My goal in writing my articles for the Earlywood Special Edition this year is  to inform our readers of our vision as an organization. I’m defining our practice and articulating how it connects with evidence and the law in order to illustrate the big picture our our work.

In the past few articles, I’ve written about our evolving endeavors with a multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) model. Having fluid options of resources and supports available to students and staff are essential to providing students a continuum of services in their least restrictive environment. Article 7 defines the least restrictive environment as educating students with disabilities, to the maximum extent appropriate, with students without disabilities. This is made possible through a continuum of service options. The service options can be viewed as tools in a toolbox and function to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities. It is critical to note that students’ services are to be provided in conjunction with general education (7-42-10a1 &4).

Earlywood has a shared responsibility with our member districts to provide the services and supports to students and the school teams. One way that we share in the provision of the continuum of services is through our New Connections program. Information about the link between the supports for students in their home school environment and New Connections is detailed in the Continuum of Support & Service document on our website.