Special Education Newsletter
Mankato Area Public Schools - September 2017
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SPECIAL EDUCATION - ISD 77
PrairieCare Medical Group is a new psychiatric facility in Mankato for school aged kids (5-18) that are having trouble functioning with behavioral or psychiatric issues. To start, the program will open for secondary age students and in the Spring, elementary age will be added.
This program is a middle point between an inpatient psychiatric unit and regular outpatient therapy. It is set up similarly to a school day, where kids come into the program (located in Mankato in the Union School building at 201 North Broad Street), receive 3 hours of therapeutic programming, as well as 3 hours of schooling, and then they return home at the end of the day. It will be Monday through Friday (year round) and the average length of stay is 4-6 weeks in the program.
Other services include weekly family therapy sessions, as well as parent groups. Individual therapy and medication management are other key features of the program. There is a 6 week course curriculum of educational topics ranging from accountability, anger, social skills, resiliency, etc… as well as the student’s individualized treatment plan. Because this program lies within the boundaries of Mankato Area Public Schools, our district will have a teacher, Derek Fennern, on sight to provide the educational component to each of the students enrolled in Prairie Care. Our school social workers will be the main point of contact in our schools for those students attending Prairie Care to ensure a successful transition to and from Prairie Care.
Career lab courses are up and running for the 17-18 school year! Our Career Lab course is a simulated work environment in which students can get hands on experience in five career areas.
These areas include:
- Business/Marketing
- Consumer Services
- Computer Technology
- Construction/Industrial
- Processing/Production
Within this course, students are able to find their interest levels for specific job tasks as well as their individual strengths. In addition, students learn soft skills such as problem solving, responsibility, following procedures, following directions and getting along with others.
DID YOU KNOW?
S/LI - Speech/Language Impairment
DCD - MM - Developmental Cognitive Disabilities: Mild-Moderate
DCD - SP - Developmental Cognitive Disabilities: Severe-Profound
PI - Physically Impaired
D/HH - Deaf/Hard of Hearing
B/VI - Blind/Visually Impaired
SLD - Specific Learning Disabilities
EBD - Emotional or Behavioral Disorders
D/B - Deaf-Blind
OHD - Other Health Disabilities
ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorders
DD - Developmentally Delayed
TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury
SMI - Severely Multiply Impaired
Special Education Federal Settings (Click link for more information)
Federal Setting 1 - Teacher or speech therapist delivers special education services primarily within the regular class. (Outside of the regular classroom for less than 21 percent of the school day.)
Federal Setting 2 - Teacher or speech therapist delivers special education services primarily within a resource setting. (Outside of the regular classroom (typically a resource room) between 21 – 60 percent of the school day.)
Federal Setting 3 - Teacher or speech therapist delivers special education services primarily within a special class. (Separate classroom more than 60 percent of the school day.)
Federal Setting 4 - Teacher or speech therapist delivers special education services in a public separate-day school facility. (Public separate day school facility greater than 50 percent of the school day.)
SPOTLIGHT ON STAFF
Molly is the social worker for West High School and Hoover Elementary. She also serves as our lead social worker for the district. She has 20+ years serving students and their families, 14 of those years for Mankato Area Public Schools. Molly has been a strong advocate for mental health. She co-authored “Tools for Anxious Youth” curriculum and presented the curriculum at several conferences. Each and every day, Molly continues to advocate for her students and families. As others have stated, she is the “vital link” between school, families, and the community. We are grateful for all of Molly’s efforts in serving our students and families.
The Mankato Public School district employees 8 full time social workers to serve our students and families. Our social workers provide social work services to students with emphasis on those students receiving Special Education services who require related services. They provide service by meeting with students, families and school staff to address specific needs. These specific needs may include addressing social skills, as well as behavioral or emotional needs. In addition, our school social workers participate in the delivery of Special Education services and maintain effective communication with County Social Services to coordinate programming for students.
PACER CENTER INFORMATION
Visit the PACER Website or contact PACER for more information:
PACER Center - Champions for Students with Disabilities
Resource to learn more about Individual Education Plan development:
A Guide for Minnesota Parents to the Individualized Education Program (IEP)