New Prague spotlights early intervention services and a student peer‑mentoring pilot

The New Prague Area Schools board on June 23 heard presentations from special services staff about the district's early intervention program for birth‑to‑3 children and a new peer‑mentoring pilot that pairs high‑school mentors with younger students on the autism spectrum.

The district's director of special services, Amy Walzberger, introduced the program and two early childhood special education teachers, Jody Griskavage and Megan Schultz, who described how families are referred and how services are delivered.

Walzberger said the team supports infants and toddlers and their families across the district. "We work with families and kiddos that are aged birth to 3," Jody Griskavage said. "We work with them in their natural environments," she told the board, and explained referrals come from parents, doctors or other caregivers through Minnesota's Help Me Grow portal or by calling a district intake number.

The teachers said each child undergoes an evaluation focused on multiple areas of development; services are provided year‑round, typically two to three home or community visits a month aimed at building family routines and caregiver skills. "We really focus on whatever that routine is for the family because we know that's what the parents are going to be doing with their kiddos," Megan Schultz said. The team includes three early childhood special educators, a speech‑language pathologist, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist and an intake coordinator, the presenters said.

School staff also described a pilot peer‑mentoring program that paired four high‑school students with seven elementary students from Falcon Ridge and nearby schools. Amanda Dirks, the high school autism case manager, and Samantha Klein, an elementary special education teacher, explained the mentors met weekly for about 40 minutes and used structured activities and resources adapted from a teen mentoring handbook and other peer‑mentoring guides.

Student participants spoke to the board about the program's effect. "To me, the mentoring program felt like connecting with kids who have felt alone for most of their life," said Lorelei Hammer, a 2025 graduate who said the experience helped prepare her for a preschool teaching job she accepted after graduation. Logan Bermel, an incoming 11th‑grader, told the board the program helped younger students who did not have older peers with similar experiences to look up to.

Presenters and students showed photos and described activities including social communication exercises, a gingerbread‑house day, a mobile snack cart and community outings. Dirks said staff selected students they viewed as leaders for the pilot and used lesson‑book activities and local adaptations to support social and life skills.

Board members praised the programs. No formal action was required on the presentations.