Get A Proactive Start To the School Year

The start of school is here and the first day of school is quickly approaching.  For most families, this can be a time filled with excitement and uncertainty. This can be especially true for students with an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP).   

Be Proactive From The Start

As parents or legal guardians of students with special needs, we are excited to have our children return to school, excited for all things new, and also a bit concerned over the unknown obstacles that may fall within the school year.  The good news is that with a little planning and preparation, you can help put yourself and your child at ease and help address the unknowns with proactive action. 

Tips For Planning & Preparing For the New School Year With IEP

At Enabling Voices, we have put together some helpful tips on how you can help prepare both yourself and your child for the school year to come.  These steps should help assist you with introductions to your child’s school IEP team and help set a foundation for building a collaborative relationship with the school.

Understand your child’s IEP and the supports & services they need

• Read the IEP and review the goals, supports, and services that your child receives.  Consider the new class and new staff and help ensure that the new class will support your child’s needs.
• Update your contact information with the school to ensure they have the best way to contact you

Introduce yourself to the new IEP team

Communication can help set the stage. One way to get a head start on communicating with your child’s IEP team is by reaching out before the school year begins to say hello, discuss your child’s strengths, and share concerns.

As you speak with your child’s teachers, be sure to ask if they have a copy of the IEP At a Glance and/or if they have reviewed your child’s IEP.  This is especially helpful if your child is instructed in general education classes with general education staff because you want to ensure they understand how to best work with your child. Read IEP At a Glance for more information on what it is and why it is helpful.

If you feel that changes to your child’s program are needed, you can request to schedule an IEP meeting with your child’s new team to discuss your concerns, consider strategies to support your child for the upcoming school year, and amend your child’s individualized educational program.

Keep Communication Ongoing

Ongoing communication can also help provide you with comfort and understanding of how your child is doing throughout the school year and in between IEP meetings. Establishing clear lines of communication is important for both positive collaboration and to help with your child’s educational progress within their IEP.  A great way to do this is to decide on the best way to stay informed on your child’s progress.  This can be through regular emails, meetings, or communication logs/notebooks.  In some cases, you may need to request an IEP meeting to discuss the method of communication if it isn’t already addressed in the IEP.

Plan for the new changes

Hopefully before the end of last school year, and depending on your child’s IEP needs, your school/district IEP team helped prepare you and your child for the transition into the next grade level, school, and/or placement change. This could be as simple as last year’s special education teacher having a conversation with you about what to expect of the new year.  For others, it could include steps such as IEP meetings with the new team in attendance, campus tours of the new program, school, and/or grade level, or other appropriate supports for transition. 

If any of these didn’t occur for your child, and/or if you have questions heading into the new school year, a good strategy is to contact the new school before the start of the first day of school and ask to meet with your child’s new teachers and/or request a campus tour.  If possible, plan to bring your child with you for campus tours so that they can help be introduced to the campus, too.

Monitor & Follow up

As you enter the new school year, remember to monitor your child’s progress and speak up when you feel it’s necessary.  Speaking up early on can help you proactively advocate for your child’s special education needs and help to ensure that the IEP is being implemented.

Planning, making preparations, and communicating can help alleviate stressful situations and feelings of being overwhelmed.  Alleviating these can help reduce overall exhaustion and academic fatigue, as well as have a positive impact on your child’s motivation to participate in classroom activities.