Students at Waterford-Halfmoon UFSD have access to various programs and services as set forth by Part 200 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education of the State of New York. These include the following:

ACCOMMODATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS
These services include such changes to the general education curriculum as preferential seating, the use of a teacher’s aide to help the student with focus, breaking down the material into smaller ‘chunks’ for those students who get overwhelmed and may shut down, use of graphic organizers, study guides, etc.

RELATED SERVICES
Related services are designed for those students who can only benefit from the instruction in general education with services such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, speech/language therapy, audiology, nursing services, assistive technology, or others. Services are provided to assist the student in acquiring access to educational opportunities that otherwise would be more difficult or impossible. While most of these services are provided by Waterford-Halfmoon professionals, a few lower-incidence services are contracted out with BOCES itinerant providers.

CONSULTANT TEACHER SERVICES
These specially designed services are provided by licensed special education teachers in the general education classroom (direct) to enable the recipients to succeed in that setting with their non-disabled peers. Services to general education teachers (indirect) to help them accommodate students with disabilities are also part of this model.

CO-TEACHING
Co-teaching consists of a general education teacher and a special education teacher planning the curriculum together for all students. It can take several forms, but most importantly, both teachers are responsible for classroom planning, curriculum delivery, grading, etc.

RESOURCE ROOM
Resource room services are provided to students who require supplemental instruction. Often, the special education resource teacher will pre-teach and re-teach content material, help prepare students for tests, enable students to develop better organizational skills, and provide emotional support for students as they gain confidence.

SPECIAL CLASS
At times, due to one’s disability, a program of specialized instruction in a small group, in a self-contained setting, is necessary to promote a student’s acquisition of knowledge and skills. Often, children who benefit from this type of instruction cannot function at an academic level similar enough to the general education population to make education in the regular classroom effective. Their participation in self-contained programming provides a higher degree of specialization in certain areas of their curriculum while allowing them to interact with their non-disabled peers for activities such as homeroom, specials, lunch, and other academic subjects where the differences are not as significant. Special class placements must respect a similarity of needs based on the students’ IEPs. The special class programs within the district are distributed throughout the elementary and junior high schools.

SPECIAL CLASS/BOCES
When the services at the home school have been deemed inappropriate to address the student’s educational needs, the CSE recommends placement in a BOCES special class. Many of these placements occur in component school districts or specific settings that include a wider range of supports; every effort is made to minimize the student’s travel time. While we try to employ the services of the WSWHE BOCES, at times, we cross-contract with Capital Region BOCES due to distance or lack of availability of appropriate placements. These classes are organized according to specific ratios of students to adults depending on the level of the student’s needs. Many of the 12:1:1 classes offer enhanced basic skill acquisition to those students with mild to moderate cognitive impairments, while programs with an 8:1:2 ratio may be designed for students with more intense emotional needs. Classes with 12 students, one teacher, and four aides/assistants address the needs of more severely disabled students with more significant physical and/or management needs. In each case, the CSE recommends the program best suited to the individual student’s needs.

PRIVATE SCHOOL
For some students, the level of specialized instruction available in a BOCES program is not enough to meet their individual needs, so placement is sought in an approved private placement. Again, the goal is to return the student to a less restrictive level of programming if that becomes possible.

RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL
In rare instances, it is not in the student’s best interests to remain in the home; residential placement is necessary for educational reasons.

HOME/HOSPITAL INSTRUCTION
Home instruction is provided to students who may be confined to the home or hospital due to a disability. The student’s medical needs must be considered when providing this service. Temporary home instruction is sometimes necessary for students awaiting placement in a more restrictive setting. It is provided five hours per week for elementary students and ten hours per week for secondary students.

DECLASSIFICATION SUPPORT SERVICES
These services are designed to support students who no longer qualify for special education services in their transition to a full-time general education program. The services are available to the student for up to a year after they are declassified.