SPECIAL EDUCATION
Special Education services are provided at
schools in Silver Valley Unified School District . They house five Special Day
Classes (SDC) and seven Resource Specialist Programs (RSP). Speech services are
also provided at each school.
Parents of children with special needs who
are moving to the area are encouraged to contact Valerie Thatcher, Director of
Curriculum and Instruction, or Glenn Low, District Psychologist, at the District
Office (760)254-2916 to discuss the location of services available to meet the
needs of their children. The office is also open during the summer
from 0700 to 1530, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays).
SDC is a
self-contained classroom in which students who require special education
instruction for more than 50% of the school day are enrolled. Silver Valley s
SDC programs are designed to mainstream students into regular education programs
whenever appropriate. SDC classrooms are located at Lewis Elementary, Fort Irwin
Middle School, and Silver Valley High School. Severely or profoundly
handicapped children are served through county programs located in
Barstow.
RSP is a program for students receiving special education
instruction for less than 50% of the school day. These students are
usually pulled out of the regular education classroom for
special assistance during specific periods of the day or week and are taught by
credentialed resource specialists. RSP programs are provided at Lewis
Elementary, Fort Irwin Middle School, and Silver Valley High School.
SED
students are students who are experiencing severe behavioral problems which
prevent them from learning and getting along with others. The needs of these
students can sometimes be met within the district s SDC program or in a county
program designed specifically for students with severe behavioral problems. In
Silver Valley, SED students are served through the Success
program.
Speech Therapy helps children learn to speak and use language.
Speech students are pulled out of the regular education classroom for special
assistance during specific periods of the day or week and are taught by a speech
and language therapist or speech pathologist. Silver Valley has two speech
therapists serving our students from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
Depending on the severity of their needs, preschool children are served through
county programs in Barstow or Fort Irwin.