Multilingual Learner (ML) Support
Students who speak a language in addition to English at home are eligible to receive support from our Multilingual Learners (ML) Teachers. Our ML Teachers provide push-in instructional support in our classrooms and collaborate with the homeroom teachers to create language-rich experiences for our students. We value our community’s linguistic diversity and aim to empower our ML students to grow into future bilingual adults.
Special Education
Our special education services provide individualized support to meet the diverse needs of students with disabilities. We offer a continuum of services, ranging from inclusive instruction within general education classrooms to targeted supports in specialized settings. Our goal is to ensure all students have equitable access to a high-quality education, whether through inclusive practices, small group intervention, or specialized programs, so that every learner can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Inside General Education
Many students receive specialized instruction and services while learning alongside their peers without disabilities. This inclusive model ensures access to grade level content and promotes academic and social success.
Outside General Education
Some students benefit from additional support in Learning Labs or self-contained classrooms, where they receive direct, specialized instruction in smaller settings while still participating in general education for part of the day.
Self-Contained Classrooms
Early Learning Support (ELS) serves students with developmental delays through research-based interventions.
Communication and Education Support (CES) serves students with more significant social, behavioral, and/or cognitive impairments using a modified core curriculum aligned to grade level standards, with evidence based literacy and math instruction.
Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)
MTSS is a framework used to maximize the success of all students. MTSS is not a separate program, class, or intervention but rather a way of organizing instruction and intervention to help all students. The goal of the multi-tiered framework is to provide high-quality instruction and supports based on student needs. This framework also helps educators by providing information (data) to identify students needing additional support (academic, social-emotional, and behavioral).
Key Components
MTSS includes high quality instruction, universal screening, multiple tiers of support that are progressively more intensive, evidence-based interventions matched to student need, and ongoing progress monitoring of student performance.
Tiered Levels of Support
Tier 1 is the universal layer of proactive supports for all students and consists of high-quality classroom instruction. Tier 1 instruction occurs in whole group, small groups, and individual settings.
Tier 2 is the targeted layer of support for some students that consists of supplemental academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports provided in addition to core high-quality instruction.
Tier 3 is the most intensive layer of support for a few students and consists of targeted instruction and intervention specifically designed to meet the individual academic and behavioral needs of students.
Wellness Supports
Click here to refer a student to our school’s mental health team.
Click here to learn more about the DCPS School Mental Health program.
To support the social, emotional, and behavioral well-being of all students, Military Road Early Learning Center’s Wellness Team includes a part-time School Psychologist, full-time School Social Worker, part-time Board-Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), and full-time Behavior Technician.
The Role of the School Psychologist
The school psychologist is a trained professional who provides supports to students to help them overcome academic, emotional, and social challenges. They provide screening and assessment, support implementation of social-emotional learning in classrooms, and provide individualized short-term interventions as appropriate. They collaborate with teachers, parents, and other professionals to help students succeed at school. The school psychologist is a member of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Team and the Special Education Team.
The Role of the School Social Worker
The school social worker is a fully-licensed mental health clinician who provides a variety of supports to students, staff, and families to promote a positive school climate and social-emotional well-being. Services include classroom-based support, teacher consultation, parent consultation, and individual and group counseling for students. The social worker is a member of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Team and Special Education Team. The social worker also supports attendance and is the McKinney-Vento Liaison.
