South County Consortium

Our Mission

The mission of the South County Consortium is to support students and families in Petaluma and surrounding areas by providing highly specialized programs for students in preschool through high school in their own communities. We support our students by providing integrative, individualized, and strength-based programs that foster communication, critical thinking, and technology skills. In collaboration with school teams, families, and community we assist students in gaining independence, achievement, and skills for becoming positive members of the community.

South County Consortium Program

Special Education eligibility and services are based on evaluation and present levels. The least restrictive environment is always considered (To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled, and special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.” 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(5)(A).)

Students with special education services and an IEP, benefit from developmentally appropriate speech and language instruction and guided practice in small group settings.

The speech program offers remedial instruction to students with mild to moderate delays in speech and language development and school readiness skills. Students typically participate in twice-weekly, small group instruction that addresses all areas of communication: speech, sound production, vocabulary, grammar, social language, and concept development. Parent participation is an integral part of this program and is encouraged to reinforce skills at home. Students who qualify for occupational therapy services participate in a weekly group session.

The STRETCH program is designed for preschool students with special education services and an IEP who require more than a twice a week non-intensive speech program but less than an intensive special day class program. This program provides services four days a week for 1-2 hours each day. Students are grouped by age. During that time period, intensive speech therapy, social skills training, and pre-academics are addressed. An occupational therapist is there one day per week to provide IEP services, however, all students participate in the instruction. The STRETCH program has 4-8 students. Parents are an integral part of the program and are encouraged to reinforce skills at home. The decision to place a student in this program will be done collaboratively within the IEP team.

K-12 Intensive Program

Overview
Life Skills Class
Therapeutic Support Classes

All teachers in the South County Consortium work closely with the staff and administration of the specific site where their classes are located. Each class has 2 or 3 Instructional Aides working under the supervision of the classroom teacher as well as additional related service providers (nurse, occupational therapy, physical therapy, adapted physical therapy, speech and language, and counseling). Services are determined by students' Individual Education Programs (IEPs).

Our Life Skills classes serve students with intellectual or developmental disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder. The focus of instruction is on academics, communication, and social skills. The secondary grades also work on functional/life skills using community based instruction to reinforce important concepts and increase the generalization of skills and self-determination for our students.

Our Therapeutic Support Program (TSP) classes serve students with emotional disabilities. In addition to academic instruction, the classroom staff utilizes positive behavioral integration systems and high degrees of structure, routine, and reinforcement to teach and encourage positive emotional regulation and coping skills. Additionally, the classrooms all have at least one counselor who works with the students and staff to deliver individualized and group counseling services as well as to provide in the moment support and problem-solving. The goal is to help students work towards generalizing and making use of learned coping skills.