The Midlothian High School Special Education Department experienced an almost complete transformation for the 2018-2019 school year. Thirteen new employees joined the community, including: Ms. Claire Ashur, Ms. Brea Gilliam, Ms. Elizabeth Harbula, Ms. Sara Hayden, Ms. Judy Heretick, Ms. Beatrice Hoffman, Ms. Corinna Jackson, Mr. Cody Jones, Mr. Cori Mayhew, Ms. Callie Nunnally, Mr. David Royster, Ms. Kari Shannonhouse, and Ms. Jeanine Smalls. Along with the new influx of employees to the Midlothian family, comes a lot of expected changes, improvements, and additions to this department in the coming years.

The new Coordinator of Special Education, Ms. Beatrice Hoffman, shares her plan for changes in the program in response to her arrival at Midlo. “As coordinator, I plan to serve as a catalyst for productive change by advancing a special education program that fosters the values of inclusiveness and respect for differences, offers multi-tiered levels of student support and intervention, and leverages family and community partnerships for the benefit of special needs students,”she shares. She comments on the large, new flood of employees, explaining her plan to bring, “fresh perspectives” and “new instructional approaches to both the general and special education settings”through the new teachers and employees in the program. Hoffman also explains the best part of her job as “the opportunity it presents to be a part of a school culture where the responsibility for students with special needs is embraced by, and expanded to, the whole school community.”

Midlo anticipates the new, beneficial changes and impacts to the Special Education program in the coming years as a fresh and dedicated group of professionals join the staff, as well as the current employees who will all work in conjunction to create a positive environment for special needs kids at Midlo.