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Specialized Program Guide

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Updated February 2024

Purpose of the Specialized Program Guide

NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) has assembled the Specialized Program Guide for individuals with disabilities of all ages, their families, school-based staff, and other community-based stakeholders. The 2024 Specialized Program Guide contains detailed information about the different academic and/or behavioral programs that currently exist in city for students with exceptionalities. Please see the specific program description for referral and enrollment information for each program.

In addition, NOLA-PS extends their sincere gratitude to all of the special education leaders and school administrators who helped compile the information contained within this guide.

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CMO: Crescent City Schools

PROGRAM: Aurora Program

LOCATION: Newly renovated campus at 2701 Lawrence Street, NOLA 70114

OVERVIEW: Aurora is a full-day program that meets the needs of students grades K-8 with significant trauma, social-emotional difficulties, or whose behavior in a regular school setting is evidence of student distress. Aurora provides a calm, structured environment focused on building relationships, developing self-esteem, and adaptive coping skills. This program is not designed as a short-term punishment or alternative to expulsion. This is a non-time-served model, supporting students who are not able to thrive in a regular school setting.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Referral: Special Education director at student’s sending school coordinates with the school principal and completes an Aurora application. The Aurora team does a school visit to complete an observation, meets with school staff, and reviews the student’s file for documentation that would indicate the need for Aurora.

Enrollment: Students remain enrolled and assigned to their sending school, and attend Aurora off-site. For students who are enrolled from outside of Aurora’s CMO, Crescent City Schools, the sending LEA signs an MOU with the Aurora Program and remains the LEA of record, with an expectation to stay involved in the student’s IEP.

Capacity: Based on current staffing, the program could enroll a maximum of 30 students.

STUDENTS SERVED IN THE PROGRAM:

The program is designed for students in grades K-8 with IEPs

PROGRAM CONTENT:

Students get support from small class sizes of 3-6 students per class, flexible groupings, and school staff focused on building relationships.

The program maintains a shortened-day structure from 9am-3pm, which includes all academic direct instruction as well as additional time for academic interventions, social-emotional learning, and structured enrichment activities.

The program works to motivate and engage students using a variety of methods. Developing age-appropriate social relationships and pro-social behavior is a focus. The expectation for student behavior is high but allows for more flexibility to meet individual student needs.

POINT OF CONTACT:

Carissa Kolakauskas, Director of Aurora Program, ckolakauskas@crescentcityschools.org

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CMO: Collegiate Academies

PROGRAMS: REACH, Essential Skills, Journey

LOCATIONS: Abramson Sci Academy, George Washington Carver High School, Livingston Collegiate Academy, Walter L. Cohen High School

PROGRAM 1: REACH Program

OVERVIEW: Program designed to generally serve students with Intellectual Disabilities in the Mild to Moderate range, working towards a LEAP Connect diploma. The program assists students in gaining academic and transition skills in the areas of independent living, community access and employment to prepare them for their most rigorous post-secondary outcome.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Referral: Students are referred based on review of previous evaluations (must be eligible for a LEAP Connect diploma), previous IEPs, student and family interviews, and universal screening of all students new to the school.

Capacity: Recommended class size is 8-12 students.

STUDENTS SERVED IN THE PROGRAM:

The program serves students with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities whose academic skills are in the 1st to 5th grade range. Students are eligible if they are on a LEAP Connect diploma pathway. Typically this includes students who qualify for special education with a Mild/Moderate Intellectual Disability or Autism classification.

PROGRAM CONTENT:

The program’s instruction is usually targeted on first to fifth grade levels with multi-modal and multi-sensory methods of instruction. The program’s goals are for students to achieve one year of growth in their academic performance, and one level of growth on a transition skills rubric. The program may be full or partial day, depending upon the student's individual needs. Students may take core academic classes outside of the REACH program as their skills allow.

The program places special emphasis on collaboration between teachers and related services providers and supporting students' individual transition skills. In their senior year, students can participate in internships and gain exposure to different career opportunities, both in-school and in-community.

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PROGRAM 2: Essential Skills Program

OVERVIEW: Program designed to serve scholars with significant disabilities in order to help them gain their most rigorous post-secondary outcomes.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Referral: Students are referred based on a review of previous evaluations (must be LEAP Connect eligible), review of previous IEPs, interviews with the family and student, and screening of all students new to the building.

