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District

Continuum of Services

Harvard Public Schools 

 

Continuum of Services 

 

The Harvard Public Schools maintains a continuum of services designed to meet the range of needs for children ages 3 to 22 with identified special education services.  These services range from fully inclusive in-district programs to out-of-district residential educational settings.  


 

HILDRETH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (Grades PreK-5)

 

Integrated Preschool Program:

  • Hildreth Elementary School houses an integrated preschool program. Our classes are designed to serve children between the ages of three and five who require special education programming. We include typically-developing peers to join our program to provide an inclusive model of support.  Instruction is delivered in a developmentally-appropriate manner and focuses on a variety of skill areas including: language, phonemic and phonological awareness, early literacy, gross motor, fine motor, math, and social and play skills. The curricula are aligned with the Massachusetts Frameworks for Preschool, which focus on readiness skills for Kindergarten.  

 

Substantially-Separate Preschool Programming:

  • Preschool-aged students who have intensive needs may access a portion of their day through substantially-separate programming.  Students with this profile are assigned an integrated classroom and are pulled out as necessary to address their disability-related needs.  This type of programming typically includes discrete-trial training and other small-group or individual services to meet the needs of students. 

 

Itinerant Services for ages 3-5: 

  • “Walk in” related services are provided for preschool-aged students who do not require a full preschool program.  This includes services for speech and language, occupational therapy, physical therapy and/or social skills.  

 

SAIL Program: 

  • The SAIL Program at Hildreth Elementary School provides services for students with Autism and related disabilities.  Student cognitive and academic functioning varies.  Often, students have below average to low average cognitive and academic skills.  Some students are cognitively impaired. Others have average cognitive skills but require significant programming to meet their disability-related needs. All students require ABA methodology.  
  • Entrance Criteria- Students are recommended for SAIL when they have an appropriate profile (as indicated above)  and a Team determines that SAIL is the least restrictive environment within which the student can make progress.  Students have either not been successful in a less restrictive or have demonstrated significant progress in a more restrictive environment.   
  • Exit Criteria- Students exit SAIL when data indicates that the student requires a less or more restrictive setting or when a student ages out. 


 

Push in services:

  • Whenever possible, services are provided within the general education setting.  Academic, social/emotional, communication, occupational therapy and other areas of service needs are provided through special education teachers and related service providers within general education classrooms or other general education environments. 

 

Pull-out services:

  • When the student’s educational needs cannot be met in the general education setting, with or without the use of supplementary aids and services,  students at the elementary levels may also receive services in a pull out model.  This includes services to address academic, social/emotional, communication or other related service needs.  

 

Co-taught services: 

  • Services in grades 4 and 5 are provided through a co-taught model of support where a special education teacher and a general education teacher co-plan and co-deliver instruction as outlined in students’ IEPs.  
  • Designated co-taught classrooms at the elementary grades, provide co-taught instruction in all four subject areas (literacy, math, science and social studies).  In addition, co-teachers collaborate regularly to incorporate specialized instructional practices, including opportunities for modified content, into the general curriculum.  

 

THE BROMFIELD MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOLS (Grades 6-12)

 

Co-taught services: 

  • Services in grades 6 through 12 are provided through a co-taught model of support where a special education teacher and a general education teacher co-plan and co-deliver instruction as outlined in students’ IEPs.   
  • At The Bromfield Middle School, co-taught instruction is provided in English and Math classes in grades 6, 7 and 8.  
  • At The Bromfield High School, co-taught instruction is provided in grades 9 and 10 English, Geometry, Algebra II, Physics and Biology.  
  • Other classes are dedicated as co-taught as needed based on individual student needs 


 

Skills Labs:

  • Specialized instruction provided in a resource room format.  The frequency of these services typically ranges from 1x to 5x/7-day cycle and are most often 55 minutes in length.  
  • Skills labs typically provide academic skill instruction in discrete skills (ex. reading, written expression, mathematics) and/or executive functioning strategies.  
  • At times, related services (speech, OT, counseling) push into skills labs to support generalization of skills. 

