Emotional Support Overview

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     Emotional Support Overview : What is The Emotional Support Program?   The Emotional Support (ES) program is an in-school support structure that has been developed to assist students that are displaying social, behavioral, and/or emotional needs that are impacting their ability to succeed within their classrooms and across all school settings.  The foundation of the program was developed in conjunction with, and guided with, the goals and objectives of the current strategic plan of the LMTSD, the Individuals with Disabilities foundational pieces.Education Improvement Act of 2004  (IDEA 2004), and the PA State Standards (Student Interpersonal Skills).         Regarding the socio-emotional area, support will be provided in two ways:  Formal intervention and Informal intervention.  By formal intervention, each student will be scheduled to work with the emotional support teacher on social skills instruction, typically twice a cycle. This will occur during a student's scheduled IE period. During this time, students will be instructed within the social skills curriculum; which will include conflict resolution, peer interaction skills, identifying and managing feelings. Informal intervention will offer ES students the opportunity for support, as the need arises, throughout the entire school day. “On the spot” interventions will occur when a student is unable to resolve a situation in an appropriate manner. These situations will be utilized as an opportunity to further accomplish the objectives of the ES program.            In addition, the emotional support program will also utilize the support of the school's community counselor, on an on-going basis.  Several students, depending on their needs, will have the opportunity to work with us and with the counselor.  This may include team-taught situations and/or individualized counseling.         The number one goal of the ES program is to ensure that students reach their individual potential excellence by teaching them the skills needed for them to succeed within the classroom, and providing them with the ability to transfer these skills into their everyday life.        If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to working with your children.