Winona Public Schools

Support Services

419 College Street, Winona, MS 38967 (662) 283-1000

Special Education

The Winona School District participates with the State Department of Education in an ongoing statewide effort to identify, locate, and evaluate children birth through the age of 21, who have health impairments, physical, mental, communicative, and/or emotional disabilities. Early identification of children in need of special educational experiences is most important to each child. Contacts with parents and other agencies help to determine appropriate public education to all children with disability.

The Special Education Department works with local Head Start, Human Services, Heath and Mental Health agencies, as well as local education agencies, physicians and other individuals to identify and locate children out of school and in school who may be in need of special education services.

The Winona School District is currently serving children ages 3-21 in the areas of speech/language, specific learning disabilities, educationally disabled, emotionally disabled, visually impaired, developmentally delayed, autistic, physically disabled, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairments. Other services available are in the areas of hearing impaired, deaf/blind, and multiple disabilities.

The Winona School District employs 10 special education teachers, 4 teacher assistants, and 2 speech/language therapists.

Psychometrist

A psychometrist is a licensed professional who conducts educational testing to determine the presence of a disability, which may lead to eligibility for special education service, and administers intelligence tests to determine eligibility for the intellectually gifted program. Principle duties of a psychometrist are to administer, score, and interpret tests and then to communicate the implications of the assessment results to parents and school staff. The Winona School District has one part-time psychometrist.

504 Services

The purpose of Section 504 is to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or activity provided by school districts and other educational providers that receive federal financial assistance.

The Winona School District ensures that students who are 504 eligible have educational opportunities equivalent to their non-disabled peers and are provided appropriate general education or special education and related aids and services. A yearly 504 plan is written for each eligible student and revised, as necessary.

Office of Federal Programs 

The Winona School District receives federal funds to support and enhance the educational programs of the district. These funds flow from the federal government through the Mississippi Department of Education, Office of Innovative Support. These federal dollars assist the district in supporting efforts such as professional development, class size reduction, recruiting highly qualified teachers and administrators as required by No Child Left Behind, parent/community involvement, innovative services, and the provision of a safe, orderly climate conducive to teaching and learning.

The Consolidated Federal Programs Application is developed each spring by a planning committee made up of administrators, teachers, parents and community members. Program planning is data-driven with information drawn from test scores, needs assessments, and other data sources. If you would be interested in serving on this committee, please contact Nanda Reed at (662) 283-1000 or by emailing nandareed@winonaschools.net.

The completed plan is available for viewing and comments in the Office of Support Services 419 College Street, Winona, MS 38967.

Title I Federal Funding

Purpose

• Improve teaching and learning to help students in high poverty areas in meeting the same challenging state content/performance standards that all students must meet

• Promote effective instructional strategies that increase the amount and quality of learning time for at-risk children and that deliver an enriched and accelerated curriculum

• Expand eligibility for school-wide programs in order to serve all children in schools in high poverty areas

• Encourage school-based planning and decision-making

• Promote effective parental involvement

• Support coordination with health and social services

• Provide schools with greater decision-making authority and flexibility, as well as greater responsibility for student performance

Use of Funds: We use our funds for professional development and to hire student support staff and certified teachers to reduce class size.

Title II Federal Funding

Purpose

• Increase student academic achievement through strategies such as improving teacher and principal quality and increasing the number of highly qualified teachers in the classrooms and highly qualified principals and assistant principals in schools

• Hold local educational agencies and schools accountable for improvements in student academic achievement

Use of Funds: We use out Title II funds for professional development and to hire qualified teachers to reduce class size.

Title IV Safe & Drug Free Schools & Communities

Purpose

• Support programs that prevent violence in and around schools

• Prevent the illegal use of alcohol, tobacco and drugs

• Involve parents and communities

• Coordinate with related federal, state, school and community efforts and resources to foster a safe and drug-free learning environment that supports academic achievement

• Use of Funds: We use our funds to provide activities and resources that fulfill the purposes of the Title IV funds.

Title V

Purpose

• Support local educational reform efforts that are consistent with statewide education reform efforts

• Provide funding to enable state educational agencies and local educational agencies to implement promising educational reform programs and school improvement programs grounded in scientifically based research

• Provide a continuing source of innovative and educational improvement programs grounded in scientifically based research

• Establish support programs to provide library services, instructional supplies, and media materials

• Meet the educational needs of all students, including at-risk youth

• Develop and implement educational programs to improve school; to improve student and teacher performance; to conduct professional development activities; and to provide class size reduction programs

Use of Funds: We use our funds to provide scientifically-based, research proven innovative programs.

