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COMMACK MIDDLE SCHOOL

Excellence in Education

Pupil Personnel

PUPIL PERSONNEL AT CMS

The Special Services Department offers a range of programs and services to meet the needs of students who have Individual Education Plans (IEPs)

  • Our Learning Centers:

    • Provide individualized support for students in all academic subjects.
    • Offer direct, individualized instruction in learning strategies and study skills.
    • Serve as the liaison among teachers for children’s special needs on the interdisciplinary teams.
    • Maintain a 1 -to- 5 teacher-to-student ratio.
    • Maintain a number of computers for student use.
  • Our special integrated classes:

    • Give identified students in grades 6, 7, & 8 instructional support within the mainstream settings.
    • Address individual needs in the areas of math, science, social studies, and English or reading/language arts.
    • All integrated students will participate in a skills class to acquire the strategies in the content area classes.
  • Our self-contained classes:

    • Offer instruction in smaller class settings that include additional support personnel.
    • Modify the curriculum to address students’ individual rates of learning.
    • Provide opportunities for appropriate mainstreaming experiences.
  • Our Special Services Department also offers:

    • Speech/Language instruction.
    • Occupational Therapy/ Physical Therapy.
    • Counseling.
    • Services for the visually or hearing-impaired.
  • Students are offered Special Services when all of the following conditions are met:

    • They are referred to the Committee on Special Education for a suspected learning disability or for suspected multiple disabilities,
    • They take a battery of tests to diagnose a specific learning disability or disabilities, 
    • The tests show a discrepancy between what the child is expected to achieve according to his/her age and grade and his/her actual performance in school, and
    • The child is approved by the Committee on Special Education for placement in a program. At that time, the student’s IEP(Individual Education Program) is written.
    • Students’ IEP goals are reviewed yearly and modified as appropriate. A student who has met all his/her IEP goals my be discontinued from the program, after review and determination by the Committee on Special Education
  • Highlights of Special Services

    • Achievement Awards Breakfast – a program that invites parents to share our pride in the extraordinary achievements of their children, over breakfast, in the late spring. Each deserving student receives an Award of Distinction certificate.
    • A highly qualified staff that includes teaching assistants who hold teaching certification and who are qualified to substitute in the event of teacher absence.
    • An extensive Inclusion Program – wherein learning-strategy specialists are appropriately placed across all grades and in all academic disciplines.