Special Education and Gifted & Talented

We embrace students of all abilities and backgrounds, and have systems in place to make sure they are getting the attention and specialized education they need.

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Students entering Academy 360 with an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) from the Special Education department of their previous school or program will be provided services as defined in the IEP until their next annual or tri-annual review. Academy 360 will comply with all Federal, State and District regulations for the administration of IEPs.

Students determined to need Special Education evaluation through the MTSS process will be provided a variety of assessments over six to eight weeks. At the end, a meeting will be held with parents or guardians, teachers and special education personnel to decide on and potentially craft an IEP for the student.
For more information, please contact Ginny Adams, Special Education Manager, at ginny@academy-360.org.

Serving Students with Autism in the Classroom

Studies indicate inclusive settings provide typically developing children with multiple opportunities to learn many new skills, values, and attitudes related to human differences, including learning how to be friends with people who are different from themselves. Research also suggests that inclusive classrooms score higher on measures of quality.

With inclusion, everyone benefits! Adult to child ratio is 1:5 with highly trained, certified teachers and at least 2 paraprofessionals in every classroom.

Our Model 1 Program for students in ECE 3-4 is offered 5 days a week, 3.5 hours a day, with a morning session and an afternoon session. The Model 1 Program is a mixed-age, inclusion classroom.

The Multi-Intensive Autism Classroom center-based program serves students with moderate to severe autism in grades 3, 4, and 5 with a 2:1 adult to student ratio.

All students will be screened using the Naglieri Non-Verbal Abilities Test in kindergarten and 2nd grade. This assessment is a culturally neutral test of student skills and abilities, regardless of student primary language.

All Academy 360 teachers are trained to recognize the unique learning and developmental differences in gifted learners in BIPOC populations. The social-emotional focus for students at Academy 360 fosters self-understanding and awareness, personal and social responsibility, multicultural competence, and interpersonal and technical communication skills for leadership in the 21st century. The GT facilitator will utilize their training to apply theory and research-based models of curriculum and will use a variety of evidence-based strategies in their delivery of content and development of curriculum. The GT facilitator works with classroom teachers to plan, select, adapt, and create a culturally relevant curriculum that includes activities rich with depth and complexity to ensure student outcomes reflect each gifted learner’s ability. The GT campus facilitator will meet with a district GT consultant to discuss professional development needs for the Academy 360 campus and go over identification of Academy 360 gifted learners.

Each month, the GT campus facilitator will meet with a district GT consultant to discuss professional development needs for the Academy 360 campus as well as to go over identification of Academy 360 gifted learners. The GT campus facilitator and district coordinator will work together to plan and provide professional development and peer coaching as needed on the Academy 360 campus.

For more information, please contact Kristen Freeman, GT Coordinator, at kristen@academy-360.org.