Early Childhood Special Education

Acorn Patch offers children ages 3-5 with developmental delays the chance to reach their potential in the important early years of childhood, giving them a jump-start on the rest of their education.

Funded by the state of Missouri, the Acorn Patch is a no-cost program for families of eligible children who are three to five years old. The state defines eligibility, and the Kearney R-1 School District provides special education services including but not limited to: early childhood special education, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc.

In order to be eligible for The Acorn Patch, the child's development must:

• be at or below 1.5 standard deviations or equivalent levels, of the mean in any two areas of development, or
• at or below 2.0 standard deviations or equivalent levels in one area of development, and
• the child must require special education and/or related services

(Areas of development that can be used to determine eligibility include physical, cognitive, communication, social/emotional and/or adaptive.)

Referral Process

If you have concerns about how your child is progressing, please contact our Parents as Teachers program to schedule a developmental screening.

Placement Options

Students will receive services in their least restrictive environment with the most access to typically developing peers, as determined by the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team. This team includes the parents, early childhood special education teacher, related service providers and a local education agency representative (LEA). Options for services include the following.

Itinerant Services

Itinerant services are located outside of the special education classroom and are typically by appointment only. For example, they can receive speech and language services at designated appointment times or teacher support at a child's daycare or preschool. Services needed are based on the IEP team's recommendation.

Kearney School District provides itinerant Early Childhood Special Education teacher services in the local daycares and preschools that are located within our attendance boundaries for eligible students. This setting allows students to remain in their natural environment while providing support to the student, as well as consultation and strategies provided for the preschool staff. The Acorn Patch teachers work with regular education teachers, paraprofessionals and caregivers in addressing the child's special education needs.

Classroom-Based Services

All classroom-based services are provided at the Kearney Early Education Center. This is an access-only location that includes the KSD's Puppy Pound Daycare for staff, preschool for children birth through age 5, Parents as Teachers, and the Acorn Patch - Early Childood Special Education.

KSD's integrated classrooms at the EEC provide students with special education services in a larger classroom environment with up to 12 students for 3 year olds and 16 students for 4 year olds, who need more access to students without disabilities. Teachers provide the same curriculum and Missouri Early Learning Standards in both classrooms. Students experience small group, large group and individualized instruction from a certified special education teacher.

Center-Based Classroom: Students in the center-based classroom participate in a smaller environment with approximately 6-8 students with special needs and 2 students without disabilities who serve as "peer models". The peer models are students who also participate in the district's Puppy Pound employee preschool program. Students participate in small group, large group and individualized instruction. Students in this setting may need more individualized support to make progress on their IEP goals.

Integrated Peer Enrollment

In order to provide more access to students without disabilities, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) provides funding for students to participate in the Early Childhood Special Education classrooms, in order to provide students with disabilities the most access to their same-age peers.

The Integrated Classrooms serve as additional same-age peers for Acorn Patch ECSE students. These students are referred from the Parents as Teachers program and included based on needs criteria. For additional information on the Integrated Peer program, please contact Dr. Amy Baugh, Kearney Early Education Center Principal, at baugha@ksdr1.net or Brittney King, Parents as Teachers Supervisor, at kingb@ksdr1.net. All children referred for the Integrated Peer program must be a participant in the Parents as Teachers program and have received a developmental screening within the last school year.