Streator Elementary District #44(Streator)
District #44 serves the Streator community of 22,000, located in the southern region of LaSalle County. Streator Elementary is a Prek-8th grade district with just under 2000 students. It consists of four K-5th buildings, and a 6-8th grade Junior High. There are 26 special education programs ranging from Communication Disordered and Cognitive Disabilities to Integrated Learning Disabilities. Streator is located 18 miles south of Interstate 80 in the North Central region of the state. The district is a member of LEASE a decentralized Special Education Cooperative that services 25 school districts.
District staff includes two school psychologists, with one in the capacity of the Director of Special Services and is a Ph.D. licensed Clinical/Neuropsychologist, and the other with a Specialists degree. The district also has three School Social Workers, nine Speech Pathologists, Occupational and Physical Therapy services, two Developmental Preschool programs and three At-Risk preschool classrooms serving over 120 children ages 3-5. The District also provides 0-3 services through a State grant.
The district has a developing RTI data based intervention approach that utilizes DIBELS and AIMSweb monitoring tools. An intervention based, problem-solving team for each building meets weekly to address parent, teacher, and staff concerns on student progress, curriculum approaches, behavior, modifications, and accommodations. Students are supported by Title I reading, Integrated Special Education Teachers, Co-teaching, and Teaching Assistants. The district provides a full range of services with Resource support and Self-Contained programs. Full integration into regular education is developing as part of the RTI process. Reading intervention is based completely on individualized needs for all students. There are more specialized and intense programs for learning and behavior/emotional needs at all grade levels. The Cognitive Disabilities programs have an active community-training component.
The internship can offer opportunities at the feeder high school, community mental health organizations, psychiatric hospitalization programs, and at a Clinical private practice, all depending upon interest. The intern is actively involved in the building problem solving teams and consultation with staff. Assessment needs result from Team decisions focused on curriculum and processing concerns of the student. Other opportunities that may be available depending upon interests include the Youth Service Bureau, YMCA Children’s programs, Violence Prevention Council, student led anti-drug coalitions, and after school at-risk programs. Experiences can include a week long Autism training workshop each summer, conducted by experienced professionals in the field. Throughout the school year district-wide inservices are presented on Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Curriculum Mapping, Differentiated Instruction, Response-To-Intervention, and technology in the schools.
The internship covers all fees for attendance at statewide workshops and the Illinois School Psychology Conference. The internship offers a wide-variety of possible, school, clinical, and neuropsychological experiences and training. The internship truly offers a variety of experiences flexible to the intern’s interests, with no set duties. A stipend of $12,000 is paid for a basic five day work week 7:30 – 4:00.