Welcome to the Sarasota Military Academy ESE Department.
Students who have special learning needs because of a disability are called exceptional students. The special help they are given at school is called exceptional student education (ESE). The purpose of ESE is to help each child with a disability to progress in school and prepare for life after school.. Students who benefit from the ESE program include gifted students who require more challenging coursework, students with learning disabilities of varying natures, students who have physical challenges and students with emotional difficulties.
Decisions about a child's ESE services are made by a team. At SMA this team includes, Barbara Coury, Jennifer Catena, and Abby Williams. Services are adapted to best suit the individual student through the development of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or an Educational Plan for Students Who are Gifted (EP). IEPs and EPs are developed by a team of individuals which always includes the parent and also includes teachers and/or other district staff members.
ESE students who seek regular high school diplomas are taught the same Sunshine State Standards, take the same tests and are graded on the same scale as other students. Some eligible ESE students are instructed using a modified
curriculum based on special standards and will graduate with a special diploma.
At SMA, every ESE student is assigned a case manager who is responsible for monitoring the student’s progress, communicating with the students parents and teachers on a regular basis and helping the student achieve academic success.
