Student Services

The SSA Student Services Department’s mission is to support the social, emotional and intellectual growth of our students. Our expertise in child development allows us to advocate for our students in the classroom and provide professional guidance and resources to their families and teachers. We are devoted to ensuring that each student at SSA feels valued and reaches their full potential.

meet the student services team

Our Services

Specific Services

Individual and Family Support: Members of the team are available to consult with families regarding their children’s learning, behaviour, and social-emotional well-being. We work one-on-one with students and help parents access appropriate resources within the community.

Social Skills Development: Members of the team lead social skills groups and teach conflict resolution strategies to students across all grades. They coordinate the Grade 6 mentorship program as well as various community building groups throughout the school year.

Partnership with Faculty: One of the main roles of the team is to work with classroom teachers and assistants to promote student success. Through classroom observations, team meetings, individual consultations, professional development activities and ongoing communication, we collaborate to ensure that students have meaningful learning experiences and grow to be life-long learners.

Support for Academic Needs

Resources: The Resource Team provides one-on-one and small group support to students who have been identified with specific learning needs. Resource teachers work in partnership with classroom teachers and assistants in order to implement Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). Learning goals and strategies are established using the results from academic screenings and psycho-educational assessments.

Math Enrichment: The team works collaboratively with Math teachers and members of the Administration in order to identify students who are ready for advanced math.

Additional Services

Individual Tutoring, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy: Parents seeking specific interventions for their children by a specialist can request the Student Services Department to assist in the coordination of such services.

Psycho-Educational Assessments: Our team may recommend an evaluation to help develop learning plans and intervention strategies for students. We are available to guide parents throughout the assessment process and make referrals to professionals outside of the school. When a child undergoes an evaluation, the team helps disseminate the results to teachers and develop the IEP, ensuring that interventions are implemented in the classroom.

The Strategy Enrichment Program (STEP)

The purpose of STEP is to meet the specific learning needs of students by implementing the recommendations from their formal evaluations, and providing accommodations and/or modifications to their learning programs.

Creating a growth mindset environment in which each student believes they can flourish as a learner is the heart of the program.

Program Design:

Offered in Hebrew and French for Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 during regular class time.
Students in STEP receive small group instruction led by a teacher with expertise in teaching children with diverse learning needs.
A variety of instructional approaches are used, including pre-teaching and differentiation with regard to learning style, curriculum, and evaluation.
STEP teachers use instructional material from the larger class as well as their own activities to develop students’ skills.
Evaluations and grades are reflective of the student’s goals, as outlined in their Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Letter grades are provided when the student is on an IEP with modifications to the curriculum whereas percentages are provided when the student is on an IEP with adaptations/accommodations.

Admission Procedures:

STEP has limited enrolment. Recommendation for admission must be made by a teacher, administrator and/or by Student Services.
Classroom observations, teachers’ assessments, results from formal evaluations and parents’ feedback are all taken into account in determining whether a student is a candidate for STEP.
Students must have or be in the process of undergoing a Psycho-Educational, Neuropsychological, Speech-Language or Occupational therapy evaluation in order to be considered.
Students must be on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Parents are provided with program information and asked to sign a consent form indicating that they’re in agreement with their child participating in the program.