“Always Good and
Making a Difference”
For the past 10 years I have had the opportunity and
privilege to be the Director of Student Services and Special Education for the
Medford Area Public School District. Over this time there have been many
wonderful memories and moments with students, new initiatives/programs created,
privileges to work alongside quality people on personal and professional levels,
and opportunities to provide direct and indirect support to 300 plus families
on an annual basis.
Special Education and Student Services are delivered
across the school district and designed to help make a difference for our
students and families.
Did you know that:
·
The Medford Area Public School District is
required to provide special education services to students with disabilities
between the ages of 3 and 21 years of age
·
There are 322 students who receive special
education as of September 19, 2014:
Schools Numbers
Medford Area
Senior High School 101
Medford Area
Middle School 84
MAES/SES 99
Others (RVA,
Holy Rosary
Immanual, and
Itinerant) 38
The overall 322 students who
receive special education represent 13.96% of the overall student population:
Impairment Percentage
Learning
Disability 4.47%
Speech Language
(primary) 3.12%
Other Health
Impaired 2.86%
Emotional
Behavioral Disability 1.17%
Autism Spectrum
Disorder 1.04%
Cognitive
Disability 0.69%
Other (Vision,
TBI, SDD) 0.61%
·
A student on the autism spectrum was Mayor for
the Day and gave the proclamation to help light the Taylor County Courthouse
blue for Autism Awareness Month in April
·
18 adults have come back to school to complete
high school graduation requirements since the inception of our Medford Adult
Diploma Academy in 2010
·
158 students have earned their diplomas through
our Alternative High School program – now in our 15th year
·
Child Development Day is offered each Fall to
help screen children ages 2-4 for developmental readiness
·
18-21 year olds – have the opportunity to
continue their education/develop job skills/work on college credits/learn
independent skills in our SOAR (Students Open to Achieving Reality) program
·
Students do not have to be identified with a
disability to receive layers of academic/social/behavioral intervention
supports across the school district
·
Adapted Physical Education is offered in each
school building
·
At the of end of the 14-15 school year we will
have – 4 staff that completed their
Wilson Reading Level II Certification, 20 staff that completed their Wilson
Reading Level I Certification, a certified Wilson Fundations presenter and our
own in-district Wilson trainer
·
Very Special Arts Band experience on the field
of Camp Randall during a fall UW Badgers Game is offered to regular and special
needs high school students on an annual basis
·
Preschool Options Model offers early childhood
special education services to students in their homes, community child care
settings, pre-kindergarten class, and in early childhood classroom
·
Staff have multiple licensures including:
Special Education Teacher, Regular Education Teacher, Reading Teacher,
Alternative Education, Adapted Physical Education, School Psychology, Speech
Language, Early Childhood, Guidance Counseling, and more
·
One of our special education staff have their
National Board Teacher Certification
·
Taylor County Education Center is now home to
our Medford Adult Diploma Academy, Alternative High School, Rural Virtual
Academy, 18-21 year old SOAR, Speech Language/Early Childhood Motor Group, and Taylor
County Literacy Council
·
Special Olympics Basketball is offered each Fall
·
MAES and SES have earned distinguished state
awards for being Positive Behavioral Intervention Supports (PBIS) schools
·
Leadership positions are taken countywide including:
Taylor County Literacy Council, Taylor County Autism Support Group, Taylor
County Early Childhood Sub-Committee, Taylor County Interagency Communications
Committee, Medford Morning Rotary Club, and Special Education Advisory Council
·
Related services are offered to students in the
areas of Speech Language, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, School
Nursing, School Based Mental Health Counseling, Police Liaison, Educational
Interpreter, Hearing Impaired, Audiology, Special Bus Transportation, English
Language Learner, Core Assistive Technology, Job Coaching, and School Guidance
Counseling
·
Career Fairs, Mini-Business World, Family Being
Involved Workshops, Laws of Life Essay Contest, Special Education Family Days, Taylor
County Transition Night, Taylor County Reality Fair, Financial Aid Workshops,
B.U.G, and Cultural Fair are just some of our student services programs
·
Ongoing balanced assessment helps measure
student achievement and progress through – DLM, PALS, WKCE, ACT, ACT Aspire,
Dynamic Learning Map, AIMS Web progress monitoring, and NWEA-MAP
·
Evidence based curriculums include: Read 180,
Wilson Reading, Wilson Fundations, Wilson Just Words, Reading Mastery, Achieve
3000, Edmark Reading, Reading Assistant, Voyager Math, Connecting Math
Concepts, and Early Literacy Skills Builder are just some curriculums used
·
Special Education Classes are built on Extended
Grade Band Standards, Common Core Essential Elements, Wisconsin Model Academic
Standards, Common Core Standards, and/or IEP goals/objectives
I will often be asked by those I come in contact with – how is
it going? By looking at everyone that I
get to work with (students, parents, school staff, and community), seeing our
existing and newer programs/initiatives, and most importantly getting to know
and seeing our students have success –
it has to be “Always Good” especially when we are working hard on making a
difference in the lives of our students and families.
Please contact me with any questions or for more information
about special education or student services at any time.
Joseph A. Greget
Director of Student Services/Special Education for
Medford Area Public Schools
715-748-2316 ext 324
gregejo@medford.k12.wi.us
