Inclusion and Student Support

Philosophy:

French International believes that all students can be successful learners. As a school, we understand that in our community we need to differentiate and modify our teaching strategies to respond to a variety of student learning needs. 

We believe that:

• all students benefit from an inclusive model of teaching and learning strategies.
• all students deserve individual support within the limits of school resources and educator training.
• teachers and staff are best able to support students when they are fully informed of student learning differences.
• a partnership with parents and outside specialists is critical to the success of students with significant learning differences.
• some students with significant learning differences may be better served in another educational environment, better suited to meet their needs.

Providing Appropriate Professional Development for Teachers 

French International believes that teachers are better able to serve their students when they are fully informed on the topic of addressing and identifying learning differences among the student population. This may be through workshops, learning from other professionals on-site, or off-site training. Teachers are also given information about students' learning plans to better prepare for any differentiation needs a student may have during the course of the school year. Student support specialists support teacher(s) through communication, professional development, and modeling targeted instructional strategies.

Family Outreach

French International will inform and educate our parent community on the topic of learning differences, current research, and how we can identify and address students with specific learning needs. Teachers differentiate and support all students, but greater accommodations cannot be met without documentation of identified learning differences. French International can only offer these greater accommodations (extended time on tests, having a reader read instructions to you on tests, etc.) with a formal diagnosis (see diagram at bottom of page for more clarity on this). Our school is intensive, robust, and challenging and requires significant motivation and perseverance from both the student and family. While we strive to meet the needs of a variety of learners, if the resources required by a student exceed those available at French International, the Student Support team will discuss alternative educational opportunities (see Admissions Policy).

Student Support Resources

• Differentiation Resources for Parents
• What is differentiated instruction?