Hamilton High School serves students identified with special needs in the categorical areas of learning disabilities, cognitive disabilities, emotional disturbance, autism, physical disabilities, other health impairments, hearing and vision impairment, and speech and language disabilities. Students with special needs are served in a range of service delivery models. The goal at Hamilton is to meet the educational and emotional needs of students with special needs using the least restrictive model appropriate to the particular student.Students who require highly structured and individualized instruction in small settings may be served in self-contained classrooms. A student’s instructional and/or social needs may be met in Team Taught settings where the special educator is consistently present and works side-by-side with the regular educator in the regular education classroom. The Team Taught classroom will typically contain several students with disabilities learning side-by-side with students without disabilities. Some students with special needs can successfully be served in the inclusion setting where support is offered through a resource class model or on an as-needed basis. In some situations, a combination of programming approaches may best suit the student’s needs.
Although students with disabilities meet the same Hamilton High School diploma requirements as those without disabilities, the curriculum is adjusted to meet their needs as written in the student’s IEP. Each student’s IEP determines instructional and curricular modifications and accommodations. Participation in the district wide assessments is also determined by the IEP team.
Students with more significant disabilities are able to take advantage of the Unique Curriculum. These classes combined with functional academic and life skills classes provide the students with the skills that they will need in the areas of: employment, daily living and recreation /leisure. In addition when the students reach the age of 18 they have the opportunity to participate in the Transition Program. This Community Based program will further the students skills in the areas of employment, daily living skills and recreation leisure in the community. In addition students with disabilities will have the opportunity to apply for the District wide Career Assessment and Training Program. In this program students will be able to receive training in community jobsites in a variety of community businesses. The student’s course of study and the types of classes that the students will take will be determined by the IEP team.