Hello! My first few months have been busy and I look forward to meeting more of you and working with the Barker community to support our students.  

We are currently expanding our continuum of services for students with special needs to include a 12:1:1 special class within our Barker Central School building (twelve students, one special education teacher, and two assistants/aides). Students will be in grades Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade, or within a 36-month range. The special class will be composed of students with disabilities with similar individual needs, such as levels of academic or educational achievement and learning characteristics, levels of social development, levels of physical development, and management needs as determined by the Committee on Special Education. The classroom staff have participated in specialized training with a consultant from Daemen College and will be scheduled for additional trainings prior to the classroom opening in September for the 2023-2024 school year. During the 2022-2023 school year our continuum of services included a 6:1:1 special class (six students, one special education teacher, and one aide) and was composed of students with similar learning needs and low management needs. We will be discontinuing this option in June 2023 and changing to the 12:1:1 model to meet the needs of additional Barker students during the 2023-2024 school year. We hope to continue to expand our continuum of special education services in future years to include additional grade levels.

I wanted to provide an update regarding Home School students. Barker Central School District has 23 families and 41 students participating in Home Instruction during the 2022-2023 school year. We have newly created a direct email for all Home School communication: homeschool@barkercsd.net. Please utilize this email for questions, sending documents, and communication regarding your child’s Home School program. Our website also contains information and a packet regarding Home School Instruction. Please visit www.barkercsd.net/homeschool for additional information and remember a Letter of Intention to educate your child at home is due to the Barker Central School District by July 1st of each year, or within 14 days of commencing home instruction. 
 
Enjoy the remainder of the school year and a wonderful summer recess. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions and contact me directly at skordish@barkercsd.net or 716-795-3350.  

Shelly Kordish
Director of Instructional Services