Welcome to Dare Elementary School

York County uses an inclusion model to provide services for students with special needs.  The Special Education and General Education teachers collaborate to create the best learning environment for these students.  Room 202 is the home base of the Special Education staff at Dare Elementary.  The Dare Special Education staff includes:

Barbara Homer is the kindergarten, first and second grade resource teacher. She and her assistants work with students who have varying needs.  Barbara has been teaching in York County for over twenty-seven years.

Marlene Riccio is the teacher for third, fourth and fifth.  This is her fourth year at Dare; and she has previously taught in Texas, California and Germany.  Marlene and her assistants work one-on-one with students in their general education classroom and the resource room, offering assistance to both the students and the teachers.

The Special Education teachers provide direct instruction in room 202 to revisit skills and lessons students have been taught in their general education classrooms.  For example, the fourth and fifth grade students are sometimes involved in study skills and time management lessons that provide organizational expertise and teach students to take responsibility for their work.

Inclusion is a system of education that creates a beneficial environment based on the students’ learning needs.  The Special Education teachers work within the general education classroom to provide assistance to students with special needs.  The instruction that the classroom teachers give is often re-phrased, or in some cases reviewed with the students.  The Special Education teacher can modify the presentation and final products of the instruction to better fit the learning needs of each student.  The General Education teacher and the Special Education teacher collaborate to review progress of the students and to create the best learning environment.