coming soon.
Students identified with special needs are serviced via their IEP (Individualized Education Plan). More specifically, IDEA Public Schools initiates a service delivery approach that offers intervention to all students who need extra help to reach grade level academic proficiency. Here are more details:
IDEA Public Schools will offer comparable support services for any child based on their need. In the case of a student who requires behavioral support, the comparable service will be provided through the child’s behavior intervention plan developed through the ARD process. The student’s ARD Committee will determine the student’s placement based on the Least Restrictive Environment.
A student’s 504 accommodation plan will be followed according to the child’s documented needs. If intervention is needed based on the criteria established by the district, the child will be placed in an intervention class. This includes services for dyslexia via our Direct Instruction Decoding program.
Although the self-contained classrooms are not at every IDEA campus, we have strategically placed these campuses in our regions so that if a student requires this setting, they are able to attend to a campus nearby to receive the support they need. The centralized locations allow IDEA to focus its resources towards helping students in these environments. Assignment to one of these classrooms will be made by the ARD Committee as appropriate and per IEP.
IDEA Public Schools will provide related services (ex. Speech, OT, PT, AI, VI) as noted in a child’s IEP through their employees or a contract company that is employed through the school district.
IDEA identifies students who are English Language Learners within 20 days of entry into our schools so that we can offer them the type of instructional supports that the Texas Education Agency recommends for students at different level of English language acquisition. We offer targeted language acquisition support programs such as Imagine Learning, Español to English, Direct Instruction for Spoken English, and Rosetta Stone for our students during their intervention blocks.
Click here to get the Transitioning guide
VP of Special Programs
Tricia.Lopez@ideapublicschools.org
Phone: 956-377-8056
Director of Special Program Compliance
Belinda.Garcia@ideapublicschools.org
Phone: 956-998-9688
Please reference this link for a Secondary Transition Guide prepared by the TEA: tea.texas.gov
This site also has useful transition assistance information: Transition in Texas
2115 W. PIKE BLVD
WESLACO, TX 78596
956-377-8000
FAX: 956-447-3796
2800 South IH 35, Suite 265
Austin, Texas 78704
512-822-4959
813 N. Kansas St.
Suite 100
El Paso, TX 79902
915-888-4600
7035 San Pedro Ave.
San Antonio, Texas 78216
210-239-4959
804 Main Street
Suite D
Baton Rouge, LA 70802
225-571-5910
5001 Nebraska Ave, Ste A
Tampa, FL 33603
(813) 467-3004
As required by Title IX, IDEA Public Schools does not (and is required not to) discriminate on the basis of sex in its educational programs or activities. This non-discrimination requirement applies to admission to and employment with IDEA Public Schools. Inquiries into issues related to Title IX may be referred to IDEA’s Title IX Coordinator(s) (identified below), to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights of the Department of Education, or both. IDEA’s Title IX Coordinator is: Martin Winchester, Chief Human Assets Officer, 2115 W. Pike Blvd., Weslaco, Texas 78596, (956) 377-8000, martin.winchester@ideapublicschools.org.
IDEA Public Schools National Board Members: Al Lopez – Chair, Collin Sewell – Vice Chair, Ed Rivera – Treasurer, Ryan Vaughan – Secretary, Michael Burke, Reba Cardenas McNair, David Earl, David Handley, Erich Holmsten, Saam Zarrabi, Xenia Garza.
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