Learning Support
Communication with Faculty
Good communication is essential to accomplish our mission to work with parents to nurture the growth of the whole child. Faculty and parents provide a unique perspective of our students that can help to provide insight to their experiences and learning. We encourage regular, and close collaboration to ensure a successful educational experience for each child. Staff members may also be of assistance when the expertise of a Counselor, Learning Support Specialist or administrator is needed. Care should be taken in every communication to interact respectfully and professionally, as is expected in our school environment.
Partnering with Faculty
Holy Family currently serves a wide range of academic abilities within its student population. While all enrolled must be able to meet at least the minimum requirements for promotion, many students with special needs are served at Holy Family. The ability of special needs students to be academically successful at Holy Family depends on the degree of the disability, the age of identification, the remediation efforts by the family and the degree of academic success each year. Holy Family’s goal is to recognize possible symptoms and refer students for evaluation as early as possible. Private tutoring or therapy may be recommended. Early identification often enables remediation to be completed by the early elementary years when formation is so important.
Generally, the first contact for parents with concerns about their child’s learning is the teacher. Early conferences will help to understand the different symptoms being recognized and determine what course of action might be considered. Following those discussions, parents are encouraged to speak with the Learning Support Coordinator or Principal regarding options for further evaluation. This step is important to understand screening options that are appropriate for the area of concern, and that meet the eligibility criteria for free evaluation and services through the local public school system. A small number of those services can be made available on our campus.
Those students who have had an evaluation completed that resulted in diagnosis are eligible for accommodations during the school-day. While the school might not be able to provide some services that are recommended, many times the school can accommodate the student. After a student is evaluated, the documentation should be submitted to the school, so that our own accommodation sheet can be created and submitted to faculty.
Current documentation that verifies the need for accommodations is required from a qualified medical, educational, or psychological professional. Current documentation is defined as that which has been completed within three years of the date of the evaluation. Upon review of the documentation, Holy Family will determine which accommodations and/or recommendations can be implemented. A reasonable accommodation is a change made to the teaching or testing procedures in order to provide a student with access to information and to create an equal opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and skills. Accommodations address how a student learns, they do not change what is learned. Modification is defined as a change to the general education curriculum or other material being taught. Modifications are not provided within the Catholic schools of the Diocese of Austin.
If a parent is considering a selection of an outside tutor or additional educational support, we strongly recommend a conference with the teacher and an administrator first, to help determine if tutoring is needed and, if so, what type will be most beneficial.
