Child Study Team Services
Dr. Diane Willard, Director
The Child Study Team (CST) is a group of specialists employed by the
Mount Laurel School District to provide consultative, evaluative and
prescriptive services to teachers and parents. The CST, together with
school principals and Building Support Committees, makes recommendations
for programs and placements which will best address the needs of students
who are experiencing school-related problems.
Special Education Program
Mount Laurel provides a range of programs to address the general needs
of disabled students. When Mount Laurel is unable to provide an appropriate
program within the district, students are placed in out-of-district,
regional programs.
Parent Resource: Reading for the Blind and Dyslexic
Basic Skills Improvement Program
The Basic Skill Improvement, or At Risk Program of Mount Laurel Public
Schools, provides supplemental instruction to children in grades one
through grade eight who require remediation in reading, writing and mathematics.
The program is funded by state and local monies.
Building Support Committee
The Building Support Committee (BSC) offers teachers a means of drawing
on the resources of both the individual school and the total district,
in an effort to determine which kind of service will most benefit the
student who has special needs. Each school has its own committee. The
committee concept was implemented after an in-depth study of the district's
special services program indicated the advantages of addressing the special
needs of individual students at the building level. The intervention
of the BSC frequently will serve to meet the needs of the student.
Corrective Speech and Language Services
The development of age-appropriate
speech and language skills is essential to the learning process and to
a student's social and emotional growth.
Children must be able to comprehend the language, express their thoughts,
request explanations from the teacher and produce speech that others
can easily understand.
English As A Second Language
The English as a Second Language (ESL) program
was established in Mount Laurel to meet the needs of foreign students
whose knowledge of the English
language is limited.
Mount Laurel’s Pre-First Program
The Pre-first Program in Mt. Laurel is a half-step promotion between
kindergarten and first grade. It give the child time to mature in ALL
the areas necessary for school success; social, physical, emotional,
and intellectual. All students deserve a learning setting which leaves
them with enough spirit and energy to be a well integrated person. Learning
readiness is present at birth. School readiness is present when a child
is able to experience success and learn in the school environment without
due stress.
Preschool Disabled Program
The purpose of the Mt. Laurel
Preschool Disabled Program is to address the individual needs of each
child by providing rewarding and successful
educational experiences. An effective program strives to foster an independent
sense of self in relation to family, peers and the community environment.
Through an integrated program including cognitive, communications, social/emotional,
adaptive and motor skills, "at risk" children gain the confidence
and self-esteem necessary to meet challenges encountered daily.
|