Pictured above: Special Education Teacher Bailey King works with students on a numbers activity.
Twenty-eight students from the New Albany School District are already off to an excellent start for the upcoming school year. These students from the elementary, middle, and high schools are attending Extended School Year (ESY) at New Albany Elementary School this month.
According to Kelly Coltharp, Director of Special Services, ESY is offered each summer to students with various disabilities and is federally funded through grant monies. ESY meets four hours per day, three days a week during the month of June.
“Some children need and qualify for ESY services because they are at a critical point in instruction and they need to continue that instruction without interruption,” said Coltharp.
”It would be detrimental to these children’s educational progress to discontinue school instruction for the entire summer.” Coltharp also mentioned that some students attend ESY because they are unable to retain the skills they have learned over long holiday breaks from school.
Five certified special education teachers, four assistant teachers, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a behavior therapist, and four bus drivers are working with Coltharp to ensure that the individualized needs of each learner are met. Bus transportation and snacks are also provided for the students.
Special education teachers who are working with ESY students this summer are pleased that they can work with students on specific skills in much smaller groups than the regular school year allows them. Students are working on reading and math skills as well as socialization skills just to mention a few.
“I have a couple of students who will be going into kindergarten classrooms this fall,” said special education teacher Bailey King. “They are considered to be at a critical point in instruction and I am working to make sure they have the skills necessary to be successful when they start kindergarten in August.” King was working with these students on counting and spelling activities.”
Laura Reedy, a certified regular education teacher, is working as King’s assistant during the ESY term. Reedy said, “ESY is a wonderful opportunity for students to retain skills they have learned in the previous school year so that they can be ready to succeed in their classroom in the fall.”
Coltharp also added that the students are doing fun activities this summer such as going to the movie theater and having a cookout. “This allows the students to generalize the skills that they have learned at school in the community setting,” Coltharp said. “Our behavior therapist attends these activities with our students and works to correct behavioral problems immediately if they occur.”
“ESY gives teachers the opportunity to give more individualized attention in much smaller groups,” Coltharp stated. “ESY is just another way that the New Albany School District is working to ensure that the needs of all learners are met in the least restrictive environment.”
Pictured below: Laura Reedy helps a student use scissors and improve his cutting skills.
