Special needs, common classroom in Va. Beach

VIRGINIA BEACH

On the blue carpet of a preschool class at Princess Anne Elementary, one little girl showed another how to stick pegs into a foam board.

"She's a little baby," 5 -year-old Larissa Dronette explained, putting her arm around pigtailed 2 -year-old Tori Webb and giving her shoulder a pat.

"She doesn't see her as someone with Down syndrome," Tori's mom, Karen, said later. "To me, that is huge."

Tori, who began preschool in January, is one of eight children with disabilities in this class of 2 - to 6 -year-olds. The two other children in the class, including Larissa, have no disabilities and frequently act as helpers.

Grouping students this way is known as reverse mainstreaming. It is in its pilot year in Beach preschool classes, with plans to expand. Suffolk and Chesapeake already have reverse mainstreaming preschool classes. Norfolk ended its program two years ago because of difficulty finding nondisabled children to participate.

The idea is to provide disabled children with role models while exposing other children to disabled peers. The preschool is free to all of the families, though transportation is usually only provided for special-education children.

It's better to have even more typically-developing children in each class, said Phyllis Mondak, who oversees the state Department of Education's Inclusive Placement Opportunities for Preschoolers initiative. "It really does make it a more typical feel of kids playing with kids," she said.

However, the way preschools are funded doesn't encourage classes of mixed abilities. Schools must add typically-developing students without extra state and federal money, like they receive for disabled students.

Some schools do reverse mainstreaming a different way, placing disabled and nondisabled children into preschool classes in equal numbers.

At Birdneck Elementary, 45 parents of typically-developing preschoolers applied for 12 slots in that type of program.

On a recent morning there, 4-year-old Sadie Lane tapped the chalkboard with a pointer as her classmates sang the days of the week. When the song was over, Hannah Anderson, 5, piped up: "You were the best!"

Sadie speaks few words, but her mother said that the mixed classroom makes a huge difference for her daughter, who has a rare chromosomal disorder.

"Her understanding of her world has exploded," Lisa Lane said. Having six models her own age has helped her learn to follow simple directions and walk with a group or an adult, she said.

Parents of typically-developing children praise the program as well.

Hannah comes home showing off school projects and wants to practice her letters, numbers and colors, Jennifer Anderson said.

"It's 'my friend this, my friend that,' " Anderson said. "There are some kids who don't understand children who are different. Even on weekends, Hannah asks if she can go to school."

Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com