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Program Oversight and Long Range Planning

• Develop comprehensive plan for continuum of services and procedural flowchart for alternative education
• Develop global communications network within FCPS departments and with local and state systems pertaining to alternative education needs
• Implement student data collection and analysis for ISP, alternative education programs and students placed by contract services in private programs in order to establish a baseline for improvement goals
• Implement staff and program data collection and analysis in order to outline improvement plan for staff development
• Implement data collection and analysis of current program options in order to construct a procedural proposal for student transitions
• Consult with an advisory committee of CSA related personnel (special education administration, clinical staff, court personnel, mental health experts, community resources, etc.) to discuss location options, staffing and cost analysis
• Implement a middle school Project Opportunity
• Ensure the proper training of alternative school staff in CSA procedures so that Child Specific Teams can be implemented when multiple agencies are involved with students and proper coordination is required
• Work with the Community Services Board to determine the need for a partial hospitalization program in the south or east county areas
• Work with the Office of Professional Technical Studies, guidance and career services, and career and transition programs and services to expand and enhance offerings for students in alternative settings.

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DSS Alternative School Programs

Supervise, evaluate and assist coordinator:

• Assist with recruitment, staff development, and evaluation of alternative teachers
• Coordinate communications with other human services agencies as supports to enrolled students
• Oversee identification, placement, and effective educational practices for enrolled students to ensure quality programming and adequate educational progress, including graduation
• Communicate with general education and special education for transitioning students into and out of alternative sites
• Oversee and disseminate updated information and changes of federal, state, and FCPS regulations
• Pursue and manage grants designed to support alternative education (ex: GED programming, reading initiatives)
• Provide liaison services with court and community agencies and coalitions (Partnership for Youth, CSB, etc.)

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Contract Services

Supervise, evaluate and assist coordinator of Contract Services in:

• Service delivery systems and procedures for paperwork
• Recruitment, supervision and evaluation of Contract Services staff and specialist
• Monitoring and compliance of special education mandates
• Coordination of communication networks with FCPS and also with private school programs and human services agencies
• Coordination of homebound services
• Analysis of effective time management as it relates to IEPs, re-evaluations, CSTs, FAPTs and other CSA activities
• Development of long-term plan to return students to LRE,, including creation of new programs to support this transition and oversight of placement/projections
• Staff development and maintenance of procedural handbook
• Oversight of transition services to contract service students
• Oversight of CSA management
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Alternative High Schools

Works in conjunction with area office personnel, special education personnel, hearing office personnel and alternative school principals to:

• Ensure effective comprehensive educational programming to maximize completion of graduation requirements (course offerings, SOL evaluation, scheduling, staffing, etc.)
• Manage and initiate procurement of grants to support education program (ex: 3 year School to Work grant)
• Coordinate communications among alternative high schools and also between alternative high schools and other educational programs and schools to streamline action plans that overlap common goals
• Coordinate with community agencies such as ADS to maximize multi-agency services to students in alternative education
• Assist area superintendents with principal evaluations as appropriate
  

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Summit and ALC Programs

Consult, plan and coordinate with program coordinators and area superintendents to:

• Develop effective educational programs that meet the unique educational and social-emotional needs of students who demonstrate serious behavioral concerns
• Refine input and outcome indicators for students transitioning into and out of these programs
• Coordinate and plan with higher education institutions to provide competency-based training for educators and clinical school personnel who work with students with diverse needs
• Communicate with School Board, Leadership Team, Hearing Office, area offices, and DSSSE on issues such as student demographics, teacher expectations, program evaluation, and future projections

The primary purpose of the Summit Program is to provide intensive behavioral and academic interventions to build responsibility, positive relationships, and resiliency in students, grades kindergarten through eleven, who have been unsuccessful in their base school due to behavior problems. There are three goals to meet this primary purpose. Goal one is to provide an effective higher order intervention to decrease disruptions to the on-going base school program and for continuity with early intervention, prevention, and school capacity programs. A second goal is to provide the student individualized services based on researched best practices in academic instruction and positive approaches to behavior management. The third goal of the program is to maintain connection to the student's base school and provide an effective transition back to the base school or appropriate program.

The Summit Program is an eighteen-week intervention designed to intervene in the area of problem behaviors while offering an appropriate academic program. Students are served at twelve locations throughout the county. Separate classroom instruction minimizes negative large group social interactions and other distractions that may have led to the original serious disciplinary actions and academic distress. The low student to teacher ratio and separate classroom also allows for an individualized approach and protects the base school instructional program from disruption. All sites will provide a minimum of 4.5 hours of daily instruction. Three elementary sites, five middle school sites, and four high school sites will either serve a capacity of 12 or 24 students based on the proposed staffing configuration. A total of 168 students may be served during each semester.

Summit staff meet with referring school staff to determine the appropriateness of the placement. Students are accepted and placed in the program approximately every five weeks coinciding with either the beginning of the grading period or at the interim. After the student's placement of eighteen weeks, the students are returned to their base school, or possibly may be referred to another alternative setting, if necessary. Because this is a relatively short intervention, collaborative transition planning is critical. At the placement meeting, the referring school staff and the Summit staff will develop an individualized instructional plan (IIP) based on the student's specific needs indicated in the student's records, collection of observation data, and discussion with the student, the student's teachers, and the parents. Identification of specific behavioral goals, development of a transition plan, and identification of a base school contact person are areas of particular importance determined at the placement meeting. Summit staff will communicate with the base school contact person to provide progress information and to coordinate instruction.

Summit Program enrollment procedure
When a student is observed to be in increasing academic and behavioral distress in the base school, he/she may be referred a minimum of two weeks before the interim or end of the grading period to the Summit Program by submitting a Alternative Education Placement Referral Form with all required attachments to the Summit administrator. A meeting will be scheduled to facilitate placement into the appropriate program. A rolling enrollment schedule will allow school administrators to refer students for Summit entry approximately every five weeks.

For information or assistance, please contact: Dr. John R. Marston, Administrator, Summit Program
(703) 246-8118 John.Marston@fcps.edu

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Target Implementation

• Participate in committee planning to analysis data and enact effective programs to meet targets
  

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Collaboration with Local, State and National Department of Education's and Organizations

• Communicate with pertinent departments on evolving trends, practices and issues
• Provide support and public relations to and from other agencies
• Participate in development of state and local regulations
• Assist in the coordination and planning of long range service delivery of multiple county agencies
  

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