 

Life Skills Program: 

  • The Life Skills Program in grades 6 through 12 is designed to support the needs of students who have complex medical and neurological profiles.  Services within the life skills program include functional academics, activities of daily living, pre-vocational and vocational skills and social skills.  The program is staffed with a special educator, related service providers (OT, Speech, PT, Counselor), nursing staff and paraprofessionals. The program incorporates inclusive opportunities to the greatest extent possible.  Students in the Life Skills Program are included in general education classes as determined appropriate. 

 

Transition Services: 

  • Transition services are provided on an individual basis.  These services are provided through the model that best supports students’ needs.  This can include internships, work placements, vocational opportunities or direct instruction in transition-related skills.


 

DISTRICT WIDE: 

 

Behavioral Supports: 

  • Harvard employs Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) who oversee behavior programming in grades PreK to 12.  Behavior supports are typically provided through a consultation model or by offering trained paraprofessionals who facilitate delivery of services.  Harvard also maintains a crisis team who are trained in de-escalation strategies and trauma-informed practices.  

 

Social/Emotional Supports and Services:

  • Social/Emotional skills are provided through a variety of professionals as determined most appropriate to address the individual needs of students.  This can include social pragmatics groups provided by speech/language pathologists and counseling services provided by a school adjustment counselor or psychologist.  Paraprofessionals are often used to support generalization of skills to other settings.   

 

SOAR Program (Grades K-12): 

  • The SOAR Program is a special education program designed to support the needs of students with identified Emotional Disabilities and/or related disabilities that affect emotion regulation and are deemed to require the comprehensive nature of a program. SOAR  integrates both academic and social/emotional support to meet the unique needs of students with social/emotional and behavioral challenges. While SOAR primarily provides services through a full inclusion model, the program has the flexibility to offer a full continuum of services to meet the needs of the students it serves.  SOAR maintains a multi-disciplinary team to comprehensively and proactively provide support and offer skill development to students. 

 

Specialized Reading Services: 

  • Specialized reading services are provided for students with Specific Learning Disabilities or other disabilities impacting decoding, encoding, reading fluency or reading comprehension.  Services are provided by trained/certified practitioners using systematic, evidence-based reading interventions.  

 

Related Services: 

District-Employed Service Providers-  

Board Certified Behavior Analysts

Counselors

Occupational Therapists

Paraprofessionals

School Psychologists 

Speech and Language Pathologists

Nurses 

Contracted Services-  

Alternative and Augmentative Communication (CASE Collaborative’s CETT Team)

Assistive Technology (CASE Collaborative’s CETT Team)

Audiological Services (The Learning Center for the Deaf)

Physical therapy (Mighty Milestones Physical Therapy)

Specialized Board Certified Behavior Analysts (New England Center for Children) 

Specialized Speech and Language for Children who are Deaf and/or Hard of Hearing (The Learning Center for the Deaf)

Teacher of the Deaf (The Learning Center for the Deaf)

Teacher of the Visually Impaired (Perkins School for the Blind) 

Orientation and Mobility Specialist (Perkins School for the Blind) 

 

OUT OF DISTRICT PROGRAMMING: 

 

Though the Harvard Public Schools is committed to providing services within the district whenever possible, there are times that the least restrictive environment for a student may be an out-of-district placement. There is a wide range of out-of-district programs that are available to students who cannot be accommodated within district programs.  Each program is individually selected in order to ensure that the individual student is in the least restrictive environment that is most appropriate to meet their specific needs.  Placement is contingent upon space, availability, and acceptance of the student by the receiving program.  Every effort is made to place a child with less than an hour commute, with Harvard Public Schools providing transportation.  Placements are reviewed on a regular and ongoing basis to assess whether students’ needs are being met, if progress is being made, and if the student is capable of functioning in a less restrictive setting, in or out of the district. 

 

At times, given its size, Harvard has collaborated with other districts to offer in-district programming by “tuitioning in” students to specialized programming in another district.   

 

Harvard contracts with a variety of private and publicly-approved day programs to meet the needs of individual students.  This includes Collaborative programs and private day schools. 

 

At times, a student’s needs are so intense that they require a residential program.  A residential program is provided when a student requires 24/7 services to meet their disability-related needs.  At times, residential placements are cost-shared with DCF, DDS or other state agencies.  

 

For students who are placed by other agencies in institutional settings, special education in institutional settings is provided.  While the placements themselves are not considered educational placements, Teams collaborate to determine what services can be provided by the institution and what services the District supplements through contracted services or district staff.