Department Overview
Welcome!
The Hanover Park Regional High School District Special Services Department provides specialists in the areas of special education and related services.
Child Study Services
In our district, child study team services are provided by school psychologists, learning consultants and a school social worker. There is a school psychologist and a learning consultant based in each of our high schools and a school social worker shared by the two schools. The school social worker is shared between the two schools. The child study team members provide a variety of services including specialized assistance to classroom teachers regarding techniques, materials and programs, consultation with parents and teachers, counseling, and testing. In addition, Child Study Team specialists have the responsibility for the determination of special education eligibility and the development and monitoring of Individualized Education Programs (IEP).
Speech and Language Services
Speech and language services are provided by two certified therapists that split their time between Hanover Park and Whippany Park High School. Services include consultation with parents and teachers, specialized assessments, programming and therapy designed to remediate any speech and language deficit that adversely affects the child's educational performance.
General Questions and Concerns
Sometimes general questions and concerns can be addressed by navigating the different sites on our newly designed Department Web Page. Messages from Noemi Schlecht (Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment) will be posted including minutes from recent parent meetings or workshops. For more specific information, you are encouraged to contact us at 973.887.6308.
Child Find Information
The Hanover Park Regional High School District conducts a Child Find Program to locate, identify and evaluate children residing within the community who may be in need of special education and are not receiving services. The effort is targeted at children from age three to 21, in non-public schools as well as children attending Hanover Park and Whippany Park High School. The goal is to ensure that no child is missed, regardless of his or her current age or grade.
Do You Think Your Child May Need an Evaluation?
If you believe your child may need an evaluation, email the Director of Special Services, Dr. Debra Strauss at dstrauss@hpreg.org or write to Dr. Strauss at the following address:
Department of Student Services
63 Mt. Pleasant Avenue
East Hanover, New Jersey 09736
If possible, please include a brief history of student need, work samples, and documentation of any other attempted interventions.
For more information, contact Mrs. Denise Basista at the Special Services Office located at Hanover Park High School at 973.887.6308 or check out additional information on this subject from the NJ State Department of Education, Project Child Find.
Additional information is available at the following link for rules and regulations governing Special Education and Parent Rights in Special Education as defined by NJ Code for Special Education. http://www.state.nj.us/education/specialed/form/prise/prise.pdf.
The NJ Special Education Code is available at http://www.nj.gov/njded/code/current/title6a/chap14.pdf