Capacity: recommended class size is 8-12 students.

STUDENTS SERVED IN THE PROGRAM:

The program serves students with moderate to profound intellectual disabilities in grades 9-12 who are working towards a LEAP Connect diploma. Typical student exceptionalities include: Intellectual Disabilities - Moderate or Severe, Autism, Traumatic Brain Injury, or Multiple Disabilities. Students typically have pre-literacy skills and are working on pre-Kindergarten numeracy skills.

PROGRAM CONTENT:

Essential Skills works to increase students' ability levels in three domains: literacy, numeracy, and transition skills. Each student receives a holistic and individual plan that addresses each area of need through individualized and small-group service delivery. Transition skills focus on daily living skills including hygiene, personal health, and eating, as well as social skills and communication with peers and/or adults. There is strong collaboration between teachers and related services providers to ensure comprehensive support of individual student goals. The program may be full or partial day, depending upon the needs of the student.

The program ensures that time throughout the school day is dedicated to inclusion with non-disabled peers, including participation in advisory, extra-curricular activities, and lunch. As students are able, they may take general education classes with support.

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PROGRAM 3: Journey Program

OVERVIEW: Program that provides a therapeutic and behavioral support setting for students with emotional disabilities.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Referral: Students are referred based on a review of previous evaluations and IEPs, interviews with the family and student, results of quarterly team meetings to analyze attendance, behavior, and course performance data. Specifically, a referral would come through an IEP team recommendation if the student has not responded to lower tiers of therapeutic and behavioral supports and their behavior is significantly impacting their academic success.

Capacity: recommended class size is 10 students.

STUDENTS SERVED IN THE PROGRAM:

The program serves students with emotional disabilities (including Emotional Disturbance, OHI - ADHD, or Autism) in grades 9-12. Specifically, students are eligible for possible placement in the program if they have been previously enrolled in a therapeutic program or have been recommended for placement in a therapeutic setting.

PROGRAM CONTENT:

The program may be full or partial day, depending upon the needs of the student. Students receive increased therapeutic support, including counseling services and behavior interventions. Core program components include therapeutic check-in/check-out, therapeutic resets, daily group counseling, and increased individual counseling. Students’ BIPs feature a daily tracking sheet for receiving feedback from teachers and interventionists throughout different settings on how they are progressing towards their goals; staff use the tracking sheets to monitor progress on a daily basis and analyze data to ensure progress and adjustments to programming for scholars as needed. Students may receive academic instruction on the general education curriculum in general education classes or individualized or small group settings.

The program features a phasing/leveling system that works to increase student access to the larger school community, and help students gain the skills necessary to be prepared for college success and the ability to navigate the community successfully.

POINTS OF CONTACT:

Francesca Antonucci- Senior Director of Student Support, fantonucci@collegiateacademies.org

Kate McElligott- Director of Student Support, kmcelligott@collegiateacademies.org

Emma Gambaro- Manager of Student Support, egambaro@collegiateacademies.org

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CMO: FirstLine Schools

NAME: Discovery Plus

LOCATIONS: Arthur Ashe Charter School; Phillis Wheatley Community School; Langston Hughes Academy

OVERVIEW: The Discovery Plus mission is for all students to be provided with the skills to lead big, purposeful lives. Our vision for meeting our mission is by providing our students with rigorous academic curriculum, intentional teaching of transition/life skills, and a classroom environment with a robust level of support and related services.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Referral & Enrollment: Discovery Plus serves eligible students both already enrolled at the underlying FirstLine Schools site, but also accepts student applications from external LEAs based on fit and program capacity. Students served from another school would retain their assignment at the sending school. To initiate a student application, please reach out to the Discovery Plus Program Manager or visit: www.firstlineschools.org/discovery-plus-program

Capacity: Based on current staffing, each site of Discovery Plus can enroll 15 students.

STUDENTS SERVED IN THE PROGRAM:

Discovery Plus serves students in grades 3 - 8 whose cognitive functioning is 2.3 or more standard deviations below the mean and need support in two or more of the following areas: Life Skills Support (e.g. toileting, play, social communication, feeding, etc.), Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Motor Skills Support (Physical Therapy and Adaptive Physical Education). Attending students participate in the alternate statewide assessment.

