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Q.C. district opens consolidated special ed center
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PROPER INTRODUCTIONS: Queen Creek Elementary preschool teacher April Swanson and fellow teachers sort through student name tags in the Early Childhood Development Center in preparation for the start of school today.
Ralph Freso, Tribune
As school begins today in Queen Creek, young special education students will attend a new facility designed to better prepare them for working in a typical classroom.
The Early Childhood Development Center will occupy a new wing at Queen Creek Elementary School and house a special needs preschool program called Little Coyotes, a similar program for kindergartners called Kinder-Plus, as well as two typical full-day kindergarten classes.
Michelle Bailey, director of special services for the Queen Creek Unified School District, said the center will foster better collaboration between teachers and integration of students.
“Teachers will be able to plan together, and kids will be able to go in and out,” Bailey said. “I think it will be an exciting venture for us.”
In past years, Baily said, preschool and Kinder-Plus programs were spread out among all of the district’s elementary schools.
Now, they will be centralized: The six special education preschool classrooms will be in the same wing, and the speech therapist, psychologist, occupational therapist and physical therapist will be in the same place.
Superintendent James Murlless said the move will also save time that used to be lost when therapists had to travel between schools.
The new center will also allow for more integration among traditional and special needs students.
Janet Henrickson, the preschool coordinator and a teacher, said traditional preschoolers who are in the Little Coyotes program act as role models for the other children.
“They can model age-appropriate language skills (and) play skills,” she said. “The kids without special needs learn so much understanding, empathy and acceptance.”
Henrickson said each group of students has a lot of time to work together and interact. They also have time to work alone to focus on skills for their development.
The program is successful for special needs and other families, she said, noting that several families have sent several of their children to Little Coyotes as role models.
The teachers are all very excited about the new Early Childhood Development Center, Henrickson said.
She said that in the past, it was hard for teachers to come together, network and share ideas of what’s working in the classroom.
Now, they can work together.
“This has been a dream of mine,” she said.
For information about the programs, visit www.qcusd.org.
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