When Matt Chalfant, a special education teacher, first began teaching at Monroe High School in 2008, special education support for students looked like it did in most high schools, where students with disabilities spent their school days in classrooms separate from the rest of their peers.

These classrooms, often referred to as resource rooms, were taught by special education teachers who provided remedial academic support in reading, writing, and math for students with disabilities.

This meant that students like Kyle Cook, who was diagnosed with autism at 18 months old, were generally not in general education classrooms with their peers. Kyle spent most of his academic years attending class in resource rooms and structured learning centers. That is, until his sophomore year at Monroe High School.

King 5 story: Monroe High Schoola model for taching special needs students

Understanding that ALL students learn best when they are challenged, provided with support, and feel that they belong in their school, Monroe High School has spent years working toward phasing out the “pull-out” model where students who need support, including multilingual learners, are pulled out of general education classrooms for support and separated from their peers. 

To expand access for all students, MHS has developed — with plenty of trial and error — a way to maximize the teaching staff, be creative with scheduling and assign two teachers to many classrooms, a practice known as co-teaching. In an Algebra class, for example, there’s a subject matter expert — the math teacher — and then a second teacher who focuses on providing support. This means targeted services, support and accommodations are provided to students who need them within general education classrooms with their peers.

This hasn’t come easy. This shift has required a tremendous amount of work by staff - learning new ways to teach classrooms full of very diverse learners, how to provide accommodations within the classroom, and how to co-plan and co-teach with special education teachers.

Monroe High School has worked in collaboration with the University of Washington’s Haring Center over the past two years to train staff on inclusive teaching practices. With visionary leadership from Principal Brett Wille, Assistant Principal Noah Wallace, and special education teachers Matt Chalfant and Mindy Haas, the efforts of all of Monroe High School’s staff has resulted in the school being named as one of three high schools in the state as one of UW’s Inclusionary Practices Demonstration Sites. This means that other schools who are trying to adopt inclusionary practices visit MHS to watch how they have successfully incorporated these practices into their teaching.

“This recognition from UW is truly an honor for MHS staff,” said Chalfant, “but what matters most about this accomplishment is that it demonstrates that all of our students are getting what they need.”

Kyle's story exemplifies this transformation. As a freshman, Kyle was placed in the special education “resource room” math class. However, after his freshman year, Monroe High School bid farewell to the resource room pull-out model, and Kyle was placed in a general education Algebra class with his peers.

What happened that year surprised everyone, including Kyle’s parents. Kyle consistently outperformed every student in the classroom, often achieving perfect scores on his algebra tests.

"This just shows the importance of not judging a student by their disability," Chalfant emphasized. "Our duty is to create an environment where all our students can thrive and when we give them the opportunity to meet high expectations, they flourish."

Kyle's father expressed that if the staff at Monroe High School hadn't provided this opportunity, Kyle would have been forgotten in the resource room, as he had been for so many years. Now, as a junior, Kyle is enrolled in Geometry with his peers and is thriving more than he ever has in school.

Monroe High School is the second school in the Monroe School District to be named by the University of Washington as an Inclusionary Practices Demonstration Site. Hidden River Middle School was one of the first schools in Washington to earn this designation in 2019.
 

For More Information 

• Inclusionary Practices Project Webpage 

• University of Washington’s Haring Center for Inclusive Education