K-8

Within the Elizabeth Public Schools, students with disabilities are instructed following the general education curriculum in all content areas. As a result, all students are not only taught following the same curriculum, but also using the same objectives as non-classified students. The curriculum is organized to ensure student learning of state academic standards. In addition to the general education curriculum, instruction is scaffolded and differentiated in various ways to meet the goals and objectives of each student’s Individualized Education Plan. This form of instruction acts as a means for all learners to meet academic standards and their individual goals and objectives. Supports provided within the general education curriculum to ensure scaffolded and differentiated instruction for students with disabilities include:

• Visual learner supports
  
  • Differentiated anchor charts
  • Graphic organizers
  • Highlight/color coding suggestions
  • Video links related to unit foci

• Kinesthetic learner supports
  • Differentiated activities incorporating movement
  • Hands-On activities
  • Video links related to learning objectives with movement

• Auditory Learner supports
  • Suggested opportunities for oral responses or presentations
  • Video links correlating with reading materials for auditory processing
  • Suggested social elements including paired and group opportunities

Our K-8 instructional program for students with disabilities instruction includes a life skills component in addition to the academic curriculum. Life skills instruction combines academic, daily living, occupational, and interpersonal skills. As a result, students prepare to live and work in the community. The life skills foci for K-8 include:

• Personal Hygiene
  • Hair brushing
  • Tooth brushing
  • Face washing

• Domestic Activities
  • Cleaning
  • Feeding
  • Serving
  • Laundry

• Fine-Motor
  • Zippers
  • Buttons
  • Tie strings
  • Open and close doors
  • Light switches

High School

It is imperative to assist students with disabilities to move from school into the personal independence of the adult world. Our goal is to ensure success of each student individually living a productive, independent adult life. Our high school students with disabilities attend a Life Skills course utilizing a specialized curriculum. The Life Skills course is the study of daily living skills essential for personal independence. The course is thematically organized into units to provide students with opportunities to consider essential questions as a foundation to support a high-quality adult lifestyle. This includes the following foci:

• Personal information
  • Accessing personal information
  • Appropriately sharing personal information
  • Apply personal information as needed for independent living

• Self-care
  • Apply good hygiene practices to daily living
  • Define healthy living practices
  • Explain importance of good hygiene

• Nutrition and fitness
  • Plan a menu according to healthy nutrition guidelines
  • Develop a personal fitness plan
  • Explain importance of proper nutrition and exercise to a healthy lifestyle

• Making a personal living space
  • Clean and maintain a personal living space
  • Use proper laundry techniques for various items
  • Explain essentials of establishing a household

• Safe living
  • Define and discuss personally safety at home, in the community and at work
  • Develop strategies to increase personal safety
  • Explain the necessity of internet safety and how it is achieved

• Social Interactions
  • Define the difference between friends, acquaintances and colleagues
  • Define appropriate behaviors in a variety of settings
  • Establish and utilize and personal calendar or daily organizer

• Planning for independent living
  • Plan budgetary needs based on income and expenses
  • Plan a weekly menu based on a budget, dietary and nutritional needs
  • Plan laundry chores according to garment labels, including dry cleaning and laundromat
  • Plan furniture layout according to living arrangements

The approach of this course is multisensory. Lessons and activities allow the students to make connections to other disciplines, their own life, and the world in general. This includes a workplace training program which assists students in meeting their daily living needs. 

Our over-aged high school students follow an alternative curriculum in preparation for graduation at the age of 21. The curriculum includes transitional math and transitional language arts. The transitional curricula include the following foci:

• Transitional English Language Arts
  • Using media
  • Living as a community member
  • Relationships
  • Critical thinking
  • Self-knowledge
  • Literature and society
  • Writing

• Transitional Mathematics
  • Numerical operations
  • Personal finance
  • Earning Power
  • Making a living within a budget
  • Geometry and measurement