Title VI Rural and Low Income School Program

Purpose

• Provide funding for teacher recruitment and retention, including the sue of signing bonuses and other financial assistance

• Promote teacher professional development, including programs that train teachers to utilize technology to improve teaching and to train special needs teachers.

• Purchase educational technology, including software and hardware

• Promote parental involvement activities

• Develop activities and programs that prevent violence and the illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs in and around schools as authorized under Title IV

• Support activities authorized under Title I—Part A and under Title III

Use of Funds: Our funds are used to meet student needs.

Parental Involvement Policy

Title I Parental Involvement Policy includes:

• At least 1% of the district’s annual Title I allocations shall be reserved to implement parental involvement activities.

• A Parental Involvement Policy committee will be selected to develop a written policy for parental involvement in each school.

• A written parental involvement policy will be distributed to parents and will be incorporated into the district’s education plan.

• A Parent Center will be provided to assist parents in becoming full partners in their child’s education.

• An annual public meeting inviting all district and community persons will be conducted to inform parents and the community, at large, of the activities provided with the Title I funds and to inform them of their right to consult in the design and implementation of the Title I program, etc.

• Parents will also be provided a description and explanation of the curriculum used in schools, the forms of assessment used to measure student progress, and the proficiency levels students are expected to meet.

• Report cards will be picked up by parents at the end of each nine week period. In addition, progress reports will be distributed every 4 ½ to 5 weeks. Phone calls to parents will also be utilized to keep parents informed of teacher concerns. Parent conferences may be arranged through the school offices.

• An evaluation of the effectiveness of parental involvement will be done at various intervals through questionnaires sent home to solicit parental input on Title I program status and needs for improvement. Meetings with parents will be held at various times to solicit suggestions for increasing parental involvement and to design strategies that can be implemented at home to increase achievement.

English Language Learners

The Winona School District is committed to providing educational programs to meet the needs of all students. The district recognizes that it is obligated to provide services for students who have a home language background other that English and who are potentially non-English proficient. The district’s English Language Learners plan is designed to ensure that ELL students have access to services and materials that will enhance the literacy skills needed to participate in the instructional programs offered by the district and to assist the ELL students to achieve to their maximum potential.

For additional information, please contact Nanda Reed at (662) 283-1000 or email at nandareed@winonachools.net.

Office of Curriculum

The Winona School District implements a curriculum management system that includes at least a minimum of the compentencies required in the curriculum frameworks approved by the Mississippi State Board of Education. The Winona Instructional Navigator is a tool developed by teachers and administrators that serves as a pacing guide for courses taught in the district. Curriculum mapping, vertical and horizontal alignment of curriculum, innovative teaching strategies, and data-driven instruction all play an integral part of curriculum planning and management.

Suggested teaching strategies, resources, and assessment strategies are available to teachers for selection and use in teaching the required compentecies.

The district conducts an annual analysis of student performance and takes action to improve the curriculum, instructional delivery, and/or evaluation components when the review of student performance indicates weaknesses in the instructional management system.

Professional development time is used for working on assessing and adjusting the instructional program to fit the needs of each student in the district.

Early Intervention Services

Mississippi Department of Education requires an instructional model designed to meet the needs of every student.

Three Tier Model of Instruction

Tier I Quality classroom instruction based on MS
Curriculum Frameworks

Tier II Focused supplemental instruction

Tier III Intensive interventions specifically designed to meet the individual needs of the

student

Teachers use progress monitoring information to (a) determine if students are making adequate progress, (b) identify students as soon as they begin to fall behind, and (c) modify instruction early enough to ensure each and every student gains essential skills. Monitoring of student progress is an ongoing process that may be measured through informal classroom assessment, benchmark assessment instruments, and large-scale assessments.

If strategies at Tiers I & II are unsuccessful, students must be referred to the Teacher Support Team. The Teacher Support Team (TST) is the problem-solving unit responsible for interventions developed at Tier III. The chairperson of the TST is the school principal or the principal’s designee.
Interventions will be:

- Designed to address the deficit areas
- Research based
- Implemented as designed by the TST
- Supported by data regarding the effectiveness of interventions

In addition to failure to make adequate progress following Tiers I & II, students will be referred to the TST for interventions as specified in guidelines developed by MDE if any of the following events occur:

A. Grades 1-3 - A student failed one (1) grade.
B. Grades 4-12 - A student has failed two (2) grades; OR
C. A student failed either the preceding two grades and has been suspended or expelled

for more than twenty (20) school days in the current school year.

In School Tutoring

In school tutoring is designed to help a student improve academically. Winona Public School District employs retired certified teachers to tutor during the school day. Students who are having difficulty in math, reading and language are targeted. Students are tutored district-wide.