York Region District School Board’s planning, program development and service delivery processes have a strong tradition of including students with special needs as an integral part of our culture. This tradition is based on a belief that every student can learn and succeed with appropriate accommodations and modifications that address individual strengths and needs. Inclusiveness relies on strong learning communities that promote respect for differences while recognizing, valuing and validating all children’s right to belong at school.

The practice of inclusion is more than full integration in regular classrooms. It goes beyond the continuum of service placements available to address individual student needs to include meaningful participation and interaction with others.

In the York Region District School Board, Student Services facilitates:

• a continuum of service delivery options in response to pupil strengths and needs;
• the provision of extensive resource staff who work in a multi-disciplinary way to support the development of quality programs for exceptional pupils ;
• a tiered approach to prevention and intervention which facilitates high quality evidence-based assessment and instruction and appropriate interventions that respond to individual student needs;
• collaboration with school based staff to ensure that intentional planning, instruction and differentiation are appropriately provided to meet the learning needs of each student; and,
• the establishment of environments where all staff, students, parents and other partners focus on shared understanding of common goals.

• understanding learning disabilities through:
  • a module with a Learning Disabilities Processing Chart;
  • the introduction of the waterfall chart Understanding Learning Disabilities
  • feedback from student and parent focus groups;
• Speech-Language Pathologists supporting our new full day kindergarten programs one day a week in collaboration with Curriculum and Instructional Services;
• enhancing oral language and phonological awareness for kindergarten students through the Building Blocks for Kindergarten summer program and development of a phonological awareness webcast; and
• introduction of the assessment tool Insight for identification of students as gifted.

Updated December 2012