Dear Parents, Guardians, and Sweetwater Community Members,

The Department of Special Services provides special education and related services to approximately 5200 students with disabilities in the Sweetwater Union High School District.  Specialized academic instruction and related services are provided in a variety of environments to meet the unique and individualized needs of each student with disabilities in the least restrictive environment.  School site teams including site administrators, school psychologists, general and special education teachers, speech pathologists and instructional assistants work collaboratively with parents/guardians and students to develop individualized education plans (IEP) and individualized transition plans (ITP) to ensure each student is prepared to succeed in college, career and/or their community.

Special Services is a department within the Equity, Culture and Student Services Division of our district.  Effective first instruction that leads to student engagement and mastery through the lens of equity and culture is our district-wide focus that is also aligned to social emotional learning practices (SEL).  Effective first instruction for students with disabilities occurs across all environments within a comprehensive school site beginning with general education; some students with disabilities require additional supports and services outside of the general education environment.  IEP teams through the IEP process, determine the specialized academic instruction and related services as well as the appropriate educational environment that are required to support effective first instruction for students with disabilities.

New for 2019-2020 is our Parent Networking and Support Group which provides opportunities for parents/guardians to come together for new learning and community building.  In addition, we are offering parents/guardians the opportunity to improve their self-advocacy skills and receive answers and guidance to their questions/concerns through our Parent Self-Advocacy and Professional Consultation meetings. Each session will begin with a short 15 minute IEP presentation and is then followed by private consultation opportunities with a special education administrator.  More information for both of these new events is available on our website, NEWS/EVENTS page.

Please continue to check our website regularly for new events and offerings!

Best regards,

Carrie Rea
Director of Special Services
carrie.rea@sweetwaterschools.org