What is Inclusion?
The term inclusion captures, in one word, an all-embracing societal ideology. Regarding individuals with disabilities and special education, inclusion secures opportunities for students with disabilities to learn alongside their non-disabled peers in general education classrooms.
Elizabeth Academy is an "inclusive" school. This means that we love and accept children with diverse learning styles, strengths and challenges, and we serve the needs of each individual child, helping all children to achieve their fullest potential. Our Enrichments and Therapies are critical elements in meeting these needs.
We are committed to Inclusion at Elizabeth Academy. It is our reason to be. We are committed to what we call legitimate inclusion, which means that alongside typical and gifted children who comprise the bulk of our enrollment, we strongly encourage including a manageable percentage of children with documented special needs, roughly 15%. There must be balance, the ratio of this diversity being reflective of what is experienced in the population at large, our real experience in the community outside of the classroom.
We believe that if we are all exposed to the varying abilities and disabilities that exist within each and every one of us, and begin meeting the challenges that arise, beautiful things happen. Growth happens. All are enriched in the process.
Policy Statement on Inclusion of Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Programs
Early Childhood students joined together to sing the song “Stronger Together”