Specialized services offered by the Socrates-Demosthenes school, are made in a personal approach to effectively respond to our customer’s needs. An interdisciplinary team of professionals is dedicated to working closely with teachers, parents and other stakeholders to address the educational, medical, psychological and social needs of each child.
1. Referral of a child to multidisciplinary team or to one of its members.
A child can benefit from the help of the following specialists when he/she experiences academic, social, emotional, or behavioral difficulties.
Internal and external members of the school team may include the following::
Internal:Specialized instructors (psycho-educators), remedial tutors, teachers and school principals.
External: Dental hygienists, psychologists, speech-language pathologists, social workers, health care personnel, parents/guardians.
Note that particular specialized services offered at school Socrates-Demosthenes, may vary from year to year. The policy for specialized services applies only to those services available in the school year.
2.Reference to internal team members
Following a parent / teacher communication, any teacher can discuss the student’s difficulties (academic, social, emotional or behavioral) with any internal member of the school’s multidisciplinary team.
Following a request made by a teacher or the school principal, any internal member of the school’s multidisciplinary team can be called in a classroom, (without parental consent) as an observer, to collect information on any child with difficulties of all kinds.
The specialized educator/instructor, the remedial tutor and other professionals (when available) make every effort to support the work of teachers. A teacher or a specialist can request assistance from an education specialist, a remedial tutor, or any other specialist available to assist a child, either inside or outside the classroom. Assistance from specialized educators, remedial tutors, and other available internal specialists, requires a written parental consent. A consent form is sent to parents/guardians through their child in order to permit new support measures. The consent form must be returned to the school.
Parents / guardians may at any time contact the teacher and/or the specialized educator to receive information about their child or to make a request to hold a formal meeting with all stakeholders involved.
Parents / guardians may themselves make a request for the professional services available or to arrange an appointment for a consultation (meeting with a professional) as and when they observe difficulties or new needs in their children.
3.Evaluations
When a child has persistent social, emotional, psychological and/or behavioral learning difficulties, the school has the right to recommend an appropriate professional assessment (academic, psychological, medical, neuropsychological, etc.). It is strongly suggested that any recommendations made by the school regarding any evaluation or support measure are respected and followed in the shortest possible time.
If a parent/guardian refuses to follow formal recommendations made by the school, supported and sanctioned by a professional evaluation, it may be required for him/her to sign a form absolving the school of any responsibility for any negative consequences that might result directly from this decision..
When there is reason to believe that the security or the development of a child is in danger, sections 39 and 39.1 of the Youth Protection Act mentions that professionals working with children and teachers are required, in the performance of their duties, make a report to the D.P.J.
