Special Education at HHS

At Hartford High School, special education services are provided in a variety of ways.  The service delivery model for most students will look differently than how they were delivered in elementary school, and may be different than how they were delivered in the middle school setting.  Although services are determined by IEP (Individualized Education Program) teams based on individual student need, services are typically delivered in the following ways.

Regular Education Classes
Special educators support and provide direct instruction within the regular education class ( push-in)

Resource Room - Pull out services for direct instruction in a basic skill area

• Special educators provide direct instruction based on the student’s needs outlined in their IEP. They also pre-teach and re-teach concepts that are taught in the regular education class
• Students can earn an elective credits through Strategic Skills, which is the specialized instruction, if taken for a full block

The Independent Learning Classroom
A special educator provides direct instruction within a therapeutic classroom setting

Para-professional Support (small group) Support is given based on academic need, behavioral need, or both

Para-professional Support (1:1) Support for students with more significant disabilities

Transition Planning
Special educators provide transition planning services for students in the areas of employment, independent living, and post-secondary education.  This is an important part of the special education program for students once they turn age 16 and may become a primary service on a student’s IEP

Related Services

(Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech/Language Therapy)

Consultation model
This is the most common model once students reach high school.  In this model, the related service provider works with the student’s team and provides strategies and instruction to the staff members so they can implement the support, instruction, and strategies directly to the student and the student does not need to be pulled out of general education classrooms.

Small Group model
Sometimes students still need pull out instruction through this model. The related service provider works with the student providing direct instruction within a small group based on the student’s need outlined in their IEP.   This happens less frequently in high school, but for some students, there is still a need for this.

1:1
Occasionally students still need this level of intensity for service delivery.  In this model, the related service provider works with the student in a 1:1 setting providing direction instruction based on the student’s need outlined in their IEP.