FAIRVIEW STUDENTS LEARN WHAT MAKES
PITTSBURGH SPECIAL
R
epresentatives from
VisitPITTSBURGH
came to Fairview
Elementary School
November 22 to present a
brand-new outreach program
to the school’s fourth and
fifth graders. Entitled “Why is
Pittsburgh Special,” it is aimed at
showing students that Pittsburgh
is unique due to the differences
of its people and that those
differences are very important to our past, present, and
future.
Fairview students were the first-ever to experience the new
program which was coordinated by Tom Loftus, a lifelong
Pittsburgh resident and now the chief marketing officer
for VisitPITTSBURGH, the official tourism promotion
agency for Allegheny County. Ed
Kress, Allegheny County council
member, spoke with the students
about Pittsburgh’s unique dialect
and colloquialisms. When he asked
who used the word “yinz,” nearly
every hand in the room shot up!
Kennywood’s Director of Public
Relations and Social Media, Nick
Paradise, talked with the students
about Kennywood as an historic
landmark and showed an old
black-and-white video of the Jack Rabbit roller coaster. The
speakers also touched upon Pittsburgh’s many neighborhoods
and bridges – all things that make the city special.
Although the history of Pittsburgh was included, the main
message of the visit was, “Just be kind to everyone because
our differences make us special.”
NOTICES TO PARENTS OF CHILDREN WHO RESIDE
IN THE FOX CHAPEL AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT
ANNUAL PUBLIC NOTICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION
SERVICES AND PROGRAMS, SERVICES FOR
GIFTED STUDENTS, AND SERVICES FOR
PROTECTED HANDICAPPED STUDENTS
■
IDEA – Chapter 14
In compliance with state and federal law, notice is hereby
given by the Fox Chapel Area School District that it
conducts ongoing identification activities as a part of its
school program for the purpose of identifying students who
may be in need of special education and related services.
Child Find refers to activities undertaken by public education
agencies to identify, locate, and evaluate children residing
in the state, including children attending private schools,
who are suspected of having disabilities, regardless of the
severity of their disability, and determine the child’s need
for special education and related services. The purpose is
to locate these children so that a Free Appropriate Public
Education (FAPE) can be made available. Identification
Activities are performed to find a child who is suspected
as having a disability that would interfere with his or her
learning unless special education programs and services
are made available. These activities are sometimes called
screening activities. The activities include: review of group
data, conducting hearing and vision screening, assessment
of a student’s academic functioning, observation of the
student displaying difficulty in behavior, and determining
the student’s response to attempted remediation. Input from
parents is also an information source of identification. If
your child is identified by the district as possibly in need of
such services, you will be notified of applicable procedures.
26 Fox Chapel Area
Individualized services and programs are available for
children who are determined to need specially-designed
instruction due to the following conditions: autism/pervasive
development disorder, blindness or visual impairment,
deafness or hearing impairment, deaf blindness, orthopedic
impairment, developmental delay, multiple disabilities,
traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, emotional
disturbance, specific learning disability, and/or speech or
language impairment. We offer a continuum of services for
students with disabilities that begins with full inclusion in the
child’s home school and class, to separate programs within
other schools in which peers without disabilities would not
participate.
If you believe that your school-age child may be in need
of special education services and related programs, or your
child (ages three to school age) may be in need of early
intervention, screening and evaluation processes designed
to assess the need of the child and his/her eligibility are
available to you at no cost, upon written request. You may
request screening and evaluation at anytime, whether or not
your child is enrolled in the district’s public school program.
Requests for school-age evaluations and screenings are
to be made in writing to: Special Education Department,
Fox Chapel Area School District, 611 Field Club Road,
Pittsburgh, PA 15238. Requests for children ages three to
school age should be made in writing to: Project DART,
Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 475 East Waterfront Drive,
Homestead, PA 15120.