Special Education

Program Description

The West Ada School District Special Services program, offers special education services and related services under the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), for all children ages 3-21, who have been determined eligible.

Special education is defined as instruction that is specially designed to meet the unique needs of a child, with a disability, as outlined in the State of Idaho Special Education manual. The goal is to ensure that the child is able to access and gain benefit from the general education curriculum.

If your child is eligible for special education services, he or she will most likely remain within the neighborhood school and be given additional support to all elementary, middle, and high school sites.  Occasionally, your child’s instructional needs may warrant placement at a different school program because of the unique learning needs.

West Ada School District offers related services to assist students, to gain benefit from general education as determined appropriate by students’ Individual Education Plan (IEP) teams. Which could include such specialists as; speech and language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, assistive technology specialist, vision specialist and school psychologists.

Each year the special education program serves approximately 10% of the students enrolled in West Ada School District, in a variety of ways that effectively meet the unique needs and varied learning style of each student.  The following best practice components are recognized as strengths of our school district:

  • Visionary Leadership

  • Parent/Professional Partnerships

  • Collaboration

  • Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

  • Innovative Programming

  • Transition Services

  • Professional Staff

  • Response to Intervention (RTI)

Our Beliefs:

All children deserve an appropriate education.  This includes appropriate interventions at all levels designed to provide each student an educational experience that helps them gain benefit from the general education curriculum with the understanding that all students are unique in their abilities to learn;

  • School should provide a safe and nurturing environment that welcomes and includes all students; 

  • Collaboration with the community is vital to the preparation of children for the transition to adulthood.

Our goals, are to give children: 

  • The tools they need for independent participation in the community to the fullest extent possible.

  • Self-reliance and the ability to set goals.

  • The ability to solve problems.

  • A sense of belonging that comes from being capable, connected, and contributing members of their community.

We facilitate students’ learning by:

  • Providing multiple teaching techniques, strategies, and experiences within the framework of the general education curriculum.

  • Providing in-service and instruction to staff.

  • Promoting effective communication between the educational team, families and other significant people in the student’s life.

  • Providing an environment that will promote effective learning.

The mission of the West Ada School District is to provide an appropriate educational experience, in the least restrictive environment for every student.  Appropriate intervention, at all levels, should take place in order to provide the most successful educational experience possible, with the understanding that all students are unique in their abilities to learn.  A team approach consisting of professionals, parents, and students should be employed to design educational programming that meets the needs of the individual student.  Training and support of every member of the educational staff is essential to the successful education of all students.

The role of the school is to educate the whole child/young adult.  This responsibility is shared with the family and the community.  Special Education is an educational support system designed to help each student, with their unique abilities, learn and become productive members of society.

Extended School Year (ESY)

According to the Idaho Special Education Manual (2018):

The term “extended school year services” (ESY) means special education and/or related services that are provided beyond the regular school year:

  1. to a student with a disability;

  2. in accordance with the student’s IEP; and

  3. at no cost to the parent/adult student.

The goal of ESY services is to assist students with disabilities with the emergence and maintenance of specific IEP goals addressed during the school year preceding the ESY. These may include goals related to independence, behavior, socialization, communication, and academics. The ESY services for special education students provide a different focus from general summer school program” (p. 79).  

Dates, location and times for ESY are individual and determined by the student's IEP team.

ESY for Summer 2024

Extended School Year is determined on an individual basis with the parents and school team making a determination.  For most students, ESY services will be delivered between June 10th and June 28th, 2024, in accordance with the individual student's IEP.   K-12+ will be Monday -Friday; Preschool will be Monday - Thursday.

Karel Olsen - Administrator (208.350.5128)