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The special education department at Moanalua Middle School currently consists of seven special education teachers, six educational assistants, and a student services coordinator.

The special education department is focused on providing services to students with IEP’s (Individual Education Programs), improving the co-teaching partnerships between the general ed. and special education teachers in the inclusion classrooms to meet the needs of all students, and assist students to progress in their IEP goals.

The three types of special education settings at Moanalua Middle School are Inclusion classrooms, Resource, and the Fully-Self Contained (FSC) classroom. Below is a description of each classroom setting:

Inclusion Classrooms: The inclusion classrooms are for our special education students who continue to require monitoring, accommodations, and modifications to their curriculum, but are independent, organized, and motivated enough to perform satisfactorily in the larger and faster paced general ed. inclusion setting. Inclusion classrooms have two teachers (one general ed. and one sped. teacher or educational assistant) who collaborate with one another to address the learning needs of all students. There are about 25 students in each of the general ed. inclusion classrooms, which have about 8-10 students who have sped services. Sped students in the inclusion classrooms rotate periods like their general ed. peers and follow the same content standards and curriculum.

Resource Classrooms: The resource classrooms are for our special education students who require a smaller educational setting that allows for greater one-to-one teacher support to address their academic needs in the areas of reading, writing, math, processing of information, organization, and appropriate decision-making. Resource classrooms usually have about 8-10 students at a time. The students switch periods like their general education peers. Special education teachers in the resource classrooms also follow the same content standards and curriculum as the general ed. teachers, but usually make more accommodations and modifications to their instruction in order to meet the needs of various learners.

Fully-Self Contained Classroom (FSC): The FSC setting is for our students with severe disabilities and/or who display extreme academic/physical needs (i.e. need help with feeding, using restroom, etc.). Students in the FSC setting remain within their classroom throughout the entire school day in order to meet their IEP needs. There are around 5-8 students in the FSC classroom, one sped teacher, an educational assistant, and skills trainers (currently five of them assigned to their individual students).