Making Phase One Work At the Elementary Level
by Yuridia Peña
Phase One of the special education initiative is underway at 265 schools in 10 networks. Principals tell CSA that they support the philosophy of the initiative but some feel the rollout has been uneven.
CSA, working with the Department of Education, has reported on the initiative at PS 304, Bronx and the Academy for Careers in Television and Film in Long Island City. In April, CSA’s Yuridia Peña visited the
Performance School in the Bronx. Her report is below.
On a recent Tuesday, a seven-year-old boy’s jarring cries pierced the first floor hallway of the Performance School as visitors arrived to meet with Principal Lourdes Estrella. She quickly greeted her guests and then returned to the crisis at hand, making sure that her staff members were taking care of the child and calling for an ambulance. Ms. Estrella explained that the child, who is in foster care, had just returned from a hospital where he had been diagnosed with two types of psychiatric disorders, ADHD and ODD.
The visitors from DOE and CSA were there to discuss Phase One of the Special Education Initiative with Ms. Estrella whose school is among the 265 schools piloting the program. Ms. Estrella was appointed Executive Principal in February of 2009. (Executive Principals are appointed to turn around high-needs schools.) One of the first things she did upon her arrival, after she learned that 220 “incidents” had occurred since the fall, was to gather the fourth- and fifth-grade students in the auditorium to meet their new Principal.
The event was really bad, she said; students told her to get out of their school. As the year progressed, the hostility continued. Frustrated parents greeted her with screams and demands. But she was not discouraged. A seasoned educator, she had turned around a failing school once before and was determined to do it again.
Surrounded by thriving schools, the Performance School shares a building with Bronx Global Learning Institute for Girls Charter School. One block away sits the $235 million dollar Mott Haven School Campus. And the private Cardinal Hays High School is located just around the corner. Her school “was a dumping ground,” said Ms. Estrella. She quickly learned that her elementary school was inundated with children (mostly boys) with severe behavioral problems, physical disabilities and mental challenges. The scene that greeted her visitors this past April were, unfortunately, all too common.
Although the school is designed for general education students, the school building is a barrier-free site – no impediments exist to a child with limited mobility – and therefore is open to all students who need such a facility.
Students with IEPs were often placed with students whose issues were only physical, which created its own set of problems. For example, when an emotionally disturbed child had a crisis next to a student in a wheelchair or with breathing tubes, chaos erupted in the classroom.
“Our special education program needed attention…this (Phase One) was a good starting point,” said speech teacher Cynthia Melendez with candor.
At the Performance School, administrators and teachers work collaboratively making placement decisions for special needs students. They design classes that integrate special education and general education children. Some special education students are placed in regular classes only in those areas in which they are strong. Others are mainstreamed full time. All continue to receive intervention services.
“When we first made the commitment [to participate in Phase One,] I told the cabinet that this can be a tool for us to design,” said Ms. Estrella. Phase One helps in the evaluation and support of high-needs students on an individual basis.
Ms. Estrella believed that Phase One offered the high-needs population exposure to mainstream students and general education classes. “We needed to desensitize the staff and regular ed children to work with children with disabilities,” said Ms. Estrella.
Stamatia Apos, a part-time school psychologist, was relieved about the school’s venture because the old system, in her opinion, pigeon-holed students. “These are our babies, our children (and we’ll) do whatever we can to make them succeed,” she said.
At first, parents expressed apprehension but also welcomed the attempt to remedy an ongoing problem. “Finally, parents were able to see stability, and a Principal and staff members who really cared,” said Ms. Melendez.
According to Deputy Chancellor Laura Rodriguez, who was among the visitors, one of the overall goals of the program is for special education to become an additional service for mainstream students as well. That means addressing every student’s weakness before it becomes a major problem. She believes that changing the culture is the greatest challenge schools face.
But, at the Performance School change is occurring and some students have adopted the language. Assistant Principal Scott Elson said he knew this to be true when a fourth grader recently asked him: “ ‘Yo, Mr. E! When are you going to mainstream me?’ ”
