Inclusion of Children with Diverse Learning Needs: Our Kesher Program

At Gan Ami, we value the unique qualities that each child brings to our community. We do everything we can to create a learning experience that recognizes individual differences among children, while maintaining an intentional play-based educational approach. Our goal is to be as inclusive as possible. We welcome all children, including those with special developmental and/or health care needs. However, we recognize that some children may not be best served by our approach or structure, and in such cases, our school staff and parents work together to determine the best placement for each child.

“Kesher,” which means “connect” in Hebrew, is our program for providing support services for children. Our Kesher Coordinator provides consultative services to teachers and children. With parent’s permission, the Kesher Coordinator will provide additional classroom observations and feedback to parents at no additional charge. Private evaluations and treatment by a professional therapist may be arranged for an additional fee.

Gan Ami is committed to building open communication and partnerships among our school, families and any outside providers supporting our students so that we can most effectively meet the needs of each child. We expect parents to inform their child’s teachers of any services the student is receiving, and we welcome and encourage those providers to connect with our school to learn about the child’s participation in the classroom setting. To aid in accommodating activities to meet all children’s needs, parents are required to share any existing Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP).

All children, with or without special needs, are honored by our policy that states that the welfare of the classroom as a whole takes precedence over the needs of an individual child. That is, a child with special needs may require and receive extra time and attention from the teachers, but this cannot be out of balance with the needs of the class as a whole.

Our program and our commitment to serving diverse learners in our community continues to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of our students.