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PROGRAM CONTENT:

Discovery Plus delivers educational programming aligned to the Louisiana Connectors across a wide breadth of educational content across subject areas, grade levels and even differing standards. The program setting provides intimate, responsive support with a low student to teacher ratio. The program features specialized communication support through small group and whole class lessons, as well as individualized communication plans for students as needed. Students receive instruction in adaptive skills to help them lead big, purposeful lives.

Staff in this program receive ongoing professional development focused on sensory training, teacher collaboration, and lesson planning/academic teaching strategies. With a dedicated program manager, speech language pathologist, teachers, paraprofessionals, and an occupational therapist, significant collaboration occurs to provide each student with their own unique educational experience.

POINT OF CONTACT:

Tiffany Willis, Director of Special Education, discoveryplus@firstlineschools.org

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CMO: Inspire NOLA

PROGRAM: Content Mastery Setting

LOCATIONS: Alice Harte and Pierre Capdau

OVERVIEW: Ensuring that students are provided the implementation of a functional curriculum, assistive technology to support their communication needs, and ABA therapy, if applicable by individualized plan.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT: Please email the point of contact listed below.

STUDENTS SERVED IN THE PROGRAM:

The program serves students with low incidence disabilities, mainly Autism, in grades K-8th.

PROGRAM CONTENT:

Together the special education and general education teachers identify the standard that will be targeted, how instruction will align with LA Connector, and IEP goals. Supports are given by creating and/or adapting content and/or materials utilizing Universal Design for Learning, adding pictures and/or symbols to facilitate comprehension, using technology to enhance the delivery of the content (e.g., augmentative, and alternative communication system), and task analysis.

Instruction of the general content is conducted via embedded instruction in the general education, least restrictive classroom for grades K-8th, with the option of a more restricted environment/ pull-out, self-contained classroom for grades K-4th and 5th – 8th. Expeditionary Learning Curriculum for Reading and GO Math and/or to accommodate the individual student’s need is available.

POINT OF CONTACT:

Dianne Lewis, Executive Director of Exceptional Student Services dianne.lewis@inspirenolaschools.org

(504) 330-0062

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CMO: Inspire NOLA

PROGRAM: Community Based Instruction

LOCATIONS: McDonogh 35 Senior High School, Eleanor McMain Secondary School, Edna Karr High School

OVERVIEW: Community Based Instruction (CBI) refers to instruction that occurs in both the classroom and community settings. This program is designed to serve scholars with Intellectual Disabilities (Mild to Moderate Range) and Autism. The purpose is to assure students gain skills for post-secondary outcome. The program provides instruction on social skills, developing self-esteem and adaptive coping skills. CBI is highly structured and clearly defines goals and objectives for each student and requires extensive planning and parental support.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Based on New Orleans Common Application (NCAP), scholars are assigned to a particular campus. Following, the IEP team committee determines if the CBI class is appropriate. Scholars remain enrolled at that campus until graduation and/or age 22.

CAPACITY: Recommended class size of 11 scholars

STUDENTS SERVED IN PROGRAM:t

The program serves students with Intellectual Disabilities with Mild and Moderate as well as Autism. Grades 9th-12th.

PROGRAM CONTENT:

Program content delivers educational programs aligned to Louisiana Connectors and IEP goals. Instruction is geared toward community-based experiences to prepare the scholars for post-secondary living. The program utilizes an alternative curriculum (Unique Learning). In order to engage students, teachers use a variety of methods based on each scholar’s learning style.

POINT OF CONTACT:

Dianne Lewis, Executive Director of Exceptional Student Services dianne.lewis@inspirenolaschools.org

(504) 330-0062

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CMO: KIPP

PROGRAM: Academic & Functional Skills (AFS)

LOCATIONS: KIPP Believe Primary; KIPP Believe College Prep; KIPP Leadership Primary; KIPP Leadership Academy; KIPP Morial Primary; KIPP Morial Middle; KIPP Central City Primary; KIPP Central City Academy; Douglass High School; Booker T. Washington High School; KIPP John F. Kennedy

OVERVIEW: Provides students with moderate to significant disabilities access to high quality education, building the skills students need to fulfill their individual potential and have joyful, choice-filled lives.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Referral: A referral originates with an IEP team’s referral for program placement. Program placement is appropriate for those students who are on the LEAP Connect pathway; the referring IEP team must include the Student Support Coordinator, social worker or counselor, school psychologist, and parent/family. After the IEP team’s recommendation, the school’s Dean of Student Support contacts the KIPP New Orleans Director of Special Education to schedule a meeting regarding the recommendation. The Dean of Student Support and Director of Special Education conduct a systematic review of the student’s evaluation and IEP and consider the following to make a decision regarding program eligibility:

