Salt Creek School
Preschool through First Grade Programs for V.I. Children

SALT CREEK SCHOOL
980 South Riverside Drive
Elmhurst, Illinois 60126

Phone: (630) 832 - 6122

TEACHERS:
Michelle Peterson (Preschool) - mpeterson@sased.org
Jan Paoletti (Preschool) - jpaoletti@sased.org
Anne Dansdill (K - 1) - adansdill@sased.org

Salt Creek is a typical school in School District DuPage 48 that houses preschool through first grade children from District 48.  The Visually Impaired Program has been part of this district for more than twenty years, and the students with visual impairments are very much part of the school community.  The children participate in school activities with their typical peers such as the pledge of allegiance, the school pledge, holiday shows, and parties.

The preschool curriculum for the students in the visually impaired program is heavily language and movement based to allow for concretely learning the skills that non visually impaired children are able to learn incidentally. Experiential and hands on activities are the norm in this program.  An important addition to the program are the related services; these include professionals trained in the areas of:  orientation and mobility, occupational therapy, adapted physical education, speech and language, physical therapy, and music therapy.  All students receive music therapy and adapted physical education.  The other related services are provided after an evaluation and a staffing determines the type and the specific amount of time needed.

The curriculum for the kindergarten and first grade students in the visually impaired program closely aligns with the typical curriculum for the students who are using print.  For the students who are determined to be primary braille readers, the curriculum differs for the first few years as the intricate braille code is taught in a sequence that allows the student to best master braille as well as the literacy skills needed for future learning.  This is also true in math development for the tactile reading student.  Other ares of kindergarten and first grade parallel the typical curriculum, such as social and language skills.  Again, the emphasis is on experiential rather than just auditory, since visually impaired students often have difficulty putting the whole picture together as they have only experience with a specific part.