Inside Annapolis | Schools 

Central Special Education School

By R. Ric Chesek, Principal

Central Special Education School (CSES), is one the Anne Arundel County Public School System's three developmental special education schools. The school serves children and students with special education needs who range in age from three to twenty-one years of age, and who live in the southern and western portions of Anne Arundel County.

The educational program at CSES is dividing into two parts. The first, Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) addresses the needs of those students who are between the ages of 3 and five years of age. These students attend a half day of school and ECI instruction that focuses on helping the children gain the readiness skills they will need to successfully participate in the elementary programs at their home schools. ECI students represent a wide range of educational needs, from students who require very little special education intervention (e.g., speech services only) to students who have severe disabilities (i.e., mental retardation, autism, or cerebral palsy).

The second part of the CSES educational program is the full-day program. These students range in age from six to twenty-one years. Unlike the ECI students, the full-day students all have severe disabilities. In addition to presenting complex educational needs, many of these students present complicated medical or behavioral needs. Instruction for these students centers on functional skills, those skills we all use as functioning independent members of our community. These students are taught the skills they will need to use grocery and other stores, prepare simple meals, access restaurants and recreational outlets, and prepare for the world of work. Instruction in these areas takes place not only in the classroom, but in the natural environments within the community. In fact, CSES has established working relations with many businesses in the Annapolis and Edgewater communities.

Tying both of these programs together is a highly dedicated faculty. The teachers at CSES have developed the skills they need to accommodate the diverse learning styles of their students by teaching similar tasks in a variety of ways. The expertise of the CSES faculty has led to one class being chosen as a demonstration class in the instruction of students with severe disabilities who are also deaf/blind for the University of Maryland (College Park), as well as many members of the staff being asked to provide in-service instruction to their peers in Anne Arundel County and across the Baltimore/Washington region.

The CSES motto is, "If you can dream it, you can do it", and the faculty working in partnership with parents and community partners helps all students at CSES dream the big dream everyday. Whether the student is a three-year old ECI student, or a twenty-one year old student preparing to graduate, the CSES mission is the same: give that student the ability to be as independent as possible.

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