Cheltenham School District presents special-education progress, diagnostic results, and staffing updates

Dr. Cantrell told the Cheltenham School District board on a special-education update that the district has adopted a districtwide framework to improve consistency and continuity of services for students with disabilities across seven schools. “We are proud to present the progress we've made thus far,” Dr. Cantrell said as the presentation opened.

The presentation outlined three primary areas of support—learning, emotional life skills and autistic support—and described alignment of intervention programs to curriculum, ongoing professional development for staff and increased on-site coaching. District staff described new and expanding resources that include district-based and contracted board-certified behavior analysts (BCBAs), registered behavior technicians (RBTs) at the high school, and sensory rooms at several buildings.

Supervisors reported the district’s use of multiple supplemental programs: I-Ready for reading and math diagnostics and interventions in some buildings, Magnetic Foundations and Magnetic Reading for early-grade literacy, Phonics for Reading for grades 3–8, SuccessMaker for high-school math and iLit for high-school reading. The high-school supervisor said the supplemental programs are…