The vision of the district’s Special Education team is to work collaboratively with students, families, schools, and the community to enable special education students to make valuable contributions to themselves, their families, and their communities as a result of their GCPS tenure. In its quest to provide “Quality learning through quality education for all students,” the Department of Special Education and Psychological Services provides a wide range of services, including assessment and interventions.
GCPS’ program serves nearly 23,000 students in the program— children on the autism spectrum, students with specific learning disabilities, those with intellectual disabilities, students with orthopedic impairments, medically fragile children, students with visual or speech impairments, and children with significant developmental delays.
We appreciate the dedicated members of our Special Education team— our special education teachers, paraprofessionals, physical and occupational therapists, behavioral support staff, speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, cluster coordinators, instructional coaches, support staff for assistive technology, special education bus drivers and monitors, and others who support our students with disabilities— who work with students and families to empower every child to reach his or her potential.
If you’re interested in helping alternative learners to develop skills and independence, find out more about employment opportunities in GCPS in special education.
Parents are an important part of the education team, and that’s especially true for families of children with special needs.GCPS’ parent mentors are a valuable resource for families. Gwinnett County Parent Mentors Dawn Albanese and Jackie McNair work within GCPS' Special Education department, presenting a monthly learning series and providing information and support to other families who have children served in special education. These mentors have first-hand knowledge of raising a child with special needs as they both have a child who has been served or is being served in GCPS. For more information regarding the Georgia Parent Mentor Partnership, go to www.parentmentors.org. Families can find additional resources on the GCPS website.