Preschool Programs

Preschool Special Day Class (SDC) Programs serve children with a variety of disabilities that would not receive educational benefit from a less restrictive educational placement. Preschool (PS) SDC programs are located throughout CUSD. Some of the Preschool SDC sites are co-licensed with our State Funded Preschool program which allows our SDC preschoolers maximum time spent with their general education peers.

Program for the Acquisition of Language and Social Skills (PALS) serves children who are preschool through kindergarten age that demonstrate autistic-like behaviors and require intensive school-based interventions. Evidence Based Practices, including Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), Discrete Trial (DT) teaching techniques along with language and social methodologies are employed within these programs. Generalization of skills is a key component of the PALS program. PALS students have general education mainstreaming opportunities as determined by their IEPs. PALS classrooms are located throughout CUSD.

Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHOH) SDC Program serves children who are preschool through kindergarten age. The program is housed at Garfield Elementary School and uses a multi-modality approach that may include sign language, auditory, kinesthetic, and visual teaching strategies to teach deaf/hard of hearing children. Individual and small group therapies in speech, language and auditory are included within this program. Mainstreaming and reverse mainstreaming are also be a part of this program. The DHOH SDC program also utilizes the services of qualified sign language interpreters.

Severely Disabled (SD) Special Day Class (SDC) Program utilizes a variety of teaching strategies to develop functional communication and adaptive skills. Each student progresses at his/her own rate and the curriculum targets skills necessary for increasing individual independence. All CUSD SD programs utilize an interdisciplinary approach where teachers are able to consult with various service providers to assist in the individualization of students’ programming. Students enrolled in the district's SD classes have goals that focus on areas such as functional academics, vocational/recreational and leisure skills, community awareness, domestic and adaptive skills, social skills and communication skills. Students earn a “Letter of Recommendation” upon completion of high school.

Garfield Special Education Center is an educational facility that serves medically fragile students with severe disabilities, ranging from 3 to 22 years of age who reside in Clovis Unified. Due to the severe health risks and needs of the students, LVNs and RNs are an integral part of the program in addition to special education teachers and other special education staff. Support services such as Occupational, Physical, Vision, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, and Language/Speech Therapy are components of the Garfield Center. Opportunities for interacting with typical peers is a vital component of the program. Students at Garfield Center earn a “Letter of Recommendation” upon aging out at 22 years of age.