• The student’s LEAP Connect eligibility
• The student’s academic skills, and average standard deviation from the mean
• The student’s adaptive functioning skills
• The student’s communication skills
• Whether the student’s needs could be met in a less restrictive environment
• Whether the student requires an alternative curriculum to meet academic need
• Whether the student needs life skills instruction
• The student and family’s long term goals and dreams for the student

Capacity: approx. 10 students per classroom

STUDENTS SERVED IN THE PROGRAM:

The program exists across KIPP schools and serves students in grades K-12 who are on the LEAP Connect pathway and have needs that cannot be met in a less restrictive setting. The AFS Program does not currently enroll students from outside the KIPP New Orleans Schools network.

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PROGRAM CONTENT:

The overall program goal is to teach students the academic, social, and life skills necessary to access vocational opportunities and function as independently as possible. The program utilizes an alternative curriculum and assessments (Unique Learning). The program includes time for students to access the general education curriculum, based on student abilities and needs - ranging from 10% to 50% of the day. At minimum, students spend lunch, recess, and arts/integrals classes with their non-disabled peers, and participate in all field trips and school/classroom events.

The program maintains standardized lesson plans, and benchmarks for the beginning, middle, and end of year.

POINTS OF CONTACT:

Emily Waterfield, Managing Director - ewaterfield@kippneworleans.org

Jessica Taylor, Director of Special Education - jtaylor@kippneworleans.org

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CMO: Collegiate Academies

PROGRAM: Opportunities Academy (OA)

LOCATION: 2625 Thalia St, New Orleans, Louisiana 70113

OVERVIEW: Opportunities Academy prepares students to create lives of unlimited opportunity by teaching them to self-advocate, live independently, and obtain employment.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Referral: Schools and agencies (like Metropolitan Human Services District (MHSD) and Families Helping Families (FHF)) refer potentially eligible students. Eligibility criteria: Student is 18 or older, has an IEP with a qualifying disability (Intellectual Disability and Autism), and/or is on the LEAP Connect pathway.

Enrollment: Students must enroll through the EnrollNOLA process. Enrollment is ONLY limited to students in Orleans Parish. There is no application for the program. However, to ensure students meet the eligibility requirements, OA staff reviews relevant data and documentation of students who are seeking enrollment.

STUDENTS SERVED IN THE SCHOOL:

The school serves students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Intellectual Disability and Autism) between the ages 18-22 (IDEA age of eligibility).

PROGRAM CONTENT:

OA offers full-day programming, for students located at campus in Central City. Additionally, students participate in internships (on campus) and externships (at partner organizations and community businesses). The school's goal is to support each student in achieving his/her highest level of independence in pursuit of ultimately experiencing meaningful and fulfilling outcomes in the areas of independent living, community access, and career readiness (employability).

Student daily schedules consist of approximately two to three hours of work experience (internship/externship), about two and a half hours of instruction in independent living, community access, and career readiness (employability), and 30 minutes of extracurriculars. OA also integrates many related services into daily instruction.

POINTS OF CONTACT:

Sophia Scott, Executive Director, sscott@collegiateacademies.org

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CMO: ReNEW Schools

PROGRAM: ReNEW Therapeutic Program (RTP)

LOCATION: RTP is located at 2503 Willow Street, New Orleans, LA 70112 in the ReNEW @ Edgar P. Harney building

OVERVIEW: RTP provides therapeutic programming and intensive, evidence-based interventions to students with disabilities who have profound behavioral and social-emotional needs. Students who demonstrate progress toward achieving their behavior and social goals may ultimately transition back to a less restrictive setting at their sending (referring) school.

REFERRAL & ENROLLMENT:

Referral: Students with the exceptionality of Other Health Impairment (OHI) or Emotional Disturbance (ED) and who exhibit ongoing behavior problems at their sending schools are referred to RTP by application. RTP does not limit its acceptance to students from ReNEW schools; rather, we coordinate with charter networks throughout New Orleans to offer a potential placement for students in need of more intensive behavior support than sending schools are able to provide.

