Inclusion/Special Needs Policy
Millbrook High School Diploma Programme
Millbrook Diploma Programme’s philosophy of inclusion
Millbrook’s Diploma Programme is an Open Access Programme. Students who have made the decision, along with their parent/guardian/caregiver consent, to join the Diploma Programme are welcome to do so following a meeting with the DP coordinator that addresses the demands and value of the Diploma Programme. In keeping with that policy, students with special needs are equally encouraged to pursue their academic ambitions by joining the Diploma Programme if that is their determination.
What is meant by Special Needs
Special needs of students vary and include, but are not exclusively:
Accommodations
There are a number of ways students can receive accommodations to satisfy their unique academic, physical, emotional or other needs and allow them to be successful in their academic studies.
Students that receive accommodations from Millbrook’s Special Education department AND who utilize those accommodations in their Diploma Programme classrooms must apply for those accommodations to be applied to IBO end of year testing. Such accommodations include but are not limited to:
Responsibilities of DP Coordinator
Responsibilities of Special Needs/Student Services Department
Responsibilities of DP Teachers
Responsibilities of student
Responsibilities of parent(s)/guardian(s)/caregiver(s)
Millbrook’s Diploma Programme is an Open Access Programme. Students who have made the decision, along with their parent/guardian/caregiver consent, to join the Diploma Programme are welcome to do so following a meeting with the DP coordinator that addresses the demands and value of the Diploma Programme. In keeping with that policy, students with special needs are equally encouraged to pursue their academic ambitions by joining the Diploma Programme if that is their determination.
What is meant by Special Needs
Special needs of students vary and include, but are not exclusively:
- Specific learning disabilities (including dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia , information processing difficulties)
- Physical challenges (fine motor challenges, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, other)
- Communication and speech difficulties (specific language impairment - receptive and/or expressive, auditory processing difficulties, fluency disorders - stuttering and/or stammering, verbal dyspraxia/apraxia, other)
- Sensory challenges (visual, hearing, other)
- Social emotional and behavioral difficulties (attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, personality disturbances, emotional disturbances - eating disorders, depression, excessive stress reaction, other)
- Mental health challenges (depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive, post traumatic stress, other)
- Autism spectrum (autism, Aspergers syndrome, pervasive development disorders,other)
- Medical challenges (diabetes, cancer, accident resulting in injury, asthma, cystic fibrosis, epilepsy, rheumatoid conditions, other)
- Others not specified above
Accommodations
There are a number of ways students can receive accommodations to satisfy their unique academic, physical, emotional or other needs and allow them to be successful in their academic studies.
- Working with Special Education department, students who are assigned Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) or 504s are granted the accommodations in the classroom that their plans dictate.
- Students with temporary physical or emotional difficulties brought on by an accident, personal or family trauma, or other such impacting event, can work with their counselor to seek a temporary academic plan to address their current and temporary needs.
- Students with difficulties that do not qualify for an IEP, a 504 or an temporary accommodation as spelled out above can also petition their counselor, the DP coordinator or their teachers directly to ask for an intervention that creates fair and equitable access to their academic opportunity(ies). In such cases the counselor or coordinator will consider the request and, if warranted, petition the teachers with specific suggested short or long term accommodations.
Students that receive accommodations from Millbrook’s Special Education department AND who utilize those accommodations in their Diploma Programme classrooms must apply for those accommodations to be applied to IBO end of year testing. Such accommodations include but are not limited to:
- Extended time
- Separate setting
- Use of laptop for testing
Responsibilities of DP Coordinator
- Request from Special Education coordinator a list of students who have IEPs and 504 plans.
- Request from parents and students the need for accommodations in accordance with the above documentation or for other documented reasons.
- Apply to the IBO for accommodations for current testing session
Responsibilities of Special Needs/Student Services Department
- Supply DP coordinator with names of DP students with IEPs and 504 plans
- Support DP coordinator with evaluation of individual student needs on a case by case basis
Responsibilities of DP Teachers
- Inform DP coordinator of student in-class use of assigned accommodations
- Implement assigned accommodations as per student request/need
- Inform DP coordinator and/or counselor of perception of student need of one or more accommodations
Responsibilities of student
- Advocate for individual accommodations and academic needs
Responsibilities of parent(s)/guardian(s)/caregiver(s)
- Inform DP coordinator of need for specific academic accommodations
- Send medical, psychological documentation to DP coordinator for submission to IBO