TOTS
T ransition from home
O pportunities for development
T ime for growth
S pecialized instruction for special children
Program Description
The Euclid City Schools TOTS Preschool Special Education Program serves children age three through five who demonstrate delays or disabilities in speech/language, fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, social/emotional, adaptive development, hearing, and/or vision. The program is based on developmentally appropriate practices, which include the integration of typical preschool children.
Program Options
The TOTS preschool program offers a continuum of placements to best meet the needs of preschool children with disabilities in their least restrictive environment.
Center-based Classroom: Children with special needs are enrolled along with preschool children who are considered "typically" developing. This program is a half-day program operating Monday through Thursday during the school year. Both morning and afternoon sessions are available.
Itinerant Services: Itinerant services are provided by an early childhood intervention specialist on a weekly, rather than daily basis. Services are provided in the child's home, public preschool program, or neighborhood preschool/daycare.
T.O.T.S. Philosophy
- We believe that early childhood is an important phase of life that sets the stage for future growth and development.
- We believe that young children learn and construct knowledge about themselves, other people, and their environments by "doing". Young children learn best when they are motivated by their own desires and are allowed to discover things for themselves.
- We believe all children have the right to a childhood filled with love, nurturing, trust, exploration, wonder, curiosity, discovery, creativity, happiness, and feelings of self-worth.
- We believe in play. It promotes growth and development across the motor, cognitive, social, and emotional, self-help, and communication domains.
- We believe each child is a unique person and a preschool program should fit each child, rather than expecting each child to adjust to the demands of a program.
Curriculum
A preschool classroom is a learning community with each child a member whom is respected and expected to progress. We plan our learning experiences on the following principles as offered by the Ohio Department of Education:
All children are born read to learn- starting our experiences from the place of potential and ability:
- Relationships are influential-ensuring that we meet the social and emotional needs of our children in the ways in which we design our activities and relate to our children;
- Communication is critical- recognizing the importance of language as the foundation for all learning, designing experiences that capitalize on introducing print in a variety of meaningful ways;
- Environments matter- designing our learning spaces to reinforce and support what children are learning.
Our activities are aligned to the Ohio Department of Education Pre-Kindergarten Content Standards, which can be found on their website (www.ode.state.oh.us).
Program Requirements
To be eligible for the TOTS program a child must be three years of age and not turn 6 before Dec 1 of the current school year.
Referral Procedures:
- Initial contact: Teresa Brown, TOTS Program Lead Teacher (216) 797-4375.
- Parent/Guardian registers the child with the Board of Education.
- The child will participate in a developmental screening with the TOTS team including the early childhood intervention specialists, school psychologist, and speech/language pathologist.
- Referral is completed if an educational disability is suspected or the child is accepted into the program as a typically developing peer model.
After a referral is made a multi-factored evaluation must be completed to determine if the child is eligible for special education services. The areas to be assessed will depend on the child's suspected disability determined by the TOTS team and parent.
Evaluation Procedure:
- Evaluation needs are determined
- Consent to evaluate is obtained
- Evaluation is scheduled and completed
- A meeting with the parents is held to review the results of the evaluation.
- If a child is determined to have an educational disability the TOTS team will develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to address his/her needs.
Contacts
Sherrell Benton-Special Education Supervisor (x2940)
Teresa Brown- TOTS Program Lead Teacher (x4375)
Diane Pacella- School Psychologist (x4387)
Jessica Andrews/Bethany Salomon- Speech Pathologists (x4385)
Barb Connell-Occupational Therapist (x4385)
Lynda Corea-Physical Therapist (x4385)
Angela Bolanos-Intervention Specialist (x4371)
Terri Jackson-Intervention Specialist (x4377)
Becky Markley-Intervention Specialist (x4374)
Bea Saywell-Intervention Specialist (x4370)
Kristin Saywell-Intervention Specialist (x4372)