RVISD Special Education

Philosophy & Beliefs

Philosophy

• In the Rio Vista School District every effort is made to provide students with a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in their home school
• Instructional strategies, curriculum adaptations, and behavioral interventions are applied in the Least Restrictive Environment
• The LRE can range from regular classroom placement with consultation services provided to the student and/or teacher to full time support within a special education classroom or a special school.
• Rio Vista teachers promote the concept of inclusion by applying one of three best practices:  in-class support, co-teaching, and consultation with classroom teachers.
• The IEP team decides which practice will best meet the needs of the student.

Beliefs

• All students have specific needs, characteristics and learning styles.
• All school staff and community members are responsible for meeting individual needs of students
• All students can learn
• Meeting the needs of individual students does not lower program standards
• Adaptation of the curriculum enables students to succeed and does not diminish their achievement
• Positive self-esteem is an essential component of student success
• Success influences self-esteem and encourages high achievement
• Modeling of effective teamwork by school staff enables children to develop cooperative social skills 
• Social development and opportunities in an educational setting prepare students for participation in society
• Expectations based upon ongoing assessments foster student growth
• Ongoing assessment of all students results in a needs-driven educational system

Transition/VAC Coordinator Designee

Teri Best tbest@jcssa.org 817.866.3950

Resources

• Texas Education Agency: Special Education Homepage
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Manual
• IDEA Fact Sheet               IDEA Fact Sheet (Spanish)
• Texas Project FIRST         Texas Project FIRST (en español)

Supplemental Special Education Services (SSES) program.  This program is specifically designed to support students K-12 who are identified with a significant cognitive disability.  

• (SSES) program

​​​​​​​Created by Parents, for Parents: This web site is a project of the Texas Education Agency and is committed to providing accurate and consistent information to parents & families of students with disabilities.Texas Parent to Parent provides support, information, and education to families of children of all ages who have disabilities or chronic illness.

• Texas Parent to Parent
• Texas Parent to Parent (en español)

Understood.org’s goal is to help the millions of parents whose children, ages 3–20, are struggling with learning and attention issues.

• Understood       Understood ( en español)

For more resources visit: https://www.esc11.net/domain/1372