From the LAUSD Special Education Division:
- Orlando Bloom
- Cher
- Anderson Cooper
- Whoopi Goldberg
- Keira Knightley
- Jay Leno
- Howie Mandel
- Michael Phelps
- Daniel Radcliffe
- Keanu Reeves
- Steven Spielberg
- Justin Timeberlake
- Vince Vaughn
Special Education
Resource Program (General Education Core Curriculum)
Resource Teachers go into the general education classes (Math and/or English) and provide support to the students. Learning Lab can be taken as an elective to provide additional support (if the student meets certain criteria).
High Functioning Autism Program (HFA) (General Education Core Curriculum)
HFA students are included in the general education classes with support of the HFA staff. Social Communication is offered as an elective in lieu of a general education elective.
Special Day Program (General Education Core Curriculum)
These classes have smaller class size. There is a special education teacher and an assistant in the room. The pace of the curriculum is geared to the level of the students. Students have four special education academic classes along with a general education elective and P.E.
Special Day Class IDM
The students in this class are on the Alternative Curriculum (they are not on a diploma track). These students have their academics in the same classroom and they go out for P.E. and elective (depending on their needs, some students stay in the same class for their elective).
Adapted Physical Education
Depending on their needs, students who cannot safely or successfully engage in general physical education classes may be given assistance with gross motor activities, games, sports, and rhythms.
Steve Choi
contact by email
Language and Speech
Depending on their needs, students may be given assistance with articulation, language acquisition, comprehension, and expression, fluency, and vocal quality, pitch and loudness.
Lauren Schuchman
contact by email
Occupational Therapy
Depending on their needs, students may be given assistance with posture, fine motor skills, sensory processing, social abilities, visual perception, and organization.
Oscar Gutierrez
contact by email
Recreational Therapy
Depending on their needs, students may be given assistance with development and application of the underlying skills necessary to engage in inclusive cooperative learning, play, lessons, and activities.
Daniela Anzuini
contact by email
School Psychologist
Students may be given support if they are fearful about attending school, struggling with time management, study, or organizational skills, lacking the ability to focus as a result of life stressors, questioning their aptitudes or abilities, or feeling sad, unhappy, or contemplating self-harm.
Lauren Adams
contact by email
Administrative Team
- Assistant Principal: Anita Prentice
- Clerk: Martha Martinez Gudino (email)
Special Education Teachers
- High Functioning Autism: Ms. March
- Intellectually Disabled: Ms. Tynan
- Resource Specialist: Ms. Eissler
- Resource Specialist: Ms. Black
- Special Day Class: Mr. Trachimowicz
- Special Day Class: Ms. Wetzel
Fifth grade Special Education students and their families are welcome to visit the Palms Campus on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, from 1:30pm to 3:00pm.
You'll visit Special Education classrooms and hear about the Special Education programs at Palms. You must pre-register for this event.
Note: These Special Education tours are not for current Palms families or for families who do not have a child in Special Education. A separate Visitors Day event, for all prospective students and their families, will be held later on the same day, from 3:45pm to 5:45pm.
We believe that it takes a team for any student to be successful. This team includes the General Education Teacher, Special Education Teacher, the Student, and the Parent. The parent plays an important role in the student's life long success. We find that students need a little extra help in Middle School with executive functioning (organization and planning).
Special Education students who are on an Individual Education Plan (IEP) are on a continuum of services, based on their specific needs as documented in their IEP's.
Palms follows the guidelines of the LAUSD Division of Special Education, under which students may be classified as Learning Disabled (LD) or Emotionally Disabled (ED).
For more information, see the LAUSD Division of Special Education or contact the staff members listed on this page.
Palms participates in the Prime Time Games, a program of Team Prime Time.
It is a full-inclusion, peer-mentor sports program wherein the TPT students coach and play alongside children with developmental disabilities.
In Spring 2016, Special Education students got a cooking lesson from Palms student and "Chopped Junior" TV star Jayla Hill.
In Fall 2016, Special Education students created a book, with each student contributing a one-page story and a one-page illustration. You can find the book in the Palms Library.
