Berlin Brothersvalley School District provides a free and appropriate education for all of its students, including those students with disabilities and special giftedness, in accordance with state and federal laws. Our special education program works with families to create Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) to meet the special needs of their children. This plan includes related services, at no cost to the family, to compliment the student’s personal instruction and ensure that he/she receives the most benefit from his/her education.

Child Find - School Aged and Early Intervention

In order to identify children in need of services, BBSD collaborates with Appalachia Intermediate Unit 8 to perform annual screening clinics for preschool children throughout Somerset County and in homes across the district by appointment. These screenings look for developmental delays in personal and social skills, fine motor skills, and vision. If a child is identified as in need of services, we will conduct an evaluation, create an IEP, and begin related services.

Identification

The Instruction Support Team identifies school age children in need of specially designed instruction through screenings of group-based data, school health records, cumulative achievement records, and hearing/vision/speech screenings. If screening results suggest a student is in need of special services, the district seeks parental consent to conduct a professional evaluation to begin services.

Exceptionalities

BBSD provides services to those students identified as (with):

• Gifted/Talented
• Autism
• Blindness/Visual impairment
• Speech/Language impairment
• Specific learning disabilities
• Physical disability
• Serious emotional disturbance
• Intellectual Disabilities
• Deaf/Hard of Hearing Impairments

Related Services

Services designed to meet the needs of exceptional students include the annual development of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), a biennial and triennial multi-disciplinary reevaluation, support intervention, or placement in a itinerant/part/full-time special education classrooms. The extent of special education services and its location is determined by each student’s IEP team, and is based on the student’s identified strengths, needs, abilities, chronological age, and the level of intensity of the specific intervention. The district also provides related services such as:

• Transportation
• Physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Behavior Support Plans
• Community Based Instruction
• Assistive Technology
• School Social Work
• Extended School Year Services