Special Education programs are provided for children 3-21 years
of age by the Camden County School System. Services are available for
the speech and language impaired, learning disabled, deaf, blind,
emotionally/behaviorally disordered, severely emotionally disturbed,
intellectually disabled (mild, moderate, severe and profound), visually
impaired, hearing impaired, orthopedically impaired, autistic, traumatic brain
injured, other health impaired, preschool special education and
hospital/homebound students. Special programs and related services
for the disabled are provided at no cost to the parents. The "gifted student" is
one who demonstrates a high degree of intellectual ability and who needs special
instruction and/or special ancillary services in order to achieve at levels
commensurate with his/her intellectual ability. To be eligible for the "gifted"
program, the below summarizes the Georgia Eligibility Criteria for Gifted
Education Program (the intellectually gifted students in Georgia's public
school.) For Grade Levels K-2 - 99th percentile (Mental Ability Test Score); N/A
(Achievement Test Score). For Grade Levels 3-12 - 99th percentile
(Mental Ability Test Score); 85th percentile composite; 90th percentile total
reading, including reading comprehension or total math (Achievement Test
Score). For Grade Level K-12 - 99th percentile (Mental Ability Test
Score); N/A (Achievement Test Score.) In accordance with the
regulations, programs for the intellectually gifted are provided for those
students able to perform at or above designated levels on indicators such as
standardized intelligence and achievement tests. As described above,
students must achieve at least the 85th percentile or above composite score or
90th percentile or above on total reading or math on achievement
tests. The mental ability test minimum criterion is the 96th
percentile. Reliance on test data is necessary to assure that gifted
program eligibility criteria are uniform statewide and that eligibility for the
gifted program is reciprocal among local education agencies (LEAs). Referrals
are usually made by classroom teachers; however, any responsible person who has
knowledge of a student's intellectual functioning may make a referral.
Elementary gifted students attend gifted classes one day a week. Students
attending Crooked River Elementary, Mary Lee Clark Elementary, and St. Marys
Elementary will attend gifted classes at St. Marys
Elementary. Students attending Woodbine Elementary, Matilda Harris
Elementary, Kingsland Elementary, and David L. Rainer Elementary will attend
gifted classes at Matilda Harris Elementary. Transportation is
provided by the school system. Middle and High School students attend class
daily within their respective schools. Title I Program is a federally funded
program which is designed to meet the identified needs of the educationally
deprived children in eligible Title I schools. After a school is
designated as a Title I school, any child who is educationally deprived and is
attending that school is eligible to participate in the Title I activities. Each
local school system has the option to design its own Title I program which best
meets the identified needs of their students. Camden County's Title I program
addresses identified student needs in the areas of reading/language arts and
mathematics, at specified grade levels. The Title I program supplements state
and local funds by providing supplementary programs in addition to district
programs. The activities in Camden County are provided in
reading/language arts and mathematics. The activities are designed to
provide continuous, comprehensive services throughout the school day of the
students. The goal of each activity is to provide experiences to help
the child overcome deficiencies in basic learning skills. The reading and math
components are designed to provide the necessary skills in these
areas. In addition to the teacher, a variety of supplementary
materials and specific models of instruction are used in order to meet the
individual needs of each student. Several learning centers, materials centers,
education games centers, and independent study centers are set up and used by
the students and teachers in the typical Title I Program setting.