Supporting All Learners - Launch Expeditionary Learning Charter School

Launch is committed to providing a program that addresses the individual needs of our diverse students and prepares all students to be independent, resilient, responsible, self-aware thinkers who advocate for and defend their own learning. Launch teachers use data to differentiate instruction to ensure that all student's needs are met.

Support Services Team Overview

The Support Services Team (SST) oversees all Special Education services. This includes:

Setting the vision for Special Education at Launch
Ensuring that the 4-week IEP development process is adhered to and accomplished with fidelity, and that IEP meetings take place on time and with strong preparation
Carrying out progress monitoring of IEP goals and reporting to families
Supporting all instructional staff with the implementation of IEPs
Evaluating the effectiveness of special education services and processes throughout the year

Each grade has a representative who manages the IEP development process, implementation of IEPs, and progress monitoring at their grade level. The entire SST works together to set and maintain a clear vision for Special Education, to address needs by planning and leading specific professional development for staff, and to evaluate their work through periodic data collection and reflection.

Angelica Otiti, 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher

Services will be provided to students in the following ways:

Mandated IEP Services

Teachers will provide IEP mandated academic services to students with IEPs daily. Formative assessments, such as the STAR and MAP Assessments, will be administered remotely. Teachers will also administer the Fountas & Pinnell reading level diagnostic with students remotely. Varied supplemental online educational software (Ex. Dreambox) will be accessible to students. Families will be provided instructions on how to access these resources as a way to support their students’ academic progress.

Special Education programs and services will be documented in the following way:

Student academic goals will continue to be monitored and adjusted (as needed) quarterly, utilizing a Progress Monitoring Tool.
A Teacher Report is a tool Launch uses to capture a student's present levels of performance in both academic and social development. This data is used to build out IEPs with the CSE.
Academic and counseling progress reports, as well as lesson plans (including small group instruction plans indicating the specific types of modifications and accommodations special education teachers will employ for students with IEPs) will also be used as tools for documentation of services provided.
ALL lessons will be live and recorded. They will be accessible for students and families to review at any point following the live lesson. The recordings also allow students to review lessons at a pace that works best for their learning style and families have an opportunity to view the delivery of special education services for students with IEPs.

Assistive Technology

Students with assistive technology mandates in their IEPs will be fully accommodated. Launch will ensure that ALL students will have access to laptops. Returning students with IEPs are well-versed in how to use technology to access both their academic work and related services sessions (when applicable) and incoming students will be fully trained and supported in how to do the same.

Sessions with Counselors and Social Workers

Family Communication and Feedback

All communication with families of ALL Launch students will be in their preferred language and mode of communication. Additionally, we will partner with families to share strategies on how they can continue to support their child at home both academically and social/emotionally during this remote-hybrid learning period. Families will also have an opportunity to provide feedback on the delivery of special education and ELL services through digital quarterly surveys, which are currently offered in both English and Spanish, but can also be translated into additional languages as needed.

Support Services Team (SST)

At Launch, we have a dedicated group of special educators who comprise the Support Services Team (SST). There is an SST representative at each grade level and they will be responsible for facilitating the IEP development process, as well as collaborating with the Director of Special Education to plan and deliver engaging and relevant virtual professional development for instructional staff throughout the year. The IEP development process occurs over a period of 4-weeks. It is designed to be completed virtually. The 4-week IEP Development Process ensures that IEPs are completed well in advance of all meetings.

Launch will continue to work with our district CSE and the families of our students to conduct IEP meetings remotely with flexibility with respect to mode and or manner of communication.

IEP Referrals

If the school and/or a parent is interested in a student getting evaluated for special education services, a case manager will advise the parent to submit a letter to request an initial special education evaluation to the CSE. Once the letter has been submitted, the SST rep will work with the grade team to submit all the required data and documentation requested in the mandatory initial referral document provided by the DOE. Please note that while we will continue to utilize this formalized process for referrals, we will also take into consideration that there could be other factors that influence a student’s academic progress during remote learning.

Who We Serve

We serve students with learning disabilities, executive functioning disabilities, and autism.
We have 2 Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) classes per grade level and 2 multi-grade self-contained 12:1:1 classrooms.
Nearly 30% of Launch students receive special education services.

Lesley & Janier

Multi-Language Learners

Students who speak languages other than English thrive at Launch because of our co-teaching model and our culture of belonging. We create an environment where students can feel comfortable, take risks and practice speaking in English in a safe space. Launch will complete the English Language Learners (ELL) identification process within the first 30 days of the new school year.

Families will receive communication in their preferred language and mode of communication. ELLs will be provided with daily targeted support from their classroom teachers, as well as, from our Reading Intervention/ELL Specialist. The Fountas & Pinnell reading level system, Levelled Literacy Interventions (LLI), and guided reading are some of the ways Launch ELL students will be supported academically. Teachers and administrators will also be provided opportunities to attend professional learning related to serving ELL students.

Families who speak a language other than English: please note you can click on the small flag at the bottom of the page to translate our entire website to your preferred language .

Traci Anderson, Multi-Subject Humanities Lead Teacher & Lois Kilgore-Muhammad, Multi-Subject STEM Lead Teacher

How We Do It

Our highly qualified special educators create, adapt, and modify content in order to meet each students’ academic & developmental needs in an engaging and supportive learning environment. They also cultivate a love of learning and a sense of community inside and outside of classrooms.
Our related service providers include: Speech & Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist, and the School Counselor and Social Worker. They work with students both in the classroom and in small group or 1-on-1 settings. They collaborate regularly with teachers, families, and one another to consistently and effectively deliver services.
Students’ academic goals are aligned with their Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and are monitored and adjusted (as needed) quarterly.
Our multi-subject students (self-contained 12:1:1 classroom) receive a standards-aligned curriculum that is more closely tailored to each child’s individual learning style. We have both a Humanities and a STEM teacher to split the content.