In this section of our site you will find links to the many ways in which we provide support and training including workshops, webinars, videos, fact sheets, topical networking groups, and coaching/consultation.

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
-Helen Keller

The Northern Suburban Special Education District (NSSED) has established itself as a leader in special education over the past half century.  As a cooperative, we work in collaboration with our 18 member districts to provide a broad spectrum of educational programming and support services to meet the needs of some of their most unique learners.

We are guided in our work by a dedicated Executive Committee and Governing Board who represent the interests of each of our member districts in serving their students.

The success of our programming is built on our partnerships with families.   Whether they serve on the Association of Parents and Staff,  on one of our Partnership Teams, or give us input through direct conversation with their child’s teacher, parents provide critical insight to help us better serve all students with special needs.  Our work on behalf of all students would not be as rich without these conversations and partnerships.

We are committed to the possibilities in every student.

We help students become successful, happy adults in home, work and community. We provide education that fosters acquisition and utilization of knowledge and skills, meaningful and satisfying interaction with others, appropriate self-advocacy, social conscientiousness and participation, and lifelong healthy lifestyles.

Over the past many years, NSSED has accomplished truly remarkable things for children and youth with special needs – and together we will continue to do more.

Dr. Tim Thomas
Superintendent

Each year students from the NSSED Educational and Life Skills Transition Program learn the importance in becoming conscientious and contributing members of their communities.

With dozens of opportunities to choose from, these students participate in a volunteer outreach program to learn how to give of their time and to demonstrate their abilities to others.

This year the students chose to make blankets for patients undergoing chemotherapy and donate the blankets to the American Cancer Society. “The students know they are helping people and this work takes away from their feeling they have a disability and gives them an ability” says Kim Keller-Eck, one of the teachers in the Transition Program classroom.

The students purchased large swatches of fleece material, measured and cut fringe that was tied. In the process one student learned how to tie as each piece required 40 knots. “We adapt the process of making the blankets so that each student can participate at their ability level. Some students are able to participate in the enter process, including delivering the blankets to the Cancer Society office, while others participated by helping us fold the completed piece”, added Mrs. Keller-Eck.

→ ELS Program Page

→ Transition Page

→ ELS Staff Directory

→ Calendar

 

"‘Volunteer’ not only means someone who comes to school during the day, but also anyone who supports school goals and children’s learning in any way, at any place, and at any time."

-School, Family and Community Partnerships by J.L. Epstein et al., c 2002

 

Strong school, family and community partnerships positively impact student outcomes. A foundational piece to partnership work is a volunteer program that provides meaningful parental and community involvement in helping students achieve their goals.

 → Volunteer Interest Form (Coming Soon)

→ Volunteer Opportunities

It did not take long after Apple's iPad was first released in April of 2010 for the field of special education to begin speculating about its use and potential benefits in the classroom. The benefits of the iPad over some of the other tools that are available in the classroom include the fact that students can directly interact with it with their fingers / hands, the interface is intuitive for even the most beginning users, and the apps that are available to load onto the device are extremely varied and most are inexpensive. It also helps that the iPad turns on in seconds, is lightweight and portable, has a long battery life, and is a mainstream technology that most everyone is familiar with.

By the fall of 2010, NSSED was in full swing of investigating the use of iTechnology in the classroom and had assembled a group of stakeholders to consider the potential benefits to implementation (e.g., increases in student motivation and independence) and areas that needed to be explored (e.g., infrastructure, curriculum integration, district policies) in order for implementation to be successful.  In the spring, an iTechnology Pilot program was initiated in the Early Childhood and Educational and Life Skills (EC/ELS) classrooms. The purpose of the pilot was to evaluate the impact on student outcomes as well as continue investigating questions surrounding infrastructure and app management, integration into the classroom curriculum, and the need to reevaluate or potentially create policies. The Pilot Study outcomes were strong. The results suggested that when iPads and iPod Touches were used in the classroom, students tended to be more independent, on task, accurate, and behaviorally appropriate.  In addition, important information  was gained with regards to supports that needed to be in place for successful implementation. For a full report of the Pilot and the outcomes CLICK HERE.

NSSED continues to evaluate the impact of using iPads in classrooms on student outcomes as well as investigate the most effective and efficient strategies and supports for implementation. This goal of this continued data collection effort to get a larger, more representative sample of students reflected in the data collected and to look for similarities and differences in how the iPads are being used and how students are responding to the iPads from one year to the next.

There are now over 80 NSSED owned iPads and more than 20 iPod Touches in our various programs and services.

NSSED staff are working hard to provide all of the supports and professional development needed to support the iPad users in the district.