We are parents in the Minneapolis School District writing to you today to with an early intervention success story.
Kindergarten
Screening identified our son, Jackson, as a student with a potential
social concern in 2009. He was three years old. We declined further
evaluation at that
time and enrolled him in a private preschool. We learned throughout
that first year of preschool that there were, indeed, some very real
concerns with Jackson so we started the wheels of evaluation moving with
Early Childhood Special Education. A diagnosis
of autism was the result of the detailed evaluation and Jackson was
placed at Judson Preschool under the wing of Minneapolis ECSE for his
second preschool year.
Jackson
is our eldest child and we did not know very much about autism. We
looked to the teachers and specialists working with our son to guide us
along the way. Our
family was enrolled continually in Early Childhood Family Education
since Jackson’s birth, which also supported and guided us on this
journey.
Occupational
therapy, speech therapy, social skills groups and special education
were all included in that pivotal year at Judson Preschool. These
services gently brought
Jackson along and he thrived in that environment. The partnership of
MPS and Judson Preschool gave Jackson the wings he needed to fly into
Kindergarten--prepared to learn, prepared to make friends, prepared to
grow.
Jackson
transitioned to the Citywide Autism Program and was placed at Lake
Nokomis Community School--Wenonah Campus for Kindergarten. His IEP was
expertly crafted to
include the exact services he needed to meet his goals. First grade at
Wenonah continued in much the same way and we were seeing progress with
Jackson at every step.
By
the time Jackson entered second grade, something had changed. He walked
into school and sat down at his desk--ready to learn--in a way that he
had not done previously.
He basically mainstreamed himself by just being in the main
classroom successfully. He spent less and less time with his Autism
Resource Team throughout second grade. The skills he had learned during
those early years were paying off and working.
At
his annual IEP review meeting today, everyone at the table--social
worker, Autism Resource teacher, classroom teacher, speech therapist,
occupational therapist, parents,
and Jackson himself--agreed that Jackson should be transitioned out of
the autism program when he enters third grade at Lake Nokomis Community
School--Keeywadin Campus next year. He still has a couple of goals
remaining on his IEP and he will continue to receive
services and support from the Special Education Resource Team at
Keewaydin, but he just does not seem to "fit" the Citywide Autism
Program anymore.
The
reasons that Jackson doesn’t fit in the Citywide Autism Program
anymore? Growth. Development. Hard work. Learning. And the amazing list
of people below (omitted from this blog post) who worked
so diligently to not let our child slip through the cracks and risk
being considered a behavior problem.
Jackson
scored very high on the recent second grade testing, qualifying him for
Advanced Learner Services. He has been a GEMS/GISE participant through
ALC at Wenonah
throughout this school year. He has been accepted to the STEM Academy
to continue GEMS/GISE at Augsburg this summer. Great things are ahead
for our son! And we believe firmly that it is the direct result of the
great support he has received from educators
who believed in him and who know their jobs well.
We
are sharing this with you today because we know that you believe in our
kids too. And we know that you receive a lot of complaints about how
things are going in our
school district. Let this letter serve as an example of how Minneapolis is doing things right.
Our son is an early intervention success story. ECFE and ECSE scooped
him up and helped him get to elementary school in a way that made sure
he did not miss
out on crucial early lessons but that also preserved his unique
abilities so he could shine. We are grateful to Minneapolis Public
Schools for investing in him--and our family--from the very beginning.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Catherine & Dan
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