PS 121
An Outstanding School
Where Learning Takes Place
Special Education
Special Education is key to helping EVERY student meet his or her educational expectations.
Special Education encompasses all of the special services we provide here at PS121: Special Education Teacher Support Services (SETSS), Counseling, Speech and Language Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Hearing/Vision Education Services. Â As well, we have some classes with Special Education certified teachers for those who qualify. Â Â Any child who is approved for services will have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) customized by his or her teachers and providers to ensure that his or her every educational need is met. Â To learn more about these services, click the link below.
Special Services at PS 121
Counseling
Mrs. Doreen Ramdath
Our guidance counselor is an integral part of our administrative team. One of her many responsibilities is providing counseling services to approved students in an individual or small group setting. Mrs. Ramdath helps these students to gain self-confidence, develop appropriate social skills, and learn tools to help them manage their feelings.
Speech and Language Services
Therapy for articulation and language
Our in-house speech providers see qualified students individually or in small groups to address delays in articulation, phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and language processing. Speech students work on improved articulation and phonology skills using their lips, teeth, tongue and voice to ensure that they can easily express themselves and be understood. Language students are given a language foundation upon which to build more and more complex language structures, in order to enhance their ability to both comprehend and express language orally and in writing.
OT
Occupational Therapy
Welcome to OT! Our OT room is a fun place to be. Students participate in a wide range of therapeutic activities to build skills necessary for their participation in academic and functional school-day activities. Some of the skills we work on in OT are fine motor coordination and bilateral hand skills, visual motor skills, sensory integration skills, organizational skills, and ADLs, which are school-related activities of daily living. Sometimes OT takes place in the classroom where we practice these skills during class activities. Join us for one of our OT parent workshops or stop by to gather resources and helpful tips on how you can support your child’s physical development and readiness for school.
PT
Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy helps students strengthen gross motor skills critical to everyday functioning. At PT, students will enhance their ability to participate in physical education and dance, as well as movement activities in the classroom. We utilize strength-building and balancing activities to enhance skills such as running, jumping and stair climbing.
SETSS
Special Education Teacher Support Services
Students who are approved for SETSS are taken as per mandate by our senior special education teacher, who provides pull-out or push-in support for students who struggle academically.
ENL
English as a New Language
The ENL program is a combination of push-in and pull-out services, where students are grouped by grade and have mixed proficiency levels. Our integrated ENL is based on instruction to build English language skills through content area instruction. It is delivered by our licensed ELL teacher who utilizes teaching tools, such as Flipgrid, Google Classroom, Google Docs, Nearpod and Kahoot to teach and assess our ENL students. Both methods of integrated ENL instruction include content area subject matter and English language development using ENL strategies.