RTP uses a three-part referral process: application, observations, and family consultation. First, a student’s sending school completes a questionnaire providing information on the student’s educational history and needs, as well as the student’s current evaluation, IEP, and behavior data. Next, RTP staff conduct observations of the student in their current setting. Finally, the student and family are invited to tour RTP and speak to staff and students about the program to ensure it is a good fit for the student. Final eligibility determinations for the program are made by the program’s director, in consultation with the network’s Chief of Student Support Services; if the family consents, RTP team members, team members from the sending school, the parent, and other appropriate team members convene an IEP team meeting to determine whether RTP is an appropriate placement for the student.

Admission/Enrollment: Student admission and acceptance in the RTP program is executed via an IEP team decision among the sending school, the family, and the program. A student’s placement results in substantive changes to the IEP, including setting, and services, as RTP students receive all academic and behavior support services in a substantially separate special education setting. While the student receives services at RTP, his or her sending school remains the LEA of record (including, official enrollment, and eSER). To complete the admissions process, the sending school signs a standard contract and MOU including a payment agreement between the program and sending school. Sending schools should be aware that the referred student will remain officially enrolled with their LEA; therefore, sending schools may not refuse to accept a student back into their building.

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Capacity: 24 students

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STUDENTS SERVED IN THE PROGRAM:

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The program serves students in grades 3-8 who receive special education services under the Emotional Disturbance or Other Health Impairment classifications and who demonstrate significant behavior and social-emotional needs.

PROGRAM CONTENT:

The program maintains a standard schedule for all students, which includes four academic blocks, a dedicated academic intervention block, and therapeutic programming. The day begins with morning mindful movement, which creates an opportunity for community-building, dancing, singing, and other physical activity. Instructional rotations occur primarily in the morning, followed by lunch and recess. The afternoon is spent in therapeutic recreation, including chess, mindfulness, social-emotional learning, art, music, and physical education. Students also receive the direct and/or related services (e.g., speech therapy, occupational therapy, adapted physical education, counseling, etc.) designated on the student’s IEP.

For academic instruction, the program maintains a modified Tier 1 curriculum using a variety of high-yield, evidence-based instructional strategies to promote learning and mitigate effects of our students’ exceptionalities. Students receive instruction in all core content areas, ELA, math, science and social studies. Our teachers use cooperative learning across grade and ability levels to reinforce learning and promote self-efficacy among students. RTP also uses both online intervention platforms and targeted intervention to support content area knowledge. RTP students receive reinforced instruction in content area skills as well as social-emotional and organizational skills aimed to address deficits in executive functioning.

As a behaviorist model program, the RTP team uses a systematic approach to shape and reinforce desired behaviors in students. Counseling (individual and group), positive reinforcement, clear expectations, individualized behavior interventions, consistency, and other research-based behavior strategies are used to teach students desired behaviors. Each student’s behavior is tracked in each therapeutic group and academic class in the areas of safety, respect, responsibility, resilience, and a target behavior corresponding to the IEP behavior goals. The program utilizes a tiered system and considers students’ levels in adherence to the program’s defined values, as well as students’ individual IEP goals - i.e., one student’s goal may be to earn an average of 18 out of 20 points, while another student may work toward reaching 14 out of 20 points.

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A robust incentive program is implemented to provide positive reinforcement of appropriate behaviors; for example, as a daily reward, students who have met their individual goals may choose rewards from three “school store” levels based on their tracker performance that day. In addition, students who do not receive any safety violations and meet their weekly tracker goal are able to attend "Celebration", a weekly school-wide activity on Friday afternoons, which has included a hot chocolate bar, popcorn and a movie, a community field trip, an ice cream social, among others. Student growth on the level system is a major component of determining a student’s readiness to exit/transition to a less restrictive setting at their sending school.

The program provides transportation, with program staff riding the bus to help supervise and manage students.

POINTS OF CONTACT:

Ezzie Smith

Director of RTP & Culture

rtpleadership@renewschools.org

601-209-6168

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Laura Todaro, LPC

Counselor

rtpleaderhship@renewschools.org

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Terrell Sims

Dean of Students

rtpleaderhship@renewschools.org

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Charnise Walker

Special Education Coordinator

rtpleaderhship@renewschools.org

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Mary Cole-Bush, Ph.D.

Chief of Student Support Services

mcole-bush@renewschools.org

504-281-0360

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If you are a family in need of assistance or have questions, please contact: �Justin Allison

jallison@nolapublicschools.com

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