Who We Are

  • The role of the Pentucket Regional Special Education Parent Advisory Council is to provide parents of children with any type of disability or unique learning/behavioral needs the information and training they need to fully understand their child’s unique needs, how it impacts their education and how to work collaboratively with professionals to enhance successful educational outcomes for their child. Through the promotion of unlimited access to the general curriculum to the full extent possible, meaningful participation in standards based education, and the implementation of effective transition practices, students with disabilities will meet their developmental and functional goals, be a part of challenging academic achievement goals that have been established for all children; and be prepared to lead productive, independent adult lives, to the maximum extent possible.
     
    We recognize that children with disabilities need a voice in the school system as well as in the community to ensure access to both. We are that voice.
     
    We are not an appointed board but a state mandated group created to ensure regular collaboration with school officials and community members to help in the planning, development, and evaluation of the district’s special education programs.

Council Goals

  • Goal 1:

    Increase parents’ understanding of their children’s disabilities, their educational and developmental needs, and the range of available programs, services, and resources by providing individualized information, support and assistance. Our focus will be on those entering the special education maze for the first time as well as those embarking on a new phase of this journey. ( ie; transition planning)

    Goal 2:

    Empower parents to assume their role as active decision makers in the education of their children with disabilities through a variety of means. We plan to include workshops on important topics pertaining to basic rights as well as the IEP process. We will include information about both state and federal disability laws as well as procedural safeguards available to parents if needed. We also recognize the emotional component for the entire family and want to provide supports for all family members. Our goal is to provide to parents, individuals knowledgeable in a particular subject matter, whenever possible to ensure effective learning.

    Goal 3:

    Broaden and deepen the leadership capacity of parents to support other parents, especially those who are new to this maze or who otherwise would not be able to represent the needs of their child.

    Goal 4:

    Expand and strengthen cooperative and/or collaborative relationships with relevant school district and community-based partners to help ensure that the needs of all children with disabilities and their families are effectively met. Collaboration with typical peers for this group is critical to ensuring their meaningful contribution to the “life of the school and community.” Collaborative community sponsored programs such as Best Buddies is a goal of this group.

    Goal 5:

    To work collaboratively with both school and community members to plan, develop, implement, and evaluate programs necessary to ensure students with disabilities are able to exit from educational services to successful post-secondary education, independent living and/or employment outcomes by training parents, students and professionals in the use of creative, individually-focused strategies for effective transition planning.

Advisory Council