Northside Independent School District is committed to identifying, locating and evaluating all children who reside within the school district boundaries who are suspected of having a disability and who may be in need of Special Education and Related Services. This is accomplished collaboratively through Reach and Teach, and through the "CHILD Process".

Reach and Teach

The goal of Reach and Teach is to identify and locate all children with a suspected disability who reside within the Northside ISD boundaries, but who are not presently enrolled in a NISD school. Referrals for a possible evaluation should be directed as follows:

For children ages birth through 2 years: contact the Child Find coordinator through the NISD Special Education office.

For children ages 3 through 4 years: contact the Speech Language Pathologist at your neighborhood school (the school the child would be attending if enrolled).

For children ages 5 through 21 years: contact the Counselor at your neighborhood school (the school the child would be attending if enrolled).

CHILD Process

All students who are currently enrolled in NISD schools may benefit from the CHILD (Consultative Help for Individual Learning Decisions) intervention process. The goal of this structured process is to ensure that every student experiences success in school. If a student is struggling behaviorally, socially, academically, physically or communicatively, the classroom teacher begins the process as soon as possible. Through a series of steps, and with input from the parents, other teachers, and support personnel, a plan for success is developed. If the student does not respond as anticipated, additional resources and support may be added to the plan. Eventually, an evaluation may be recommended to determine if the child has a disability and a need for Special Education services.

Parents who believe that their child may have a disability can start the CHILD process by contacting the school counselor. More information about NISD's Guidance and Counseling programs is available on their web page.