Building the whole person for the whole world by raising warriors of wisdom, stature, and favor.
Mission
Newman International Academy Charter School District’s Special Education team is committed to providing support services to students with disabilities in a way that promotes respect and dignity, while fostering academic excellence and social and emotional growth.
Vision
Students served through Special Education meet eligibility criteria as students with educational disability condition(s) and require specially designed instruction in order to receive educational benefit from the curriculum and educational environment. The services students require range from minimal weekly services to self-contained classroom settings. NIA offers a full continuum of special education services designed to meet the unique range of student needs.
NIA ensures that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities are educated with children who do not have disabilities. The Admission, Review, and Dismissal Committee (ARDC) is responsible for determining the least restrictive environment in which a student’s Individual Education Plan is to be implemented. Instructional arrangements/settings shall be based on the individual needs of the student and his/her IEP.
Categories of Educational Disability Conditions
The Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) list and defines thirteen disabilities. They are autism, deaf-blindness, auditory impairment / deaf and hard of hearing, emotional disturbance, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, learning disability, speech impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment, and non-categorical early childhood.
504 Services
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, commonly referred to as "Section 504", is a non-discrimination statute enacted by the United States Congress. One purpose of the Act is to prohibit discrimination and to assure that disabled students have educational opportunities and benefits equal to those provided to non-disabled students.
An eligible student under Section 504 is a student who (a) currently has, or (b) has a record of having, or (c) is regarded as having a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity such as learning, self-care, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working or performing manual tasks.
Each campus has a 504 committee comprised of three or more persons knowledgeable of the student, the district's programs, the suspected disability and appropriate accommodations for it. The 504 committee will review evaluation information and determine eligibility for 504. The committee will develop an accommodation plan for identified student if needed to provide the student access to participate in the curriculum.
Dyslexia
Instructional decisions for a student with dyslexia are made by a team who is knowledgeable about the student, the meaning of the evaluation information, and instructional components and approaches for students with dyslexia. Students who have a diagnosis or identification of dyslexia can be served through either the Section 504 Support Plan through general education or an Individualized Education Plan designed by the ARDC through special education. That decision is determined on a case-by-case basis.
The district provides a reading program at the student’s home campus which consists of the following components of instruction: phonemic awareness, grapho-phonemic knowledge, language structure, and linguistic and processes instruction.
The program utilizes the following instructional approaches: explicit, direct instruction, individualized instruction, multisensory instruction.
The services are provided to the student by a teacher trained in dyslexia and related disorders.
The 2021 Dyslexia Handbook (TEA) requires that students be identified through a full and individualized evaluation under the guidelines of IDEA and through special education. It can be viewed from a link in this site.
Special Education Records Requests
TEC 7.010 requires student records and transcripts be sent electronically, including a student's course or grade completion, teachers of record, assessment instrument results, placement in special education, IEP, and personal graduation plans.
In an effort to comply with Texas Education Agency regulations, the NIA Special Education Department will transmit ALL records requests electronically. All requests for records will be handled via TREx, unless the sending/receiving school is located out-of-state. In the case of out-of-state requests, email will be used for the transfer of records.
If you have any questions or need to make a records request for in state or out of state records, please contact Tracy Rodman at [email protected].
Contact Information
Tracy Rodman, M.Ed.
Director of Special Education
Office of Student Support Services
Molly Scott
Assistant Director of Special Education
Office of Student Support Services