A parent’s Guide to Elementary Safety Net

The Purpose of Safety Net:

Each school in the Lake Washington School District has Safety Net Programs to service students who are not meeting district and state academic standards in the areas of reading and/or writing. Support in math may also be provided, if all needs are met in reading/writing and there are still resources remaining. The purpose of Safety Net is to provide supplemental academic support to assist students in meeting standards, so they can graduate.

Why is My Child Receiving Safety Net?

At the beginning of each school year the school reviews the assessment data for each student. Students who are not meeting the standard or benchmark can often benefit from additional support.

Safety Net services provide supplemental instruction. At the elementary level this means the majority of a student’s reading or mathematics instruction should take place in the general education classroom with Safety net teachers offering additional small group intervention based on skill deficits.

At both the elementary and secondary levels the delivery of services generally occurs during the school day, but can also take place before and/or after school.

How Often Will My Child Receive Safety Net?

Students receiving Safety Net will generally be seen 3 days each week and up to 5 days a week. It is up to each school to determine the level of need for their Safety Net groups, but it should not be less than 3 times per week. Some students may be seen for specific skill-based support for 3-5 times per week during 6 to 10 week periods across the year.

What Does a Safety Net Group Look Like?

The ‘rule of thumb’ for the size of a Safety Net group is written below. The more ‘intensive’ the need, the smaller the group size should be.

Group size can range from 1-3 students up to 8 students depending on the grade level and level of intensity of instruction that is needed.

How Does My Child Exit the Safety Net Program?

Students are exited from the Safety Net program when they can demonstrate they have met grade level standard(s) by passing the MSP or demonstrating benchmark on the DIBELS.

How Can Parents Be Involved?

Research has shown that when parents or guardians are involved with their child’s education, their child does better in school. A Parent Involvement Plan is required by one of the Safety Net federal funding sources (Title I) and in the Lake Washington School District it is considered ‘best practice’. Therefore, each elementary school in the district develops a Parent Involvement Plan in the fall of each year. Parents can expect a copy of the plan at Goal Setting Conferences in the fall.

Are There any Special Qualifications for Teacher and Instructional Assistant in Safety Net?

The Lake Washington School District requires teachers in the Safety Net program to meet the Highly Qualified Teachers requirements (minimum qualifications) per No Child Left Behind.

• Teachers are highly qualified (Per review of teaching endorsement areas by Human Resources).
• Instructional assistants are directly supervised; the curriculum and instruction will be designed and monitored by the Safety Net Teacher.

Parents may request a copy of the qualifications of their child’s Safety Net teacher from the building principal.