Welcome to Southside Community School’s Exceptional Education
Click Here to see our school’s complete policies & procedures for the Child Find and Exceptional Education Process
At Southside, our Exceptional Education (ExED) Department offers parents, families, and the community assistance in navigating the ‘Child Find’ process for their preschool-aged children and children under the age of 5 years.
To request assistance in either English or Spanish, email our ExED Department, come to our front office in person or call (520) 623-7102 and ask to speak with the Exceptional Education Director, Zia Lunden. You may also leave a message with your contact information, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
CHILD FIND Information & Procedures
Southside Community School is a public charter school or Public Education Agency (PEA). As a PEA, our school is required to participate in a program called Child Find as part of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 2004 (IDEA ’04). Child Find requires states to locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities from birth to age 21 who are in need of early intervention or special education services. This includes children who are highly mobile (student address changes frequently) such as migrant or homeless children, children suspected of having a disability even though they are progressing from grade to grade, private school students, and homeschool students.
Arizona calls the initiative for this process of identifying children with disabilities ‘AZ FIND’.
Learn more about ‘AZ FIND’ on the Arizona Department of Education website
Helpful Links on AZ FIND from the Arizona Department of Education:
PARENT & FAMILY RESOURCES
To understand the appropriate developmental timeline for children under the age of 5, click the links below for a visual representation
- Child Development Timeline (English)
- Child Development Timeline (Spanish)
- Questions about my child’s learning – “Does Something NOT feel Right?”
- Preguntas sobre el aprendizaje de mi hijo – ¿Hay algo que NO se siente bien?
SCREENING & REFERALL FORMS
- Sample 45 Day Screener form (Used by school staff to screen and/or refer school-aged students from K-8th grade enrolled at Southside)
- Child Find Referral Form (Used to identify children by anyone who has concerns about their development; hard copes are available on campus)